History of Thermography from a Chiropractic Perspective

Early Doctors since the beginning of organized health care have used the principles of heat detection to study pathology. Hippocrates, the founder of modern healthcare, covered his patients in mud to observe where the mud would dry first. He would then postulate that these dried areas were the site of anatomical pathology.

D.D. Palmer used skin temperature differences by hand to locate the vertebral subluxation. BJ Palmer, the son of D.D. used very sophisticated machinery that he developed to monitor paraspinal differences in temperatures. The most noted of this kind was the Neurocalamter. This machine was set in a big room grounded in copper elements to reduce static electricity. The Gonstead Technique, founded by Clarence Gonstead, DC used a dual probe instrument to detect heat changes across the spine. Vernon Pierce, DC in the Pierce-Stillwagon Technique (PST) promoted the Dermathermograph (DTG). This was the first widely accepted Chiropractic instrument that used infrared technology which measured the temperature differential from one spinal segment to the next. It also gave an atlas differential from left to right measure in degrees. Since then there have been several companies to improve this infrared technology. These include the Subluxation Insight Millenium and the Tytron. These units use computerized paraspinal infrared measurements to graph results. Many doctors use these products still today.

The most sophisticated devices in the infrared class of instrumentation are the Infrared Thermographic Cameras. These devices, until recently, have carried too high of a price tag for the average Chiropractor to own. Most Chiropractors using this technology have used them for breast evaluation and the detection of carcinoma.

With the recent trends in the lowering of cost for all electronics and computer components, the significant drop in price has allowed for the new age in Chiropractic paraspinal temperature diagnosis.

“Infrared Cameras Inc. has brought the technology to Thermographic Wellness, LLC and Dr. Piana, for only a little more than it costs to own some of the other systems on the market.”, states John Kalish, an International Attorney interested in overseas marketing and sales for these camera systems.

This new age of scientific demonstration of temperature differential gives the BIG PICTURE of temperature difference on the actual photograph of the spine. A good analogy is the ant standing on the Rembrandt painting. When he is close up the ant sees only dots of black or white. When the painting is looked at from the distance the whole picture and beauty can be seen. The same comparison is noted when looking at the spinal temperature readings from only two bilateral points versus seeing whole body temperature patterns.

This new advancement in technology and affordability combined will accelerate Doctors of Chiropractic into the future.

by Anthony Piana, DC, IAST

Palmer Chiropractic College, 1991

Fellow in Chiropractic Biophysics

Certified in Chiropractic Spinal Trauma, CCST

Founder of Thermographic Wellness, LLC

Founder of Thermographic Wellness Clinics, LLC

Developer, International Academy of Spinal Thermography (IAST)

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Quick Chiropractic Information

  • Chiropractic Philosophy
  • Chiropractic History
  • Straight Chiropractors
  • Mixer Chiropractors

Chiropractic's early philosophy was rooted in vitalism, spiritual inspiration and rationalism. A philosophy based on deduction from irrefutable doctrine helped distinguish chiropractic from medicine, provided it with legal and political defenses against claims of practicing medicine without a license, and allowed chiropractors to establish themselves as an autonomous profession.

This "straight" philosophy, taught to generations of chiropractors, rejects the inferential reasoning of the scientific method, and relies on deductions from vitalistic first principles rather than on the materialism of science. However, most practitioners currently accept the importance of scientific research into chiropractic, and most practitioners are "mixers" who attempt to combine the materialistic reductionism of science with the metaphysics of their predecessors and with the holistic paradigm of wellness; a 2008 commentary proposed that chiropractic actively divorce itself from the straight philosophy as part of a campaign to eliminate untestable dogma and engage in critical thinking and evidence-based research.

Chiropractic is a health care discipline and profession that emphasizes diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially the spine, under the hypothesis that these disorders affect general health via the nervous system.

It is generally considered to be complementary and alternative medicine, a characterization that many chiropractors reject. The main treatment involves manual therapy including manipulation of the spine, other joints, and soft tissue; treatment also includes exercises and health and lifestyle counseling. Traditional chiropractic assumes that a vertebral subluxation or spinal joint dysfunction interferes with the body's function and its innate intelligence, a notion that brings ridicule from mainstream science and medicine.

Straight chiropractors adhere to the philosophical principles set forth by D.D. and B.J. Palmer, and retain metaphysical definitions and vitalistic qualities. Straight chiropractors believe that vertebral subluxation leads to interference with an "Innate Intelligence" exerted via the human nervous system and is a primary underlying risk factor for many diseases. Straights view the medical diagnosis of patient complaints (which they consider to be the "secondary effects" of subluxations) to be unnecessary for chiropractic treatment. Thus, straight chiropractors are concerned primarily with the detection and correction of vertebral subluxation via adjustment and do not "mix" other types of therapies. Their philosophy and explanations are metaphysical in nature and prefer to use traditional chiropractic lexicon (i.e. perform spinal analysis, detect subluxation, correct with adjustment, etc.). They prefer to remain separate and distinct from mainstream health care.

Mixer chiropractors "mix" diagnostic and treatment approaches from osteopathic, medical, and chiropractic viewpoints. Unlike straight chiropractors, mixers believe subluxation is one of many causes of disease, and they incorporate mainstream medical diagnostics and employ many treatments including conventional techniques of physical therapy such as exercise, massage, ice packs, and moist heat, along with nutritional supplements, acupuncture, homeopathy, herbal remedies, and biofeedback. Mixers tend to be open to mainstream medicine and are the majority group.