The General Situation

Chiropractic, which is currently the only well known method of structural healing that has a major presence and is not subordinate to medical doctors or the medical machine of drugging people no matter what is wrong with them (not a cynical statement but on inspection, true data), was discovered in the same way most herbs and other helpful useful treatments were discovered. One person (Dr. Palmer) encountered another person (Mr. Lillard) who had a problem they wanted to correct. Dr. Palmer listened to the history, that Mr. Lillard had gone deaf after hearing a pop in his back while lifting something. The history included a comment about a hard lump that developed in Mr. Lillard’s spine where he heard the pop. Dr. Palmer put two and two together – that a bone popped out of place and Mr. Lillard went deaf – and thought his hearing would return if it was pushed back into place. Dr. Palmer pushed the bone back into position and Mr. Lillard did get his hearing back. Two and two did add up to four. (Changes in sight, hearing and other senses are commonplace in offices of effective biostructural healers - with no medicine or surgery.)

That sequence of discovery was not really that much different from the discovery of antibiotics or other natural remedies – people discovered germs seem to cause illness, someone working in a lab noticed germs don’t grow near green mold and figured there must be something in the mold that kills germs and that it could probably be used to help fight infection, and etc. (penicillin is made by mold).

Dr. Palmer went on to theorize that out-of-place bones pinched nerves which caused body malfunctions resulting in all different types of health problems. He was pleased when his experiments demonstrated that improving the mechanics of the spine led to improvement in regards to back and neck pain but more importantly, it improved health. Even things like heart problems and other internal disorders not thought to be related to body mechanics.

These theories were not the imaginings of some 1800's “wacko”. Examination of his writings shows Dr. Palmer was an up-to-date, modern researcher for his time period (late 1800’s – early 1900’s). Medical doctors of that time were still using bloodletting as a major method of treatment. Dr. Palmer deplored that approach and the using of “...tinctures and lotions of all known vegetables and crawling creatures,” as well as bleeding and other mystical healing. Dr. Palmer wanted an answer to “...why one person was ailing and his associate, eating at the same table, working in the same shop, at the same bench, was not.” He took good histories and kept good records of his cases and research from which he drew his conclusions.

Palmer’s therapy (chiropractic, Chiro - by hand, practic - doing a thing) worked well on many, and for much more than back or neck pain. However, it did not work consistently and predictably. That was a problem Dr. Palmer recognized as a lack of information on what was happening with the patients. At that time he just did not have enough information to definitively figure what to do with each individual patient. He also recognized that that situation should improve with time and research. That others had not contributed anything to Chiropractic over the following years but uninvestigated theories, which tended to be illogical and inconsistent with known observations galled Dr. Palmer terribly. This is made plain the preface he wrote (1910) to his book, The Chiropractic Adjuster in which Palmer noted such things were not and should not be part of Chiropractic as it was science based and many of these theories were inconsistent with the physical observations anyone could make and thus foolish.

D.D. Palmer noted that many incorrect things were (and still are) taught, including some added by his son B.J. Palmer, that Dr. Palmer noted in print were “...errors which, through ignorance, have been taught and accepted as integral and necessary parts of Chiropractic.”

There have been several attempts to improve on the basic of chiropractic which is: A bone or bones go out of place preventing the body from working properly which allows infection and disease. Push it into place and the body will work correctly and heal itself. The first improvement occurred in the early 1900’s – the institution of a thorough education in anatomy so the chiropractic doctor would know what bone positions were supposed to be when s/he went looking for things out of place. That improved things greatly. The next occurred in the mid 1900’s – the use of x-rays to measure the spine and determine what was out of position. While that also improved Chiropractors’ ability to help, that is also where chiropractic got itself stuck.

Over the last century, experience has shown that basic chiropractic is actually a very workable theory. Millions recover from diseases and muscle and bone pains said to be “incurable” every year. Even the medical profession has come around to admitting it. Yet chiropractic treatment still misses its goal far too often.

–––– The Sticking Point ––––

X-ray was supposed to be the answer to getting more information to make Chiropractic work more predictably and consistently. The problem is that doctors of chiropractic and osteopathy, medical doctors and physical therapists tend to look at the spine from the front on view as it appears on the x-rays without thinking of it as the three dimensional working object it actually is.

