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Subluxation Station
Subluxation (misalignment): A problem in the spine where an abnormal position/movement of the vertebrae disturbs communication within the Central Nervous System causing a disturbance in the body.
The Central Nerve System, which controls ALL FUNCTIONS OF THE BODY, is comprised of three areas. Any or all of these areas may be affected by misalignments (subluxations) of the spine.
1. Motor Nerves
Motor nerves control your movement and posture and when disturbed can lead to abnormal tensions, weakness and fatigue. This is assessed by specific postural analysis and by sEMG (surface electromyography). The sEMG reads the amount of electrical current in your muscles to determine how well your motor nerves are functioning and if they are symmetrical. This is extremely important because the vertebrae in the spine depend on the muscles to move properly. Subluxations (misalignments in the spine) disturb nerve function and cause an abnormal amount of electrical current to flow to your muscles. This leads to muscles becoming weaker or stronger, tighter or fatigued on one side of the spine compared to the other. These are indicated by colors or abnormal patterns in the scan.
2. Autonomic Nerves
Autonomic nerves control all of your organs, immune system and glands (hormones). Thermography measures temperature differences. If your normal body temperature is 98.6F, then the left and right sides of your spine should also be the same. Your skin is the largest organ in the body, and the blood vessels under the skin work as the body's thermostat. (They expand to release heat and contract to retain heat controlling the body's temperature.) When there is disturbance somewhere in the Nervous System, the blood vessels are disturbed, and it causes the body's thermostat to malfunction. This results in an imbalance temperature reading along the spine, which is measured with the Insight Millennium. Your blood vessels are controlled by the same part of the Central Nervous System that runs your organs and glands, known as the Autonomic System. This thermal scan provides us with the information to monitor the Autonomic System for proper function.
3. Pain & Sensation
These nerves are the ones that control your ability to sense and perceive pain. Only 10% of your entire nervous system is set up to sense pain. While pain is a strong warning that something is wrong, a lack of pain may not mean that we are totally healthy. The Insight Millennium technology helps us assess your nerve and spine health beyond your symptoms. This allows us to catch problems before they become painful and monitor your progress when pain nerves are no longer being affected.
At Network Family Wellness Center, we utilize an advanced chiropractic technology that scans your spine and delivers a computerized image of the stress and tension to your nervous system. Two different technologies give us (and you) an objective assessment:
Surface EMG
Surface Electromyography measures the minute amounts of electrical energy in the muscles along your spine. Subluxations disturb the function of the nervous system. This can produce too much or too little electrical activity in your muscles. We use this highly-accurate, non-invasive scan to document your progress and chart your improvement. It's more accurate than how you feel.
Thermal Scan
As you'd expect, this measures temperature. When there are disturbances to your nervous system along the spine, there are often temperature differences from side to side. This is due to inflammation and changes in blood flow. Our thermal scan is non-invasive, gentle and reveals the condition of your autonomic nervous system controlling your organs, glands and circulatory system.
What to Expect
After gowning, we'll have you sit still for a moment or two. Then, starting at the base of your skull, we'll run two probes down your back. Think of these as miniature radio antennas listening for a distant station. That's it. The computer does the rest!
At your report of findings, you'll get to see the computerized printout and learn what it means. We will explain in detail what the scan represents and how it will help us in getting you well. Because your care is based on the condition of your nervous system, not how you feel, this technology is the focal point of our practice.
Our state of the art technology will objectively help us:
1.Detect areas of nerve disturbance
2.Document and monitor your results
3.Deliver the appropriate chiropractic care
Frequently asked questions about the Insight Millennium Subluxation Station:
1. Do the Insight Millennium scans hurt?
NEVER. The tests are completely non-invasive; they do not use any needles, electrical shock or heat. They are designed to receive information from your Central Nervous System.
2. Why does the Chiropractor administer these tests?
Our purpose is to detect abnormal function in the spine, which cannot be seen on x-ray. Abnormal spinal function causes abnormal Nervous System disturbance.
3. Why is it important to monitor the results?
Dr. Knowles wants the best results for his practice members. He can easily monitor these changes through periodic progress exams. It has been proven that a very slight amount of pressure can disturb Nervous System communication whether or not symptoms are present! Monitoring the functioning of the Nervous System is vital in improving your health and well-being.
