Biomechanics Corner

 Diversified is the Reason Chiropractors Fail at Spinal Correction

Donald D. Harrison, PhD, DC, MSE	Deed E. Harrison, DC

            Because of the more uniform curricula required for accreditation by CCE, all chiropractic colleges teach Diversified as the main focus of their technique classes. Most Chiropractors equate spinal manipulation and spinal adjustment, whereas adjustment actually means to “make normal” or “move to correct position”. Chiropractors are taught to expect the “Cavitation” (sudden drop in pressure) as evidence that the bones moved into place, when in actuality, seldom if ever do spinal changes (adjustment) occur on x-ray with Diversified.

Many decades ago, some one should have asked, “Why don’t spinal changes occur after applying Diversified maneuvers?” Actually, the answer is available from simple engineering concepts. Diversified maneuvers are “torsion loads” and seldom if ever match the postural loads in the patient, seldom do patients have only the exact opposite rotated posture.

For examples of torsion loads, Figures 1 and 2 depict the common cervical (rotary break) and lumbar (million dollar roll) manipulations taught in chiropractic colleges

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 1. A cervical rotary break is an Example of a torsion load (twisting) applied to the cervical spine.  (Published with permission from  JMPT 1998; 21(9):652)      Figure 2. The Diversified lumbar roll is an example of a torsion load (twisting)  applied to the lumbar spine.  (Reprinted from JMPT 1998; 21(9):652)                                  

              For the neck manipulation in Figure 1 to result in a posture/x-ray change, what must the presenting patient’s posture have to be?  There is only one possibility: the exact opposite head posture depicted in Figure 3!

 Figure 3. For the Diversified rotary break depicted in Figure 1 to result in a spinal change towards normal, the original presenting posture of the patient’s head must have been in the exact opposite posture. That is: head rotated to the right combined with left lateral flexion of the head. (Reprinted by permission from BioTonix, Montreal, Canada)

             By now you have probably deduced what the patient’s posture must be in order for the Diversified maneuver in Figure 2 to result in a spinal change towards normal. The original posture of the patient must have been a rotation of the thoracic cage posterior on the right compared to a fixed pelvis and legs in the standing position. Secondly, you have now probably started to understand that Diversified maneuvers are done with total disregard for the presenting posture of the patient. Thirdly, you have probably started to realize that Diversified maneuvers are rotations (Torsion loads are twisting/rotations) without any translations of the head, rib cage or pelvis.

            To solidify this idea, be aware that half the movements of rigid bodies are translations and, with few exceptions, there are no Diversified maneuvers for translations of the head, rib cage, and pelvis. Figure 4 illustrates all these possible human postures.

 

 
Figure 4. There are no Diversified manipulations to “reverse” or Mirror Image® the postural translations. If any patient has these as their original posture, the use of Diversified will not allow postural/x-ray changes (unless there is an acute antalgic lean). (Reprinted with permission from JMPT 1998; 21(2):104)

             There are 730³ > 300,000,00 possible permutations of human postures, with a probable 0% specificity of Diversified manipulations matching a patient’s original posture correctly. That is why we invented Mirror Image® adjusting, Mirror Image® exercises, Mirror Image® traction in all degrees of freedom in CBP® Technique in 1980. CBP®’s Mirror Image® procedures are so exacting, novel, and mechanically sound that many others have tried to claim these as their own.