Scoliosis. The word, itself, connotes a morbid sense of deformity and finality. The twisted frame, the unsightly humps-reminiscent of Quasimodo, the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Throughout antiquity, this distortion of the human body has stigmatized and brought suffering to its victims, and challenged the acumen of legions of skilled-and unskilled-practitioners of all stripes. It appears to develop mysteriously, predominantly in pubescent females, and often results in progressive deformity, as well as pain and visceral compromise throughout life. In my 22-year career, I have encountered a number of individuals with this condition and have valiantly sought to ease their pain, as we all have. I was never so-bold as to assume that I could alter the essential pattern of accentuated curvatures attendant on this spinal condition; however, I did try to release some of the profound tension in the spinal muscles associated with it. It seemed that all my efforts, no matter how much sweat poured from my brow, were casually resisted by this tenacious and relentless condition. Over the course of my determined study to understand the underlying patterns of human biomechanical dysfunction, I have uncovered certain truths, which have proven themselves to me. I have found, what I believe to be, a process of determining primary sources of tension, wherever they may be found in the body-joints, muscles, bone, fascia, meninges, viscera-and a method of releasing these disturbances at the molecular level. This is the essence of what I refer to as Tensegrity Therapy. Tensegrity Therapy, is an objective, biome-chanical method of determining, through the process of elimination, the primary sources of restriction within any of the tissues of the body. This is determined by a comparison of tissue resis-tance-literally tissue play-from one part of the body to another. I have found that secondary areas of apparent resistance (often the site of pain, for example) will literally melt away when another area of primacy is challenged, wherever it may be in the body. This phenomenon is explained by a recently discovered unifying model of organic tissue, referred to as Tensegri-ty. This term, originally coined by Buckminster Fuller to describe the interlinked truss systems he developed in the field of architecture (e.g., the geodesic dome), has now been applied to organic tissue, since it has been shown that it is composed of a similar matrix. The fact that pressure or tension in one area of the body creates a pattern of strain throughout the entire organism, instantaneously, is now supported by hard scientific evidence. When an area of the body is strained or impacted, the tensegrity structure responds at the molecular level by shifting electrons to a higher valence, thereby creating a rigid structural pattern. This molecular lesion translates into the tissue restrictions we observe clinically. No amount of pulling, stretching, prodding, snapping, surgery or medication is going to reverse this abnormal state-unless, by some fortunate accident, the practitioner happens upon the primary site of the molecular response, and then proceeds to apply the right amount of force. These intramolecular forces, as we know, are enormous, and resist forceful attempts to disrupt them. This is one of the reasons, I believe, why most therapies have only shortlived effects, since, in essence, the tissues naturally resist the imposed forces attempting to restore their normal length and resiliency. Tensegrity Therapy addresses this molecular response head on. The assessment determines the sources of restriction with pinpoint accuracy. The objectivity of this process has proven itself many times by surveys of inter-tester correspondence, which approach the range of 80% to 90%-unheard of, in my experience, with any other therapeutic system. Treatment involves extremely gentle pressure on the target tissue. The goal is to induce a peizo-electric effect to drop the excited state of the molecule back down to its lower state of energy and its inherently balanced tonal state. This has the effect of restoring normal tone and shape to the tissues, almost instantly and permanently! Part of what has been remarkable in my discoveries with Tensegrity Therapy is how it has opened my mind to the possibilities of how injury actually affects tissue. I read a report, when I was a chiropractic student some 25 years ago, which described a study involving the use of pigs in simulated automobile collisions. These Continued on Page 40 TECHNIQUE ...from page 38 animals were, subsequently, assessed for any and all tissue injuries. The primary effect, on all the test subjects, of impact trauma, was tearing of the pericardium! For some reason, this study stuck with me, even though I had no idea how profound its implications would become for me in future years. What I have come to understand about injury is how it transmits force throughout the entire tensegrity structure. This structure is like one continuous piece of fabric, and any force is instantly felt throughout its entire length. Injury forces are translated into kinetic energy, which is transferred from atom to atom, and from molecule to molecule. In the body, the tensegrity matrix encounters certain other substances and structures, which can alter the effects of these forces. It is a simple physical property of matter, which determines that the more dense a material is, the more its molecules will respond, energetically, to the effects of mechanical deformation and force. The most dense material in the body is water. The second most dense material is bone. