Kicking off a new fun feature called "Our Patients Speak" where we highlight some of our patients success stories and experiences! We would like to start with Tony Coriale of Raleigh, NC who would like to remind us to stick to the after care to keep everything aligned. Thanks Tony!

Chiropractic for Proactive Health vs. Reactive Treatment

The time is now to take greater responsibility for our health and well-being by concentrating on Prevention instead of reactive treatment. After all, maintaining health is not a one time project, but a lifelong pursuit.

What is Chiropractic and Why Is It Important to Me?

By this time, I have heard about a hundred different definitions of what chiropractic is. From very complex, long-winded explanations that go into the origins of the practice, mentioning the founding father, Daniel David Palmer to much much more simple explanations such as, “You know… it’s when you get your bones cracked”. But it doesn’t have to be such a chore to define. In fact, we would like to break down what exactly Chiropractic is for you down to its basic, balanced, simple concept.

As any good investigator would do, we will start here; Webster dictionary defines Chiropractic as “a system of complementary medicine based on the diagnosis and manipulative treatment of misalignments of the joints, especially those of the spinal column, which are held to cause other disorders by affecting the nerves, muscles, and organs.” But what does this all really mean?

A Philosophy So Simple, yet so Smart

Your body is smart. Real smart. It has true innate intelligence which seeks balance, or homeostasis, among all of its systems. This intelligence works hard to sustain your health, attack disease and restore your body from the effects of trauma. You would never think that the cells in your body are like a symphony orchestra, all being conducted by the great maestro, the nervous system.

Now let’s chat about this master of all function, the nervous system. The matter of fact is that the job of the nervous system is to regulate the body. In order to do so, it truly needs to function at full capacity. Here is where chiropractic comes in. It is the role of the chiropractor to identify and remove the barriers to neurophysiological (nerve function) balance.

Like Studying, But for Your Body

Remember our symphony orchestra where the cells in our body are all the instruments such as the woodwinds, the drums etc, and the conductor is the nervous system? Think of chiropractic as the conductor’s assistant, bringing him water and food when he needs nutrition and a little massage when he gets tired. Because let’s face it, everyone needs a little help sometimes.

It is through Chiropractic Care that we can make sure that the nervous system is never out of tune (we just couldn’t help ourselves). Chiropractic focuses on making sure the integrity of the spine and its surrounding tissues are in good health as a means to enhance your body’s intelligence, normal human function and health.

We have come to the finale of this blog post. To sum up, chiropractic is a natural form of health care with the main focus of restoring the proper function of your nervous system. No drugs. No Surgery. Just allowing your body to do what it wants to naturally do – help you heal and recuperate on its own.

Reaching Optimal Functioning Levels is Not Just for Athletes.

Let's focus on optimal function of your body - because the way to improve your health and quality of life is to remove nervous system interference.

NIMMO-Receptor Tonus Technique

Dr. Bryan Osborne, chief chiropractor of the Osborne Chiropractic Clinic in Raleigh, NC is trained in the Nimmo Myofascial Release Technique. Read more about it here:

NIMMO-Receptor Tonus Technique
Written by Sheila Laws, D.C.

Raymond Nimmo, D.C., graduated from Palmer School in 1931, and set up his practice in Fort Worth, Texas. He soon became thirsty for more knowledge, so he studied and taught Logan Basic Technique and other techniques. His quest brought him to the realization that what chiropractors had been taught in chiropractic colleges was not scientifically sound. He rationalized that the “bone on nerve” theory could not be substantiated by physiological facts because too many patients were being healed by manual manipulations, which did not involve bony contacts. His own chronically painful shoulder was relieved by a chiropractor who did not touch a vertebra, but corrected the problem by eliminating the hypermyotonia and trigger points (TP’s) present in his body.

Being a man who questioned everything, Dr. Nimmo researched the current literature and found facts to substantiate his developing theory; i.e., that chronically hypertonic muscles were the cause of most of the complaints that patients presented with. He began to incorporate his research findings into his practice, and patients responded in, what seemed, a miraculous fashion.

His success attracted attention from fellow DC’s who asked him to teach them what he was doing. He was a masterful teacher, beginning his lectures with the basics of anatomy and physiology. Dr. Nimmo defined chiropractic as “a branch of the healing arts that is concerned with those foci adversely affecting the function of the nervous system, which are amendable by manual methods.” His constant goal in teaching was to impart what was sound neurologically and physiologically so that his theories could not be “debunked.” The results he obtained were proof of the effectiveness of the “Receptor-Tonus Method” principles. Thousands of chiropractors studied his methods and changed their lives, their practices, and the health of their patients. Dr. Nimmo taught that the “bone out of place” concept, so prevalent in the chiropractic profession, actually enslaved the average chiropractor. To quote Dr. Nimmo: “Didn’t they ever stop to consider that the bones are where the muscles and ligaments put them?”

He was a man 50 years ahead of his time in his thinking. He felt that chiropractors should be concerned with the functional integrity of the nervous system. In other words, if it is chiropractic to adjust a bone in the effort to restore functional integrity to the nervous system, it certainly should be chiropractic if the chiropractor directed his efforts to the factors which produce the misalignment of such a bone. To this end, a “hands-on” method, which restores the functional integrity of the body, especially the spine, by freeing the nervous system and permitting it to function normally, must be considered as a “CHIROPRACTIC” method.

Receptor-tonus Technique is a systematic approach which uses ischemic compression to remove myofascial trigger points. The doctor is instructed to search for and correct these points which bombard the nervous system and give rise to subluxations by the hypermyotonia they produce in the skeletal system.

Trigger points arise from several causes, such as acute or chronic muscular overload, direct trauma, poor posture, chilling of a muscle and even emotional stress. Once a trigger point has occurred, due to metabolic stasis in the area of the TP, waste products begin to accumulate. These waste products are nerve irritants (bradykinin, serotonin, hyaluronic acid, etc.) which, in turn, produce and perpetuate pain. Due to the accumulation of waste products, the blood supply to the area is decreased and ischemia and resultant pain are felt by the patient.

The treatment consists of sustained pressure for a specified length of time, usually five to seven seconds, but lesser time for some TP’s. The pressure is applied to the patient’s tolerance, always mindful of the pain threshold variances in each patient. Proper spacing of the office visits, and knowing which muscle groups to treat are important factors in determining patients’ responses. It is imperative for the chiropractor to understand that this method of chiropractic technique cannot be learned from reading about it, or in sporadic weekend practice. Attending and participating in three to five Receptor-Tonus seminars will usually prepare the doctor to recognize and successfully remove these causes of subluxations and resultant ill health.

Since Dr. Nimmo’s death in 1986, seminars teaching these methods are being taught by several certified instructors, namely myself, Dr. Jeffrey Cohen, Dr. Michael Fiscella, and Dr. Michael Schneider.

Dr. Sheila K. Laws is a 1962 graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic.  After attending 45 seminars taught by Dr. Raymond Nimno, developer of the Receptor Tonus technique, he asked her to carry on his teaching. Dr. Laws has been an R-T Instructor since 1975, and held approximately 180 seminars across the U.S.A.  She can be reached by phone at 217-223-6170.