Dear Editor:
This is in response to a letter to the editor, "Not Qualified to Diagnose Female Conditions," by John Jagusch, DC, in the June 4, 1993 issue of Dynamic Chiropractic.
I personally began my chiropractic treatment because of dysmenorrhea. At the age of 17, the "MD, OB/GYN specialist" had tried a variety of pharmaceuticals, which only worsened my symptoms and then told me there really was nothing wrong with me. At this point I menstruated every 21 days for eight days, with severe pain for two days.
I thank God my father had begun chiropractic care shortly before this. He suggested I speak to Lester Lutz, DC. When I asked this wise man if he could help me he responded, "I don't know, but if this problem is related to your spine, you will be helped."
Mine was not a miracle cure. Rather, the adjustments slowed down the rapid worsening of my condition so that by my mid-20s my dysmenorrhea was only at the level of back labor. Eventually I birthed three children and finally in my late 30s my menses is normal. I realize the usual progression is eventual hysterectomy, not normal menses. I am glad this chiropractor was not afraid to treat "female conditions" 20 years ago, and that he did not give up after a short time of treatment.
It is because of my history and the success of chiropractic adjustments as the treatment for the internal disorder of dysmenorrhea that I became a DC, graduating from PCC in 1981.
Patricia M. Tillou, DC
Rochester, New York
Discarding the Notion of "Female Conditions" as Mysterious
Dear Editor:
This is in response to John Jagusch, DC, whose letter, in the June 4, 1993 issue of Dynamic Chiropractic, expressed resentment about a NCMIC grant to study dysmenorrhea. Here is another viewpoint to try:
- Apparently, Dr. Jagusch has not heard that the female reproductive system is part and parcel with the rest of the body, meaning it is attached to and innervated by the nervous system. It is not put in as an accessory like an AM/FM cassette in a new truck.
- He also has not heard that "MD specialists," to use his phrase, don't have anything to offer the dysmenorrhea patient except a lifetime on the pill, or surgery.
- If he were listening to his female patients, he would know that balancing the pelvis often relieves dysmenorrhea instantly or within a short time if the cause is structural. If it is endocrine related, many support measures that a DC can use can clear it up in a couple of months (pathology excluded). I am referring to nutritional and herbal support, diet, and exercise, along with adjusting.
It is time for the chiropractic profession to accept the integrity of the female body, to discard the classic allopathic notion that "female problems" are somehow mysterious, separate from other health care, or too scary or embarrassing to deal with. If you don't know how to deal with it, send the patient to someone who will respect the problem. There are plenty of male and female DCs who recognize the resolvability of this condition. Or you can start being one of them.
Rosemary Motz, DC
Vacaville, California
What Good is Thermography?
Dear Editor:
Concerning Dr. Croft's questions about thermography's value, perhaps a review of neurophysiology might shed some visible light on the subject.
Overlap of preganglionic sympathetic fibers explains why, in a group of subjects with the same level of nerve impairment, various dermatome levels will be demonstrated thermographically. The sinuvertebral nerve explains why sometimes the expected thermal discrepancy shows up on the opposite side of the injury. Transition from the hyperthermic antidromic effect to the hypothermic effect of sympathetic overstimulation explains why a thermogram can vary from hot, to normal, to cold on different days. In other words, thermography will never be able to pass a medical blinded study, nor will a thermometer determine the weight of a patient.
So, what good is thermography? Where does it fit in? If you are trying to diagnose and treat symptoms, thermography has little value. If you are trying to document evidence of neurophysiological breakdown (regardless of symptoms -- there may be none) and monitor the patient's neurophysiological reactions (good, bad or none) to conservative treatment, thermography fits right in. Thermography has more value in disease prevention than the medically, diagnostically-oriented mind could ever comprehend.
Kevin L. Stillwagon, DC, DCCT
St. Cloud, Florida
"Love Affair with Bones"
Dear Editor:
I just finished reading the article, "Another Paradigm Shift," by Warren Hammer, DC, in the May 7 issue of Dynamic Chiropractic. I completely agree with all of the points that Dr. Hammer covers in this timely article.
