The construct of four to five lines on an x-ray film producing three angles, and two deviations off vertical has created a very simple mechanical approach to upper cervical corrections. It has evolved minimally over the decades by different UC groups and with very few differences among the groups. The evaluation and measurement are objective and consistent, but the application (vector and headpiece) protocols are widely variable. Let’s investigate why.
Upper Cervical Chiropractic, throughout our history, has always defined success and corrective results through numbers. Measuring the angles of our structure has led to the certification process becoming a mathematical tool to demonstrate proficiency. This is the vantage point of our physical, our matter, and a perspective of nuts and bolts construction. Measurability, reliability, accuracy, and precision are key words in our business. Biomechanics and numbers are an important aspect of the correction but are they the only aspect to consider in the corrective process?
This mechanical path was originated by BJ Palmer over 80 years ago and is still the present day methodology in upper cervical work. It has been taken further by some contemporaries. The hand, in some UC procedures, has been replaced with machines with the goal of improving accuracy even further. The use of mechanical instruments, templates, and laser balanced x-ray machines are symbols of our deep-rooted belief in Newtonian physics as the only model of the human body. Is this the path we should continue to follow?
Chiropractic is based on understanding the body as two intertwined aspects of matter and innate intelligence. They are the two essences, which when mixed together, form a balanced human. It is our physical being and our spirit. Without one, the other cannot realize our full human potential for ourselves and our patients. And if both are not considered in the restoration of structural and functional balance, we as doctors cannot reach our full potential either. For us to be balanced we must balance the physical and the spirit, innate intelligence, or energy (force). The corrective process in UC work has never examined the types of energy needed to optimally correct the resistant pathways. We have never considered if different impulses or frequency pulls change our results. Examining the structure (physical measurement) and energetic (force quality, quantity, resonance) may open an exciting path to a balanced correction. The balance is optimized and the imbalance is minimized.
This physical need to measure and calculate has left our doctors
out of balance.
The QSM3 model is biomechanically the most contemporary view in chiropractic today as a physical biomechanical model and algorithm. This is because our growth is based upon the historical platforms of great visionaries. We are the only ones doing this today. This vision has also opened the way for us to realize that we too are imbalanced. Solid in biomechanics and protocol – but weak in the understanding of what our input does and how can we broaden our use of it. It is time for a change in this direction.
Are we merely robots who deliver a force as a pitching machine throws a fastball? Are our patients machines that receive a vectored force like a car in repair? No. We are filled with an energy field that doesn’t just swing and hit but that is an organized system which responds, realizes, and connects. The strictly biomechanical approach is effective, but too narrow for the constantly evolving field of chiropractic.
A high 4 anterior 2, a step on a pedal, or a twist will continue to help the human frame because of the nature of universal intelligence given to all of us. Yet, to think that we set a spine as a mechanic balances the caster, camber, and toe-in, is to work only half the equation.
Physical + Energy + Intelligence Life
To complete the triune to optimal intelligence we must incorporate the quantification of the energy in, the energy received, and the protocol to deliver multiple energetic frequencies to match the specific resistance. All of which unite to restore the tensegrity of the myofacial envelope which encapsulates us.
There is new science that details the body design as a myofacial envelope. This model is synergistic with the tensegrity model of “up and open” as optimal structure to function. The result of a tensegral supportive system is the living of life to its fullest. Conceptually, this may explain the energy transfer, the resistant pathways, the subluxation and the corrective effects that define our objectives. These correspond to misalignment, balancing compensation, and breakdown that we correct. This approach may be the first step to understanding the unity and interwoven nature of the energy and relating it to the mechanical concepts.
The greatest gift in this area is our ability to feel resistance using the QSM3 headpiece, triceps pull, and body mass energy potential. We can feel the resistance and its collapse. So I have been investigating using different pulls (motions and frequencies), different depths, different leverage points, and starting at different areas of the asymmetrical zone. It has been very educational and helpful to our patients.
It seems that the myofacial envelope is really two connected envelopes or orbs. The shoulder girdle to pelvic girdle is one. The second is the skull. The connection point of the myofacial triangles of the shoulder girdle to the skull fascia is under the skull. This is what we call the asymmetrical zone in QSM3. The cervical spine just under the occiput is the access to both triangles. When it is misaligned and asymmetrical, it is tangible and palpable. When it is corrected, it is smooth or flat. It is in this region that the resistant pathways are accessed. They travel from the skull balancer as we set the closed kinetic chain to the pelvis. It our setting of the skull, headpiece, and pelvis that allows for optimal travel of energy, and it is our present understanding of leverage points that structures the overcoming of the resistant pathways.
Just as we have a protocol to restore tensegrity, we can develop a protocol for the production and delivery of energy. I am focused on that path, watching as new concepts emerge. It happened in the biomechanics and will occur here, in the energetic.
DD Palmer was the founder of Chiropractic. His background as a magnetic healer led him to bring a simple balance back to health care. The body heals itself when interference is removed. He realized that he could do this through force and energy. This led to his understanding that life is a triune of matter, force (energy) and intelligence. For us to correct or restore the vitalistic system, we have to balance the physical and the energetic personally and restore health for our patients completely and optimally.
Energy, frequency, resonance… it’s all the same. We are no longer the hammer and nails doctors of the past. The upper cervical chiropractic of our future will be defined by not just analytics but by creativity as well. We will be the balance of the physical and the energetic. You can see at the seminars that we are attracting the creative analytics and not just the linear Vulcans.
We are doctors who connect energetically at a perfect location down a specific myofacial anatomy train and release an energetic stimulus that releases our patients back to tensegrity.
Now is the time to look at the energy dynamics of the correction. Measuring is only half the equation. Our biomechanics algorithm is solid, but we must always be ready to explore new pathways of growth. The “Quantum” in our name is aligned with quantum physics and energy just as DD Palmer was aligned with tone. The restoration of the energetic myofacial envelope and the vertical axis of the spine will now be our goal. As we balance our profession and our patients, so we go.
On Purpose and In Progress,
Russell Friedman, DC