Supposedly, the two dimensional point-of-view problem was solved by taking front and side view x-rays. However, most doctors and researchers still look at only the front view of the spine because that is how they look at people: front-on.

–––– The Office Today ––––

Modern medical and chiropractic studies of scoliosis (side-to-side curves of the spine seen on front view x-rays) are still done using only front view films. They measure the degree of side-to-side curve without accounting for the three dimensional twist of the entire spine. Doctors know the ideal spine should be straight up and down when viewed from the front or back. It is simple and the easiest thing to understand. It does not take into account the three dimensional twist. Doctors often do not realize that the curves which appear on the front view films appear because of the three dimensional twisting. Most doctors take the easy route looking at the very limited front-on point-of-view even while admitting its shortcomings because they do not understand how to figure what is happening on the side views. This is a failure of the schools to research the entire spine in three dimensions.

The result is the theory of directly pushing the bones into a better position: If it is out of place left, push it right, if it is right push it left, etc. That theory creates a problem in that the three dimensional spinal column might be twisting to compensate. Push it straight and you can remove compensations necessary for patients’ health.

In the 50’s and through the late 70’s most chiropractors and chiropractic researchers recognized the entire spine moved in a synchronized fashion with one part moving and changing in response to changes caused by motion of other parts. They used x-rays of the entire spine in an effort to show how treatments of various types changed the spine for the better and in order to develop a treatment system that would make chiropractic work more consistently and predictably. It has not worked out so far and there are good reasons.

Besides not truly viewing and considering spinal motion in three dimensions, another major stumbling block was and still is, the basic idea that x-rays should be taken in the standing position because that is the natural position of man and the position in which the problems would most accurately show. That basic thought, still used by most doctors and researchers in chiropractic, medicine and physical therapy, is false and has misled many doctors and researchers.

In the standing position human beings can most effectively position their legs and use the large muscles attaching from the legs and pelvis to the spine to twist the spine and pelvis into the best position possible to compensate for any mechanical problems and keep them upright. When sitting, bending, or lying, humans lose most of that ability to compensate because the legs are not planted firmly and are no longer a stable base from which the spine can be supported by those muscles.

This is why many people sit with their legs twisted under themselves to sit. The twist of the legs and pelvis in those positions better supports and compensates their mechanical problems. They are more comfortable with the legs twisted in that manner. They most often do not understand those who ask how they sit that way. It’s natural to them. It gets them into a more comfortable position than they can get into sitting straight with their feet flat on the floor. Yet, after treatment that truly improves their biomechanics you immediately find these same patients sitting straight and comfortably without their legs twisted with no prompting. When it is pointed out to them that they are sitting straight and comfortably either they are stunned by the realization that they have truly been improved or, they are so naturally comfortable they often insist it has always been so. The latter position often astounds their spouse or parents who have been exhorting them to “sit straight” for decades.

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Yet, after treatment that truly improves their biomechanics, you immediately find these

same patients sitting straight and comfortably without their legs twisted

with no prompting whatsoever by the doctor or anyone else.

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Back to the research that did not work out: In most cases, front view x-rays taken after a period of treatments on patients who were feeling and moving better, showed no changes or greater side to side curves (scoliosis). Doctors did not know what to do. The physical observations that patients were better were undeniable but larger curves on the x-rays did not fit the theory that chiropractic adjustments straighten the spine and get the patients better. It seemed to negate that theory. On the other hand, it was readily apparent to all that the patients were truly improved. The patients knew they felt and moved better and the physical examinations and orthopedic tests showed the doctors that the patients were better – even with “no changes or bigger spinal curves on the posttreatment x-ray”.

Not understanding that the spine was many time indeed straightening by unwinding (untwisting) itself in three dimensions and fearing that the greater curves on the front view (AP) films after treatment would lead to greater criticism, chiropractors stopped taking posttreatment films rather than modifying their theories and doing more full spine research. The chiropractic political leadership made it policy to discourage post-treatment x-rays. They imposed license suspensions on doctors who did take before and after treatment comparison x-rays of their patients, persecuting those doctors out of fear the unexplained larger curves would be the downfall of the profession. This started what will be eventually be known as “The Dark Ages of Chiropractic”.