It is very exciting for me as Nimmo practitioner and instructor to see an MPI instructor so enthusiastic about the muscular component of the subluxation complex. Dr. Ray Nimmo wrote about the fact that "muscles move bones" as early as 1957. Dr. Nimmo tried in vain for his entire lifetime to educate the chiropractic profession about the role of the muscular system in the development and perpetuation of bony misalignment and fixation.
Unfortunately, the chiropractic profession has had a love affair with bones and has neglected the muscular system for almost 100 years. It is about time that the profession listens to the words of people like Drs. Nimmo, Travell, Jandra, Lewitt, and others who have known for years that both muscle and joint dysfunction play a role in the symptom complex of musculoskeletal patients. I agree wholeheartedly with Dr. Hammer's conclusion that our profession needs to make the paradigm shift from "misalignment" to "fixation" to "muscular dysfunction." I congratulate him for bringing this point to the awareness of the profession at large by publishing this article.
Michael J. Schneider, DC
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Alleged ACCO Treatment Guidelines for Strain/Sprain
Dear Editor:
As president of the American College of Chiropractic Orthopedists (ACCO), my executive board and I wish to ask for your assistance regarding the above matter.
As you know, there are many doctors of chiropractic who perform defense paper evaluation, file reviews, and IMEs. Some of these defense doctors decrease patient care and chiropractic utilization based upon alleged "published guidelines" of the ACCO. These alleged guidelines are continually appearing throughout the country, all without merit. Because of this, I have personally sent letters to numerous state boards and chiropractic associations regarding this false document asking for their assistance in publishing a denial of such a document.
We, therefore, request that Dynamic Chiropractic put a warning into its biweekly publication stating that these guidelines were never published or endorsed by the ACCO. Anybody using these guidelines should cease and desist at once.
On behalf of the ACCO, I wish to express my gratitude for your assistance in this matter.
If you should have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to phone my office.
Philip D. Rake, DC, FACO
President, ACCO
La Crescenta, California
"More to Health than the Omnipotent Subluxation"
Dear Editor:
I am now compelled to respond to the latest column by Dr. Fred Barge, "ACA Leads Us into Osteopathy, Pasaron por Aqui." He states that the ACA has cowered to medical dominance by addressing the horror stories contained in the Wall Street Journal article earlier this year. It should certainly be the responsibility of the leadership of the majority of this profession to distance itself from those who believe that there is nothing more to health than correcting the omnipotent subluxation, while blissfully disregarding the many other factors influencing a patient's health. I, for one, am elated at the prompt, incisive responses to this unjust article by both the ACA and president of CCE, which is now the only recognized entity upholding current chiropractic educational standards.
Dr. Barge states that the concept of immunization is "fault ridden"; from what data does he draw this conclusion? Surely not on the past decades of carefully monitored clinical studies assembled by the World Health Organization, which demonstrate unequivocally that judiciously applied immunization programs have all but wiped out significant numbers of catastrophic and/or fatal infectious epidemics. He laments that chiropractors are now practicing orthopedics, radiology, sports medicine, etc. God forbid that some of my colleagues obtain a little additional knowledge which can be applied at once to help our profession get people well faster.
I agree with Dr. Barge that chiropractic must maintain its identity in the midst of allopathic care. However, to hold fast to the old, unscientifically supported dogma of chiropractic is to tread a path of isolationism. The only way chiropractic will flourish in the world community with isolationism is by eradicating completely all other health professions. I do not believe we are yet equipped to handle this responsibility. For example, I would relish the opportunity to witness Dr. Barge managing his first case of traumatic splenic rupture in the ER by correcting subluxation. One problem with current allopathy is the tendency to overspecialize by so intently focusing on the pathology of a single organ that the whole patient is forgotten. How similar this seems to the chiropractor who so intently focuses on correcting subluxations that he fails to also assess the neurophysiological, psychological, and biochemical status of the patient. Pasaron por Aqui?
So, Dr. Barge, continue to spin your "woe is us" columns, issue after issue, from your soapbox (or is it pulpit?) while the dedicated faculty and researchers of CCE and ACA, aligned institutions, continue to prove the effectiveness of chiropractic to the world community.
Raymond G. Nietzold, DC, DABCO
Clearwater, Florida