Who doesn’t want to do better? regardless of whom you talk to, most people want to be in a better place than they are today. As you may have guessed, for many folks, enhancing their financial status is their number one concern. But, for other people, improving their health and improving their relationship with their spouse/family is what’s most important.

On the business side of the chiropractic profession, there is an enormous amount of focus on self-improvement. Some practice management consulting companies contend that most of the doctor’s "challenges" in practice are a result of issues that reside between their ears. In other words, it is the doctors’ lack of self-esteem, self-confidence and goals, as well as a poverty mentality that act like a gigantic anchor holding back their ability to achieve more in life, and more in their practices.

I completely agree that headspace issues are not only a legitimate concern, but must be addressed in order for anyone, in any walk of life, to move forward. Obviously, this is not just a chiropractic issue. Having said that, I also believe that there is more to the puzzle than simply addressing the doctor’s personal issues. Once the doctor feels better about him- or herself, has the self-confidence to move forward, and has a list of goals that have been carefully outlined and prioritized, the next step is laying out the road map to get from where you are now to where you want to be in the future.

There are plenty of ways to make this discussion more complicated, but that’s just not my style. The point here is that we can all attend seminars that have us exiting the venue with a "YES—I can do anything" attitude. We can all read books that help us to attract positive energy. We can all listen to audio programs that show us how to become more goal-oriented. All of these action steps are a move in the right direction. However, what is often left out is direction and implementation.

Now I’m not suggesting for one moment that some practice management consulting organizations are not providing some amount of direction. What I am suggesting is that, more often than not, the direction is too vague. Imagine yourself attending a seminar where seventy-five percent of the weekend was spent making you feel better about yourself (a very worthwhile investment). On the last afternoon of the last day of the seminar, the focus switches from the headspace phase to the implementation phase—the point where you are shown how to get your wheels spinning and make things happen. Now that you are feeling better about who you are and where you want to go, the practice management consultant tells you to go out and tell anyone and everyone about chiropractic and, of course, about your practice. That’s great until you realize that you are uncertain about what to say, how to say it, how to position what you say, how to distinguish and differentiate your practice, etc.

You quickly realize that the "Just Do It™" mentality isn’t enough. Sure, it’s a great starting point, but building your practice requires more than just desire. You have the "Just Do It™" fire burning deep inside, but you are not sure about the "How to do it" that seems to be missing. You’ve been given some direction so that you have a USP (unique selling proposition) that is reminiscent of "Chiropractic turns on the power," but, beyond that, you are really only a vague ambassador for chiropractic instead of what you should be, an ambassador for YOUR chiropractic clinic.

To achieve your goals, you must have direction. To put it another way, you must have specific steps mapped out to get you from where you are to where you want to be. Telling a doctor to go join the chamber of commerce in his or her town is not a specific step. Telling the doctor exactly how to make the most of their membership (specifics) in the chamber of commerce is more in line with a direction-oriented train of thought.

To achieve your goals, you must understand how to implement the strategies that will lead you to your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Again, the "Just Do It™" mind-set isn’t enough. What is needed is more specific information on how to do it, when to do it, and where to do it. Lack of direction and lack of a strategy for implementation often result in frustration and, eventually, damage to one’s self-esteem and self-confidence. In the end, many doctors find themselves right back at the beginning of their journey with their goals now appearing even farther beyond their grasp.

We’ve all heard the expression, "To achieve, you’ve got to believe." That expression is valid and represents an excellent beginning. Like a person who has a vision of their dream home, they start with a mental image and eventually create a blueprint. In between the blueprint and the day you cross the threshold of your new home is the construction process. In essence, in your practice, you must learn how to become your own general contractor (instead of relying on someone else or some organization which tries to make you dependent on them) so that you are able to travel through life with the ability to turn a blueprint into reality.

Dr. Marc Swerdlick is a 1998 graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic and is the president of S Group Inc. and practicecentral.com—Chicago-based companies that offer marketing strategies and systems to health and wellness professionals, as well as to businesses outside the health and wellness arena. Dr. Swerdlick offers his Pre-Sale Strategy, New Patient Acquisition, and Patient Reinforcement Seminars for chiropractors in conjunction with Integrity Strategies LLC. For more detailed information on these seminars, contact Integrity Strategies at www.integritystrategies.com or by calling 1-608-865-0466.

Practically all authorities agree that a subluxated vertebra, by definition, includes movement of the vertebra from its proper position in several planes and directions. The reduction of the subluxation, the adjustment, must be a predetermined and pre-directed process of correction.

Direction is a measurable factor in a subluxation; force is an inherent element of the adjustment. Force, however, has the characteristic of direction—it is going somewhere—so it must be controlled and calculated. Each subluxation requires its own mathematically pre-determined directional path for its successful and efficient reduction. The subluxation and its correction is a procedure that can be tested in the light of scientifically acceptable principles, so far, at least, as the misalignment factors are concerned.

The subluxation and its removal is the basic tool of chiropractic. NUCCA invites all chiropractors to join with them in the furtherance of the restoration principle, and in the belief that, as chiropractors, their duty to the patient is concerned with this principle.

The late Dr. Ralph Gregory of Monroe, Michigan, in his organizing of the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association in 1966, envisioned a non-profit organization dedicated to a mechanical science that is apodictic to what chiropractic should be. Since dealing, in part, with solid structures, the laws of physics and mathematics must form the significant basis of spinal care.

Mathematical formulas can be derived from properly taken cervical radiographs. These formulas tell the doctor how to place the patient on the side-posture adjusting table. In addition, after analyzing these radiographs, the doctor knows the direction the atlas has misaligned in relationship to the condyles and the lower cervical vertebrae.