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that the areas in the body that react most vigorously to trauma are the structures which contain the greatest amount of water or the densest and heaviest bones. It has been my experience that this physical property of matter is invariably proven in my stud- ies utilizing the Tensegrity assessment. Therefore, the most common areas of primary restriction tend to lie in the region of the fascia surrounding the large, dense visceral structures-name-ly, the heart, liver, spleen, kidneys and the cranium (which is largely a water- filled vessel), as well as the large, heavy bones of the lower limbs and pelvis. A common example of this effect is the relatively high incidence of rupture of the spleen in motor vehicle collisions. The spleen goes through daily cycles of engorgement and disgorge-ment as it is filled and emptied of blood, depending on the body's requirements. Running with an engorged spleen will immediately make itself known by the painful stitch under the lett lower costal margin. If the spleen happens to be full of blood, during the moment of an impact, then it is likely to rupture, since it is a thin-walled structure. Similarly, the other dense organs are vulner- able to impact trauma. Bone is a dense, yet highly plastic, structure, which deforms in response to injury. Careful measurements taken before and after treatment confirm that many bony deformities can be instantly normalized using Tensegrity Therapy. As described in a previous article (Vol. 22, I. 2), the primary sources of tension residing in these areas of dense molecular reaction draw the entire body into a state of imbalance tension. This results in a strain pattern. As further described in that article, the spine, as well as other structures, must accommodate the source of restriction, due to the interlinked nature of the tensegrity matrix. Scoliosis may simply be one extreme manifestation of this accommodative process. In the Figure 1, one may see how competing forces arising from two separate primary lesions (#1 from the kidney and #2 from the ilium) may produce a typical scoliosis pattern. . [ I Correcting Scoliosis by Accident! | The first time I encountered an ; individual with significant scoliosis I since I had discovered some of these | basic principles, I had no intention of I performing any miracles. A 32-year- I old, Caucasian mother of three chil- j dren presented herself with complaints | of low back, hip and neck pain. She I also had a previously-diagnosed 40° \ right lateral curvature of the mid-tho- j racic spine, and a minor compensatory | lumbar curvature, resulting in the typi- j cal S-shaped deformity. j On the first visit, I performed my I usual assessment, and proceeded to | treat her for the primary areas of dys- | function. This involved the correction I of tension patterns in the right kidney, j the Glisson's capsule of the liver, the I left pelvis and femur (articular and intraosseous, or within-bone, lesions), i Her range of motion improved imme- | diately, and she reported less pain with ! motion. I then asked her to lie down | on the table, so that I could recheck | her for further areas of involvement. | As she lay down on the table, she ! exclaimed, "What did you do to me?" I Well, you can imagine what went through my mind. I cautiously inquired as to the nature of her exclamation. She responded. "I have never been able to lie flat on a table before. What did you do?" I inquired further into how she felt. Did she have any pain? She reported that she did not. I proceeded to have her stand up, and, much to my amazement, her previously obvious spinal deformity was now largely non-existent! I was both shocked and delighted! I had encountered some remarkable results using Tensegrity Therapy; however, I had never before seen such an extreme case of spinal deformity, apparently structural in nature, disappear, literally before my eyes. I followed her case for some time after this, following up with some minor fine-tuning. To date, one year later, she has not had any noticeable return of her scoliosis. Currently, I am trying to persuade her to have some follow-up radiographs to confirm the change in her condition. She is, however, disinclined to do so, having received so many X-rays as a child, when the condition was first diagnosed. Correcting Scoliosis, on Purpose! A second case of scoliosis presented itself at, of all places, a seminar that I was teaching in the spring of this year. A chiropractor, a 42-year-old Caucasian female, mentioned that she had been helped by Tensegrity Therapy; however, she felt that she could not be totally well, since she had a significant scoliosis. I was feeling rather bold that day-or, perhaps, foolhardy. I decided to gather the class together. (It was a level II class, so they were, hopefully, a friendly group, with whom I had already established a certain level of credibility.) I, then, proceeded to assess the women's curvature and her patterns of restriction. Treatment was rendered, and the whole process took no longer than ten minutes. When the patient was asked to stand up, we reassessed her and found that her scoliosis was largely gone. On follow-up, by phone, one month later, the subject reported that the curvature had remained stable. After three months, there has been some degree of recidivism; however, no follow-up treatment has been rendered, and, because she is an active individual, it is possible that some re-injury has occurred in the interim. Conclusions: Scoliosis may be the result of falls and other impact trauma incurred during adolescence-the individuals I have encountered with scoliosis all admit to being tomboys in that phase of their lives. These largely undetected effects of injury could, in theory, lead to the type of spinal deformity known, collectively, as scoliosis. Based on some limited experience with this condition, 1 believe that there is some real hope that this, and many other structural conditions, may be resolvable. Tensegrity Therapy, represents a significant breakthrough in our understanding of the body and its response to injury. In my opinion, it validates much of what has been successful in the field of chiropractic science, and, at the same time, explains why we may not be as successful in certain cases. At any rate, this new understanding of the underlying structure of tissue and its response to injury and therapy, at the molecular level, opens up whole new horizons in overcoming the many conditions, and much of the pain, that we encounter in our practices. Dr. George Roth is the developer of Tensegrity Therapy and teaches seminars which are co-sponsored by Logan College of Chiropractic. For more information, he can be contacted at 905-880-0101; by fax, at 905-880-0650; or, by e-mail, at Roth @ WellnessSy stems, com. You can also visit his web site at: www. WellnessSvstems. com Reference 1. Ingber. DE The Architecture of Lifa Scientific American, January. 1998. I 2 Levin. SM The Importance of Soft Tissues for Structural Support of the Body. In: Positional Release Therapy: Assessment & Treatment of Musailoskelelal Dysfimction by D'Ambgio. KJ, and Roth. GB. Mosby-Harcourt, 1997. 3. Roth, GB, and D'Ambrogio, KJ, Positional Release Therapy: Assessment & Treatment of'Musailoskeletal m, Mosby-Harcourt 1997. ^ Fig. 1: "Scoliosis Pattern Arising from Two Competing Lesions"
