Glossary of Chiropractic Terms

Adjustment: The specific application of forces used to facilitate the body’s correction of nerve interference. Other terms in vogue are: Reduction of pathomechanics, Cavitation of the problematic joint, or manipulative reduction of the pathomechanic.

Chiropractic: A primary health care profession in which professional responsibility and authority are focused on the anatomy of the spine and immediate articulation, and the condition of nerve interference. It is also a practice, which encompasses educating, advising about and addressing nerve interference.

Chiropractic Adjustment: This is the actual means of expression by chiropractors to "adjust" the spine or an extremity back to it's normal position. There are about 100 different systems of chiropractic manipulation in use today and it all can gets a bit confusing. Dr. Haberstroh employees the oldest and perhaps most widely used technique called "Diversified" technique. The adjustment is extremely fast but not deep. As such, we call it a high velocity, low magnitude manipulation of the spine or extremity.   

CT Scan: Computerized Tomography-Formerly called "CAT" scan, this abbreviated term came into vogue when software programs were able to visualize more than just the axial plane (one plane view) on a patient's body. Thus, Computerized Axial Tomography was no longer axial but more global. This is actually just an old fashioned X-Ray tube put into numerous global postions such that the resulting picutures are 3-D and spectacular. Although CT can visualize soft and bony tissues, it is believed that CT images skeletal tissue more effectively. Boston Spine Clinics refers out for this imaging modality when the need arises.

Diagnosis (DX): A comprehensive process of evaluation of the spinal column and its immediate articulation to determine the presence of nerve interference and other conditions that may contraindicate chiropractic procedures.

Differential Diagnosis (DDX): As an exam progresses and more case history is ascertained; as well as possible tests and/or imaging, a doctor usually has several "possible" diagnosis' (DDX) he/she thinks a problem is. The doctor's job is to narrow down the various diagnosis' to an even smaller group of the most likely diagnosis and then finally arrive at the final diagnosis (DX).

Practice Objective: The professional practice objective of chiropractic is to correct nerve interference in a safe, effective manner. The correction is not considered to be a specific cure for any particular symptom or disease. It is applicable to any patient who exhibits nerve interference regardless of the presence or absence of symptoms or disease.

Manipulation: The forceful, yet semi-passive movement of a joint beyond its active limit of motion. It does not imply the use of precision, specificity or the correction of nerve interference. Therefore the term Manipulation, is not synonymous with chiropractic adjustment. *Go back and see the line on Chiropractic adjustment.  

MRI: "Magnetic Reasonance Imaging"-is a truly unique imaging modality that utilizes a magnetic field 60,000 times more powerful than the earth's magnetic matrix to reverse the spin on hydrogen molecules in our bodies. When a radio signal is shot into the patient's body during the magnetic field flux, the hydrogen molecules give off energy and this is picked up by sensors to create the images the computer software re-constructs for us. There are no known side effects to this imaging. When the need arises, Boston Spine Clinics will refer out for this modality as well.

Pathomechanics: Another name for vertebrae out of alignment. It literally describes the vertebrae as "pathology of the mechanics (movement) of the vertebrae." It is a more accurately descriptive term of the displacement of the vertebrae than just saying "subluxation."

Paraspinal EMG Scanning:
A painless, non-invasive procedure to measure and record the electrical signals given off by the muscles that attach to the spinal column. Electrodes are placed on the skin and their readings are shown in the form of a graph. Since one of the symptoms of nerve interference is abnormal muscle activity, the EMG is becoming a popular method for charting muscle spasms and spinal imbalance. Boston Spine Clinics refers out for this service when indicated.

PET Scan: "Positron Emitting Tomography"- Utilizes a positive electron. Remember your basic chemistry: an electron is negative, so a positive electron can only mean one thing: anti-matter. By injecting anti-matter into the human body, these positron interact with electrons and produce small matter-antimatter explosions in which gamma rays are emitted. These are picked up by the scanner and create full color images of the body. The only known modality that can differentiate between living and dead tissue, the PET scan is hugely expensive due to the need to have a small, in-office nuclear accelerator available to create the positrons. Their half-life is about 15 minutes. Other than the huge expense, this is really the best imaging modality going. Boston Spine Clinics has yet to refer a patient for this imaging, but it is available here in Massachusetts and we would refer if the need arose.

Thermography: This procedure measures the temperature on the skin surface to locate inflammation of muscles and soft tissues. A special camera takes pictures, which reflect the different temperatures by displaying a range of colors on film. Thermography has been used in the past to pinpoint spinal nerve and muscle stress. Thermography is not used very much these days and to this day, Boston Spine Clinics has never refered out for this service.

Vertebral Subluxation: Refers to a misalignment of one or more of the 24 moveable vertebrae in the spinal column. These lesions which chiropractors specialize in treating can alternately cause simple back pain in addition to possible alterations of nerve function resulting in a lessening of the body’s innate ability to express its maximum health potential.

As a Boston Chiropractor, Dr. Haberstroh is dedicated to your health and wellbeing. If there is a case that he cannot help, he will tell you that too and try to find the most appropriate referral. Boston Spine Clinics is dedicated to your total health and that of your family.