With this knowledge, the proper adjustment—direction and torque—can be delivered to the atlas transverse to align the head and neck to the vertical axis of the body. The pisiform of the wrist is used to contact the patient’s atlas transverse process, which is used as a lever to move the head and neck. With the proper balancing and control of the doctor’s body and arms, an adjustment can then be delivered with very little depth to the patient. A reflex takes place that unlocks the atlas subluxation. There is a force behind the adjustment of up to 23 lbs., but with very little depth; the patient does not feel the adjustment.

The high blood pressure research project, recently published in the May 2007 issue of the Journal of Human Hypertension, demonstrated, in a medically instigated and scientifically controlled research project with a subject group of 50 patients (all adjusting done by this author), that there is a science to chiropractic.

A brief review of the results reveals the following:

1. The systolic readings dropped seventeen points.

2. Eighty five percent of the patients only needed one [NUCCA] National Upper Cervical Chiropractic procedure adjustment. Their one adjustment lasted at least two months. When the neck and head relationship is balanced by the reduction of the atlas subluxation complex [ASC] there is no need of additional adjusting.

3. Pre to Post Cervical radiographic1 analysis in these cases demonstrated: an average atlas misalignment of 2.17 degrees off the central skull line in the frontal plane reduced by adjustment to .22 degrees; atlas rotation in the transverse plane was an average of 1.29 degrees, and reduced to .19 degrees; the seventh cervical was off the patient’s vertical axis when standing, and was reduced to zero.

4. When the patient was standing in a posture constant, the pelvic tilt averaged 3.7 degrees in the frontal plane, reducing to zero post adjustment, and pelvic torque showed a two degree rotation in the transverse plane before the NUCCA adjustment, reducing to .3 degrees post adjustment.

Another part of the standing patient examination that was not covered entirely in the published article was that the shoulders were also leveled, and the torque differential between the shoulder girdle and the pelvic girdle was reduced. They had a perfectly balanced spine. This was determined, during the research project, with the use of the new Dickholtz laser light spinal analyzer.2 This torque could be the first indication the patient has an atlas subluxation complex syndrome, or the last indicator that there is still part of the subluxation present.

Until the stressor at the brain stem level is removed, the spine will be distorted. A partial reason for this has long been known3—the facilitators and inhibitors of the muscles of the body lie within the central reticular formation of the brain stem. If there is a stressor at the brain stem, the muscle will be contracted more on one side of the body than the other. The pelvic girdle is then distorted in three planes.

Serious discussions in the field of chiropractic have been engaged in about pinched nerves and dentate ligaments, which have possibly overshadowed the importance of numerous other sensors of different types, especially in the cervical region. It is this author’s opinion that the sensors are more to be considered than the former. This is why the chiropractor must realize that he works with very small details.

In one third of the cases there is only three quarters to one degree laterality of the atlas. With precisely aligned X-ray equipment and very sharp radiographs these small subluxations can be measured. Knowing the correct misalignment factors is paramount to having the proper direction of forces with which to reduce the atlas subluxation. This takes into account the atlas laterality, the tilt of the head, the twist of the atlas in the transverse plane, and the lower cervical vertebrae as they relate to the vertical axis of the body.

The atlas is the only vertebra you can move with relative independence, there being no boney interlocking mechanism. This is used as a lever system to move the head and neck to the patient’s vertical axis, and to reduce the twisting of vertebrae in the transverse plane.

There is one more test that was not mentioned in the research paper, which was recorded in this project, namely, the supine leg check. All fifty subjects in the research had hip distortion, with leg length inequality (LLI) when in the supine position. All adjusted subjects were post-measured with even leg lengths (no LLI) in each of the succeeding seven visits over the two months duration. On the other hand, all the placebo group subjects had contracted ilium, and LLI, upon examination during each of the first eight visits. After the conclusion of the main study, the placebo group members were adjusted and, upon examination, each subject presented with balanced spines, and even leg lengths [no LLI] in the supine position.

While we are discussing LLI (leg length inequality) it should be mentioned that there is a simple test to determine the presence of stress to the brain stem. Try the following: Lay the patient down on a fairly hard surface with a small pillow under the head, and wearing a pair of solid shoes. Push on the bottom of the shoes with about five pounds pressure, having the same angle on both shoes which are aligned to the patient’s ears. Then have the patient rotate the head each direction. If there is a stressor at the brain stem level, there will be a movement in the relative length of the legs. With one direction the head is turned, the stressor at the brain stem is reduced and, as it turns the other way, the stress increases. As the stress is decreased, the legs become more even. Once again, this demonstrates a relationship between the upper cervical mechanism and the brain stem’s control of the muscle balance of the whole body.

The central nervous system is not the only nervous system that is affected by an atlas subluxation. In a previous research project by this author on chronic fatigue syndrome, a board certified psychiatrist stated that the correction we gave was affecting brain chemicals. He correlated the subject’s positive changes in brain chemicals, which gave rise to the positive changes in their symptom pictures. The Rand 36 questionnaire was used in that study, demonstrating improved health in all eight categories, including mental. This will be published as a pilot study.

The whole point here is: an atlas subluxation complex (ASC) syndrome is very, very, encompassing. The National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association (NUCCA) holds two large seminar conventions each year, in the Spring and the Fall, inviting all to attend who wish to begin study of this specialty, or to increase their knowledge and skills in this demanding field. The NUCCA website is a wealth of reading, audio and visual information, found at www.nucca.com. In addition, the research arm of NUCCA, the National Upper Cervical Research Association (NUCCRA), the research board tasked with protocols and research, maintains a research site for funding purposes and study, at www.nuccra.org or http://www.uppercervicalresearchfoundation.com.

Dr. Marshall Dickholtz Sr. can be contacted at 3420 W. Peterson Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60659. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or visit

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