Just as in the European Dark Ages, this was a time when people who did not understand were politically powerful. Out of fear, those in power forced students, doctors and researchers not to look at information (before and after treatment films) rather than have to deal with the unknown. They imposed beliefs. They tried to destroy those who defied them and were often successful. It has been a continuing reign of terror over independent researchers in the profession.

Many schools still teach that the images seen on the x-rays are not valid because there is often no change or worse, a greater side-to-side curve after treatment even though the patient feels better. The prohibition against post-treatment x-ray makes sense to none who can think and act independently but the CCE1 and ACA2 doctors currently “in power” are still forcing it on the profession.

As indicated in the preface to his book The Chiropractic Adjuster, if Dr. Palmer was alive today and saw the low radiation, good quality x-ray (not to mention the three dimensional abilities of MRI and CAT scan) and the amount of computing power easily available for data processing, he would have a fit about the lack of progress in chiropractic and the lack of full spine, three dimensional modeling coming from the chiropractic professional schools.

Many theories of how the spine works start with doctors who want something better than to just be pushing on a bone because it feels like it is out of position. That is the way it should be. What those doctors have done is on the right track i.e., try to figure out what happens mechanically in the spine and develop theories of motion on which methods of treatment to correct problems with bone position and motion could be based. Successfully done it would have/will improve the profession.

The theories presented to date both before and after the imposition of the after treatment x-ray ban, have two basic flaws: Either they are not based on full spine measurement and thus depend on someone’s imagination of what happens in the remainder of the spine rather than actual observation of what happens and/or, they do not take into account relativity, the effect of other parts of the body on what is happening at a given joint.

Looking at the whole of something is not just something for physicists, it must be applied to everything in the physical universe to get it to work effectively. Look at any effective action in sports, business or any part of life and you will find more observation not less has been made and taken into account. Businesses or sports teams, and governments that fail even people with “great talent” who fail, usually fail, because someone did not take into account the entire picture of how the world changes and figure out how to change the world to better survive. (Note that we have to change the world to better suit us not adapt to what the world is doing to us.)

1 CCE = Council on Chiropractic Education 2 ACA = American Chiropractic Association



The biggest failure of chiropractic is not taking into account and relating motions of different parts of the spine. They are not getting the entire picture. The biggest failure in medicine is also not taking into account relative changes in body chemistry and not getting the entire picture. At this time, I am just working on improving chiropractic.

As far as we can tell almost every theory presented in chiropractic has at least a grain of truth. However, none of them has gone far enough. There are some studies of motion out in the research but none are based on the entire spine being in motion. There is a widely cited mathematical model of the motion of the neck that is of little use and is hardly used. The reason it is not used is that it is based on a fixed thoracic spine (midback) and does not take into account the stabilizing or destabilizing effect of tension on the spinal cord and meninges as the lower spine changes. It was a great deal of money spent uselessly on someone’s imagination rather than complete observation of what happens in the real world.

There are treatment theories and therapies that speak of releasing the meningeal tension on the entire spine. They also do not go far enough. They only look at one or two parts of the spine without checking on the other parts of the spine to which the meninges attach. Those theories do not and cannot account for relative motions. They justify not viewing the spine as a whole by claiming there is limited motion in those areas not viewed that need not be taken into account. It is a false supposition that hides the very information the researchers need.

Those theorists are missing some of the most important data on spinal biomechanics available. Full spine standing and sitting x-ray before and after treatment would give them information to change their methods of treatment for the better but they avoid looking even after it has been pointed out because it would affect the income and prestige from their teaching.

Why are the doctors using those therapies on patients and themselves having problems with patients and themselves? Are they going in the right direction? Have they gone far enough? They can’t tell because they do not have a good enough measuring system.

That is the reason doctors at the “top” of the chiropractic research community such as Doctors Triano and McGreggor, are telling people in our profession and in the medical and insurance communities that much of the research done indicates chiropractic really doesn’t work.

They do not have a system good enough to measure what works and what doesn’t. If they did, they would be talking in terms of specific therapies that do not work, or therapies that only work with certain problems, or only work up to a certain point and then need to be changed. Chiropractic is being killed by researchers who look only at parts of the spine and not the whole spine and by researchers who look at the whole spine (full spine x-ray) but only in one position without doing motion studies.