4. How will these tests benefit me?
For years, a concern of the public has been, Why do I have to keep going to the chiropractor even though I'm pain-free? or How do I know if I'm getting the proper amount of adjustments?
Now you are able to actually see the changes, and it will be easier to understand the amount and type of care you are receiving. This technology allows the doctors to provide a tailor-made program to meet your specific needs.
Chiropractic Care that is Out of this World
The following is an press release about The Insight Subluxation Station receiving the Space Foundation Certification by the Chiropractic Leadership Alliance.
Spinal care technology developed for astronauts is now available for better chiropractic care. The Space Foundation, co-founded by NASA, announced today that the Chiropractic Leadership Alliance (CLA) has been awarded exclusive certification for the Insight Subluxation Station as a Certified Space Technology (tm). The Insight technology is a neurospinal screening and evaluation system that uses surface electromyography (SEMG) technology originally designed to measure changes in the spinal muscles of astronauts. Chiropractors use the Insight to measure the effects of subluxations, and to help identify misalignments of the spine that cause nerve interference. Spinal misalignment disturbs the muscle's regular nerve function, causing an abnormal amount of electrical flow to the muscles and creating other health problems. The Insight Subluxation Station measures the electrical flow and charts it using graphics that show the spine and specify precisely when chiropractors should adjust their patients, allowing for increased accuracy in diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes. The Space Foundation is pleased to certify the Insight Subluxation Station, said Kevin Cook, director of brand management for the Space Foundation. The Chiropractic Leadership Alliance promotes better health by equipping the professional with the best technology for patient assessment. The Insight uses technology developed for NASA to measure the effects of space on the spines of space shuttle astronauts. CLA continued the development of the system into the commercially available model available for chiropractic care and has been marketing the technology since 1988. The system measures skin temperature differentials and the sensitivity of paraspinal tissues and assesses range-of-motion, heart rate variability, and the amount of tension of paraspinal muscle activity to create the visual images used by chiropractors and their patients. We are extremely excited to have been awarded the Space Foundation's certification, states CLA Chief Executive Officer Dr. Patrick Gentempo. Increasing the credibility of chiropractic practice with a technology relevant to today's world will help bring better health to millions of people worldwide.CLA is pleased to be on the cutting edge of emerging technology, said Dr. Christopher Kent, CLA Co-founder. We are committed to providing chiropractors and their patients with scientifically sound technology. This will lead to improved clinical outcomes. Since the dawn of the space era, the world's best engineers at NASA have been developing advanced technologies that fuel America's efforts in space and also result in a number of earthly applications. The Space Certification Program, managed by the Space Foundation, provides official recognition for qualified products and services incorporating those space technologies. For more information, visit Certified by the Space Program.
The purpose of performing testing at your initial evaluation is to assess the state of physiologic function of your spine that cannot be seen on X-Ray. The three standard tests are:
1) Surface electromyography (SEMG Scan) to assess the electrical current in the muscles. Your muscles are controlled by nerves. The SEMG measures how well the motor nerves are working by reading the amount of current found in the muscles. Spinal Subluxations disturb nerve flow and cause an abnormal amount of electrical current to flow to your muscles. Additionally, altered spinal position or brain function creates muscle imbalance. This reveals an increased amount of tension/pull on one side compare to the other (similar to a tug of war.)
2) Temperature Differences (Thermal Scan)
When the communication between the nerve system and your blood vessels is disturbed the body’s thermostat malfunctions producing an imbalanced temperature reading along the spine. These blood vessels are controlled by the same part of the Central Nerve System that coordinates your organs, glands and body chemistry, your autonomic system. Temperature differences beyond 1/2 a degree can be neurologically pathological. (Umatsu) Additionally, a non changing reading indicates a nerve system that fails to adapt to stress appropriately. (Palmer)
3) Range of motion: To measure loss of Motion/Flexibility (Inclinometer)
This test measures your spinal movement in comparison to normal ranges for your age and gender. When there is abnormal positioning of the vertebrae, it reduces fluid motion of your spine. When range of motion is restricted stress is caused on the parts involved—this begins a decaying process and spinal degeneration. This process will not only affect the problem areas, but left uncorrected will negatively affect the whole body. If you had 1 of the 4 tires turning 20% less than the other 3 your vehicle would be unsafe to drive. You have 7 neck bones, 12 mid-back bones, and 5 low-back bones. They must all move freely and fluidly for you spine to take you on your life's journeys safely. |
