There is so much we as a profession are learning about the spine in this decade. Who among us can claim to command the knowledge and application of "what is known" about the subluxation. But perhaps, there is something so obvious in its relationship to subluxation that many have run past its closed door, never knowing the wealth that lay behind it. Behind this plain and uncharted door of palpation, the paravertebal musculature hides a mystery. The activity of these guardians betrays the very fingerprints of homeostasis upon the threshold of the nervous system. As you become more aware of the meaning of muscular activity and more tuned in to what you are palpating for, your excitement should begin to grow. Advanced Muscle Palpation is the key to the vertebral subluxation; but it is a key that needs to be picked up and turned. Your expertise will depend on your desire to learn and practice.
By the time that you palpate and find a working muscle, thousands of signals and reflex mechanisms have gone back and forth between the muscle and the nervous system. What you feel is the by-product of the body's own efforts to correct the vertebral subluxation! Muscle palpation is as advanced as nature itself. Muscles are the "sentinels of the vertebrae" and as such constitute the active components of an inborn defense mechanism against the vertebral subluxation.
You will experience confidence in your ability to analyze the vertebral subluxation like you always wished were possible. Knowing that your own hands are the most valuable and technologically advanced "detection equipment" you will ever need, you can be an expert in the spine. Who knows the vertebral subluxation the best? Who understands more about kinematics, biomechanics, neurophysiology and myophysiology than the whole scientific community? The patient’s body, of course! Like reading a good book or understanding a complex tapestry, you can interpret the reflex muscular activity of the spine, relating to the vertebral subluxation, with simple palpation.
Health should be as enjoyable as a mountain breeze and as fresh as a walk in the country. Sound unreal? If we are truly "removing nerve interference" (for which there is a preponderance of clinical evidence), then Chiropractic is such an experience. It is, for hundreds of Chiropractors who use their hands to evaluate spinal subluxations with Advanced Muscle Palpation. You may use it as an additional indicator to locate the subluxation, or it may be the primary analytical method of choice, even for your tough cases.
However you choose to use it, I am confident you will return to your
practice more knowledgeable, better skilled and better equipped as Chiropractors.