Nearly two years ago, a good friend of mine, Dr. Peter Martone, a longtime chiropractor, pointed out I had some problems with my cervical spine. While I initially disagreed, X-rays revealed degeneration in my fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae, even though I had no symptoms at all. 

In this interview, Dr. Michael Hill — a graduate of Palmer College in Davenport, Iowa — discusses Chiropractic BioPhysics® (CBP) and Gonstead, a specific type of chiropractic treatment that addresses this kind of problem. I’ve always been opposed to X-rays and don’t recommend them. In this case, however, it’s necessary, as the treatment is precisely calibrated based on the X-ray data. 

“With chiropractic, one of the big components I like to really help patients understand is … where all health and healing comes from,” Hill says. “We can’t deny that the nervous system coordinates all function and healing in the body. If you don’t know how to take care of it, who’s going to do that for you and help you understand the importance behind it? Education is one of our biggest components in our office. 

Chiropractic technique stands on three legs: the philosophy, science and art. If we take one away, it’s easy to tip over. We’ve got to stay solid on those three components … Gonstead and CBP have a lot in similarities, but a lot in differences. When it comes to understanding ‘structure dictates function,’ your spine is basically the framework of everything else that works off of that. 

Then it’s important to understand that we need to identify any structural changes that are compromising the way we should function. The intimate relationship between spine and nervous system is just that. It’s intimate — if we don’t take care of the spine, the [nervous system] is going to fall short of 100 percent function.”

Skeletal Structure and Function Influences Your Nervous System

A common assumption is that unless you’re experiencing pain, all is well. In reality, many if not most diseases are asymptomatic until the disease process is well underway. As noted by Hill, there’s research showing you have to lose 40 percent or greater of your health potential before any sign or symptom is expressed. “So, it’s unfortunate that we are taught to treat and manage disease as opposed to preventing it.” 

One of the primary tools for maintaining health is to choose the right foods for metabolic optimization, and diet also affects structural function. A recent Gallup poll by Palmer College revealed only 8 to 12 percent of the population uses chiropractic. However, taking care of your spine is like brushing your teeth and getting regular dental checkups. If you don’t take care of your spine, problems will eventually present themselves from lack of care, or ignorance about what can and needs to be done. 

Structure dictates function; your spine needs to be straight from front to back, but from the side views it should have three curves: lorsosis (cervical); kyphosis (thoracic); and lordosis (lumbar). “It’s really important to understand certain standards of deviation, like having a 45-degree curve is what’s considered normal,” Hill says. 

For example, curvature of the neck is called lordosis, but when you have a decrease in that curve, you have a hypolordotic curvature. If there’s an increase in that curvature, you have hyperlordotic curvature. 

In other words, there’s a “perfect normal” in the center, and it’s important to identify extremes in either direction. When your neck structure is sound and you have a 45-degree curvature, your spinal cord is at its best position to allow communication signals to be sent throughout your body. 

Chiropractors are trained to identify malpositions that can affect your nervous system function. Various tools can then be used to further identify, analyze and monitor imbalances in the body. Examples include surface electromyography, thermography and the Nervo-Scope, used in the Gonstead technique.

“Gonstead uses five parameters: X-rays, instrumentation, motion and static palpation and visualization,” Hill explains. “They’re really important. You can probably see now that if you were in line at a grocery store and one person had a high right shoulder, you obviously know there’s something wrong structurally. If the spine is the framework, then we obviously need to address the framework. 

When we put those techniques in place and the tools that we have available, such as digital X-rays, then we can analyze those X-rays using CBP line analysis and the Gonstead. I like to merge the two. 

I really feel like we can cover everything utilizing those two techniques, as far as not just getting a patient to feel better, but get them to function better … If [you’re] goal-oriented, you know that once you reach [the goal], you don’t just stop the habits that allowed you to get there. I’ve always been on chiropractic care … It is part of life.”

Regular Chiropractic Care Is Important for Optimal Health

Part of the reason you’d want to continue receiving chiropractic care long term is because the compression that occurs on the nerves exiting the spinal cord from misaligned vertebrae, especially in your neck, can cause significant problems and affect your autonomic nervous system. Your vertebrae help protect your nervous system, and when your vertebrae are properly aligned, the discs between each vertebra have the ability to properly hydrate. This is called imbibition, or the ability to hydrate that disc. 

When your spine is out of alignment, you lose the ability to hydrate the disc, which typically causes the space between the two vertebrae to diminish. As this space diminishes, the disc has to migrate somewhere as there’s no longer sufficient room between the vertebra. So, what typically happens is the disc will start to bulge over time. 

This is not just an automatic consequence of age, but rather something caused by misalignment in the spine. What’s more, as the bulge gets worse, it actually starts changing the shape of the bone, causing bone spurs to develop. As the angular fibers defining the disc are disrupted, the integrity of the disc is also weakened, which can lead to a herniation. 

“Understanding that we can address the cause by correcting the misalignment will allow us to be able to hydrate that disc,” Hill says. “We can actually help restore it to a certain point, depending on the condition of the bone. We’re obviously not going to be able to eliminate what’s already been destroyed.”