Pick MG, Beyond
the Neuron Integrative Bodywork: Towards Unifying Principles International
Conference, London: University of Westminster and Journal of
Bodywork and Movement Therapies 16/18 Nov 2001.
Computerized slide shows, prosected human specimens and video
presentations will be utilized to take you on a journey through the
nervous system and introduce you to its functional accommodation to
structural aberrancy & therapeutic manipulative intervention.
Beyond the Neuron is designed to give the practitioner a simple yet
comprehensive review of neurology as it pertains to chiropractic and
other manipulative protocols. The presentation will begin with a view
of the nervous system's anatomy and integrative functions, including a
summative description of afferent sensory signals as they course from
key receptors through their axons to synaptic connections within the
cord and supra as well as infra-segmental neuronal pools.
The presentation will then address the segmental implications of a
thoracic eight right facet vertebral subluxation. This will encompass
the lesion's destructive effects upon the pain gate and segmental
stretch reflexes and then cover the global loss of neuronal integrative
function, which results from anterograde degenerative infiltration.
Hence, the lesion's course will be traced from its spinal segmental
entry, through the spinal cord, to the brainstem, through the
cerebellum and ultimately the cerebral cortex. The presentation will
follow the degenerative pattern as it reenters the brainstem and spinal
system to terminate as expressed clinical signs, which distort the
fascia systems of the body resulting in the patient's decreased quality
of life. Each neuronal division will be broken down and an explanation
of its normal contribution to function will be noted before its
degenerative role is explained in the sample lesion complex.
As the degenerative process infiltrates throughout the neuro-axis, its
effects of decreased gene expression and transneuro-degeneration
diminish the body's metabolic capacity to maintain functional and
structural stability. This often results in fatigue or breakdown of the
myofascial integrity and distorts the very foundation of the
cranio-sacral respiratory system. The connective relationships between
osseous, meningeal and neuronal structures will be reviewed, as will
the intricate association between structures as they generate the
rhythmic impulses of the cranio-sacral and pulmonary respiratory
systems both in their normal state of motion and their compensatory
motion during a lesion.
The primary goals of the chiropractic profession are to increase
cellular fuel delivery and insure or enhance neuronal survivability. As
health care providers, we should all recognize that no two individuals
are alike. Nor should we assume that any individual would be the same
from treatment to treatment. Therefore, we must realize that no two
treatments can ever be the same. Since, the lesion depicted within this
lecture represents a specific injury to thoracic eight and the
progressive retrograde & anterograde degenerative infiltrations
described could result from such a lesion during a given moment in
time, the manipulative procedure should incorporate a continuous
protocol which reevaluates the patient's condition during each visit.
To address the afore mentioned lesion a form of chiropractic know as
Sacro-Occipital Technique (SOT) will be implemented. Whereby, an
explanation of each maneuver will be given to explain how the SOT
approach enhances global integrative function without exceeding the
patient's metabolic capacity.
References
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2. Gray H, Gross CM, eds. Anatomy of the human body. 29th (Am) ed.
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