Manual Manipulation?
Instrument Correction?
What Should I Do?
Many specific upper cervical chiropractic patients, especially those who have gotten excellent results
from manual manipulation, wonder whether they should consider being corrected by an instrument. By instinct, most people seem to prefer
the human touch. Historically, chiropractic instrument adjustment devices have been a source of anxiety for many patients. Some
devices push, some pull, and some thump. Most will move bones. So will a ball peen hammer, but not just any kind of force moves
cervical vertebrae predictably and comfortably.
Atlas, the top vertebra in the spine, surrounds the brainstem and upper spinal cord. Atlas misalignments, also called atlas subluxations, stretch and
irritate the delicate nerve tissue of the brainstem. Posture shifts, disrupted nerve function, and widespread pain result.
Atlas misaligns much farther and in a much greater variety of positions than any other vertebra. Simply moving neck bones around
indiscriminately is counterproductive when treating atlas subluxations. Each atlas subluxation pattern is as unique as a fingerprint.
Each must be analyzed and corrected individually. The solution is to move neck bones from their exactly measured, misaligned position,
gently, directly, and precisely back to their properly aligned position.
Each correction requires a specific kind and amount of force from a certain direction. It must be delivered with minimal "push"
(less than 1/8" depth-of-thrust). Many misalignments require a spiral component of force together with the linear. This force must
be aimed precisely along a calculated three-dimensional line of drive at exactly the right spot at the top of the spine. For want
of a better method, the traditional technique most suitable has been manual manipulation.
So, why consider an instrument-correction? The short answer is this: Because there has been a breakthrough in adjusting instrument design.
The SONAR Instrument is that breakthrough.
No overnight phenomenon, the design has been researched and developed since 1978, by Dr. Thomas R. Elliott, Jr. Dr. Elliott is, as his father was,
a career specialist specific upper cervical chiropractor. Dr. Elliott, himself a highly accomplished and respected manual manipulator, states unequivocally that the
SONAR instrument does a better job than what can be done manually. An overwhelming majority of Dr. Elliott's patients agree.
The SONAR Instrument offers several advantages over manual adjusting. First, the patented kind of force produced by the
instrument moves bones with less force and more efficiency than the manual technique. Efficiency translates to gentleness. Efficiency results
in quicker recovery and fewer unpleasant recovery symptoms for the patient.
Second, the instrument's self-contained aiming system sets up on the correct three-dimensional vector several times more accurately than is
possible by manual manipulation. Accurate vectors facilitate complete reduction of misalignments.
Third, the power levels of the linear and spiral components of the adjusting force can be much more exactly controlled by instrument than manually.
The manual manipulator knows he or she is working hard or working easy, but cannot know (except in very coarse increments) how much force is actually
being generated. With the SONAR Instrument, power levels are dialed in on ten-scales and are totally consistent and repeatable.
Misalignments that require a great deal of linear force to correct get that amount of force with safe power limits built in. Misalignments that
require finesse to correct get appropriate minimal linear force. And misalignments that require a proportional balance of linear and spiral force
get exactly the right balance of forces suitable to a particular misalignment. As a result of precise control of force and vector alignment, with the
SONAR Instrument it is now possible to fine-tune and stabilize a spinal correction as never before.
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"You already have the precious mixture that will make you well. Use it."
--Rumi
