Infrared Thermography & Upper Cervical Chiropractic

I first want to start this article on a positive and very promising note (and promise toend on one as well) for the validity of upper cervical chiropractic. The temperature gradient that exists when we study the cervical spine is a real thing and deserves extreme and careful study. Many Upper Cervical Doctors use thermography in their practice. This usually involves a simple single or double infrared sensor that picks up a point reading. These point readings are compared bilaterally to show an imbalance in the body. Some techniques use a pattern analysis to determine when the adjustment is to be given.

We have been doing some intense research in UC work with a digital infrared thermographic camera. Seeing the overall pattern of a thermographic image gives the BIG idea to see where the temperature changes are. A simple comparison of two points bilateral to each other is extremely inaccurate. I like to compare this to the old analogy of an ant that is standing on a Rembrandt painting. All the ant can see is red and black dots from close up. As one moves back from the painting they can now see the big picture and see the artist’s intentions. The same is analogous to visualizing a patient’s thermogram. I suppose another good example would be if we made a single beam x-ray projector and create an image of this one beam and then try to imagine a complete picture of the patients’ x-ray. This of course would be showing only the density at the one point and in no way an accurate reading of the patients spine.

The bilateral thermography point sensors that are being used by UC doctors are very limited in what they "see". Temperature patterns can run from Atlas all the way to T3 or farther. A simple right to left reading is misleading.

Upper_Cervical_infrared_thermalLimitations also exist in the post adjustment readings that doctors take. Any pressure on the spine can produce temperature increases for more than 30 minutes. The pattern being “broken” after the adjustment as taught in some techniques is erroneous based on this fact.

The third inconsistency that I have noticed is the "break" seen at atlas on the pattern analysis graphs. When I use our software to compare bilateral graphs similar to the units that are being used, there is always a much colder reading over the area of the hair at the nape of the neck. With digital thermographic pictures you can see the area around the hair is one color, and the hair is a much colder color. The hair is what produces the “break” in the reading. The image below demonstrates this clearly You can see the areas where the hair creates a “cooler” reading than the surrounding skin.

There is an incredible amount of potential with this new infrared technology and upper cervical chiropractic. It is our responsibility to use it and research what works and what doesn’t in making permanent temperature changes in our patients.

I can personally demo this camera for you and will be offering seminars to help us all mastermind our future. I can be reached at 860.922.7546 and more information can be found at www.gothermoscan.com.

Anthony Piana, DC

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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.