A Solution Workable In Your Office – Now

The fact that while a person is standing the spine is pulled into compensating a position (by the legs and the largest muscles in the body) and when the person sits (with the feet flat on the floor in front of him/her), s/he cannot use the legs or those muscles as effectively, quickly tells you that a comparison of what happens in the spine standing versus sitting (which is compensated versus less compensated) will show you the spine in better and worse conditions. From that comparison you can figure the direction of spinal problems and develop a treatment plan to effectively counteract and correct the problem.

One can get the basic information needed just measuring and comparing what happens in the pelvis standing vs. sitting on AP lumbopelvic views without the full spine films or even with a physical test that does not require x-rays.

Once you absolutely know the direction of the person’s primary biomechanical problem, the day-to-day determination of what should be treated and the direction of correction can be made by quick and easy physical testing just before the treatments.

Since the basic research on this has already been done, Dr. Jutkowitz can teach you a quickly learned and easy to apply therapy of treating (structural correction) that is more effective than any other therapy developed to this point. Though it is not necessary to diagnose and treat the patient it can be proven on pre- and posttreatment full spine x-ray if you care to do so.

For chiropractors already knowledgeable and capable at treating patients mechanically, the first seminar teaches improvements in basic theory, how to treat, and a few things not learned in school. The second seminar shows many pre- and posttreatment films and discusses the changes and how to make them. Most of the treatments are often already known by chiropractors, we just clear-up when and how to employ the knowledge already there and what to abandon as treatment methods. Those with a good knowledge of chiropractic can get the information and become competent by doing the at home learning course. It includes audio and video tapes and manuals – all the data and specific how-to instructions. Part two has forty or so actual full spine x-rays with audio tape explanations demonstrating various findings. There are also follow-up films discussing the changes you can expect. Because of the teaching in theory and x-ray analysis, the at home learning course is recommended for all before attending the live practical seminars so the time doing practical work in the seminar can be best utilized.

Within two days of starting the taped seminar, doctors can more effectively treat patients than ever before. Practitioners of other healing methods often need more comprehensive practical drilling to become competent and completely understand structural healing methods than just the tape course. However, after examination by a competent practitioner to eliminate organic cause of disease, the application of these methods can be competently delivered and the treatment properly applied after thoroughly drilling the practical methods until competence is gained in the actual application.

In subsequent seminars practitioners learn more full spine biomechanics. Many sitting and standing full spine films are viewed explaining what things change with what. From this comes an understanding of why one cannot “push bones directly into their correct position” to have the patient regain health. The body must be led through three-dimensional unwinding or untwisting that reverses the process of injury layered on top of injury. This allows them to regain their health by going backward through their sequence of injuries with the chiropractor correcting bones knocked out of position that the body cannot self correct. Also taught is how to monitor the process and what supports to use when.

Leading patients through the unwinding process (desequencing process) unlocks the Primary Biomechanical Pathologies (PBPs — the key bones out of place which hold the body in abnormal patterns). That allows the compensations to clear, letting the patients heal and get well. This is the “retracing” of old ills described in natural healing philosophies. It can be objectively documented on follow-up x-ray examination and is shown and discussed in the x-rays that come with the tape series on x-ray analysis.

Now that the research is done full spine x-ray is optional and not necessary.

Get the Home Seminar/Workshop, start working Advanced BioStructural Correction™ on your patients. Then come to a live seminar. Join doctors from all over the world who are finding answers they thought no one would ever find in Chiropractic, Osteopathy, or any type of structural healing. See yourself help patients better then ever before. You will find answers that lead to much better patient health, much more personal satisfaction, and much greater practice growth and income then anything seen before.

Test your current therapy using pre- and posttreatment sitting and standing full spine x-rays. Tape 14”x17” cervicothoracic and thoracolumbar films (shoot at 72”) together if you must, but do them. Most of you will be shocked by what occurs in the sitting position after some very common types of treating. Often you will not know whether a change is good or bad because your old evaluation system doesn’t have enough data to be able to predict what is a good change and what is a detrimental change. See the Primer on full spine x-ray analysis and get the Home Seminar/Workshop so you can understand the changes.

Dr. Jutkowitz has been measuring sitting and standing changes for 18 years. He teaches you what the changes mean and how to keep your patients improving to the well point.