Chiropractor brings new technology to Mat-Su

While chiropractic care is becoming more and more mainstream, there are many who believe the alignment corrections that chiropractors administer are only necessary and beneficial when associated with the relief of pain. Not so, says one Valley chiropractor.

"You'd be amazed how much our bodies put up with," said Dr. Christopher Garden, one of the chiropractors at Alpine Chiropractic Center on the Parks Highway. Through the use of new technology, Garden's patients can now view where there are subluxations, or misalignments, in their spine before they ever feel any pain. Dubbed the Subluxation Station, Garden uses a state-of-the-art imaging machine to conduct non-invasive tests to determine what condition his patient's spines are in.

"This machine allows me to bring my patient's care up a level," said Garden. "It's nice because we can see the activity going on in the nervous system before any symptoms take place."

Garden said chiropractic care looks at three different aspects of the body: Sensory, motor and autonomic. Sensory deals with the pain section of the body, a simple "I hurt here" will let the chiropractor know what is going on at that level. But understanding the later aspects tend to be a little more difficult.

The motor nerves in one's body controls the muscles. If one part of the body is out of whack, the opposite side must compensate for the weaker side, similar to playing Tug-of-war. This results in an asymmetrical muscle balance, which causes muscles to fatigue and tighten quickly.

The autonomic section of the spine controls the organs through the nerves that are around the spine. If one of those nerves is cut off, or "dimmed," by a subluxation, it can affect areas of the body nowhere near the spine.

The Subluxation Station, through a series of three tests, can determine what is going on in the motor and autonomic levels in the spine, allowing chiropractors to better determine the course of action taken to properly adjust misalignments.

The Surface Electromyography scan, or SEMG scan, runs an electrical current into the muscles along the spine, testing for abnormal electrical current flowing through the muscles. This tests the motor level of the body.

The Thermograph or Thermal Scan measures the temperature of the body on each side of the spine, determining where there are imbalanced temperatures. The skin is the largest organ of the body, and the blood vessels under the skin work as the body's thermostat. When communication between the central nervous system and the blood vessels is disturbed, it causes a malfunction in the thermostat and there are unbalanced readings along the spine. This test allows chiropractors to determine where there are autonomic disturbances in the CNS.

The final subluxation test is the inclinology test, which measures the range of motion of the spine. When the range of motion is restricted, deterioration of the spine begins.

Garden said that by using this machine to create a spinal condition baseline it allows him to see what works and what does not as he begins working on a patient. In some cases, the tests will show that a patient is in need of an alternative treatment to chiropractic care.

"[By using this machine] the brain and body can function a heck of a lot better," Garden said. "Our body's are self-healing and self-regulating, you just have to give them a chance." Garden himself recovered from an accident where he was told he would "probably never walk again" through chiropractic care.

Garden's policy is to study and then review the test results with the patient before beginning treatment. He hands potential patients "health passes," which discounts the subluxation exam and x-rays to $35. To learn more about the machine, or to make an appointment, call 376-2475.