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Spinal manipulation
Spinal manipulation has been well documented within the writings of Hippocrates
and the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) literature. In Western society,
spinal manipulation began in the late 19th century with the
development of osteopathic medicine by a frontier doctor named Andrew Taylor
Still, MD. This school of medicine, as he developed it, began in 1874. Today, it
has trained osteopathic physicians able to be board-certified in all of the
medical and surgical subspecialties within the entire United States. Osteopathic
physicians are complete physicians who, in addition to traditional medical and
surgical approaches, use osteopathic principles and practice in the management
of their patients. Part of their philosophical approach is to recognize that
structure and function are interrelated, and their practice includes the
judicious use of osteopathic manipulative medicine. These varied techniques
attempt to normalize problems within the musculoskeletal system, thereby
improving the body’s balance.
Another form of manipulation was developed in 1895 by David Daniel Palmer, a
local magnetic healer, and a student of Dr Still’s. Palmer termed his healing
art “chiropractic,” from the Greek words chiro and praktikos,
meaning “done by hand.” Chiropractors are not physicians in the traditional
sense of the term. They do not practice medicine or surgery. They do not
prescribe medications. Chiropractors treat misalignments, or subluxations,
within the spinal column that they believe cause problems within the nervous
system, thereby leading to disease. Chiropractors treat these subluxations with
manipulation of the spine and may use adjunctive therapies such as heat,
electrical stimulation, and ultrasound.
Both of these approaches grew and developed their own systems of accreditation.
Most patients who receive manipulation today are treated by one of these two
groups of healers.
The public tends to have a narrow concept of manipulation. High-velocity,
low-amplitude techniques, typically referred to by lay persons receiving
manipulation as having my “neck cracked,” is the most common perception of
cervical manipulative techniques. In fact, within both schools of manipulation,
this is far from the truth. The thrusting technique (high-velocity,
low-amplitude manipulations) is only one form of therapy that may be used. Other
manipulative techniques, such as myofascial release, strain/counterstrain, and
muscle energy techniques, may be used instead of the common thrusting
procedures. These techniques tend to focus on soft tissue structures.
Patients seeking any form of manipulation should do their homework on the
proposed providers and techniques used in order to find competent practitioners
capable of performing such procedures as safely as possible. The risks and
benefits must be clearly discussed. Just as one chooses their surgeon carefully,
so too must a patient evaluate any practitioner who would attempt manipulation.
Note that no clear study findings within peer-reviewed, evidence-based
literature demonstrate that the use of cervical manipulation has any
long-lasting effect on the management of migraine or cluster headaches. In
addition, the procedure is not without risk. A recent article in the journal
Neurology indicated that, although rare, stroke may be a complication of
thrusting procedures.
(http://www.emedicinehealth.com/articles/46922-5.asp)
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