Alternative Medicine - Manipulative And Body-based Methods

Manipulative therapies, such as osteopathic manipulation and chiropractic, and body-based methods (also known as bodywork), such as therapeutic massage, are CAM practices that have been tremendously popular during the last two decades. Some observers feel that enthusiasm for these CAM practices is because of their demonstrated ability to relieve aches and pains associated with musculoskeletal injuries and stress more effectively than treatment prescribed by conventional medical practitioners. This section describes chiropractic, a relatively well-known manipulative therapy, and zero balancing, a lesser-known gentle form of bodywork.

Chiropractic

The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) defines chiropractic as "a branch of the healing arts which is concerned with human health and disease processes. Doctors of Chiropractic are physicians who consider man as an integrated being and give special attention to the physiological and biochemical aspects including structural, spinal, musculoskeletal, neurological, vascular, nutritional, emotional, and environmental relationships." Doctors of chiropractic (also known as chiropractors or DCs) do not use or prescribe pharmaceutical drugs or perform surgery. Instead they rely on adjustment and manipulation of the musculoskeletal system, particularly the spinal column.

Many chiropractors use nutritional therapy and prescribe dietary supplements, and some use a technique known as applied kinesiology to diagnose and treat disease. Applied kinesiology is based on the belief that every organ problem is associated with weakness of a specific muscle. Chiropractors who use this technique claim they can accurately identify organ system dysfunction without any laboratory or other diagnostic tests.

In addition to manipulation, chiropractors also use a variety of other therapies to support healing and relax muscles before they make manual adjustments. These treatments include the following:

• Heat and cold therapy to relieve pain, speed healing, and reduce swelling
• Hydrotherapy to relax muscles and stimulate blood circulation
• Immobilization such as casts, wraps, traction, and splints to protect injured areas
• Electrotherapy to deliver deep-tissue massage and boost circulation
• Ultrasound to relieve muscle spasms and reduce swelling

According to the ACA, chiropractic is the third-largest specialty group of health care professionals after medicine and dentistry. The ACA predicts that there will be nearly twice as many practicing doctors of chiropractic by 2010 as there were in 1997, when approximately thirty million patients sought care from slightly more than fifty thousand chiropractors. Visits to chiropractors are most often for treatment of low back pain, neck pain, and headaches. The U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reports that chiropractors are seen for low back pain one-third more often than are primary care physicians. In fact, after one hundred years of practice, chiropractic often is referred to as "mainstream medicine," and many health insurance companies will cover their care.

Critics of chiropractic are concerned about injuries resulting from powerful manual adjustments, and some physicians question chiropractors' abilities to establish medical diagnoses. Others worry that people seeking chiropractic care instead of traditional allopathic medical care may be foregoing lifesaving diagnoses and treatment.

Zero Balancing

Zero balancing (ZB) is diagnostic and therapeutic bodywork that traces and aligns energy in the skeletal system. Grounded in anatomy, physics, mechanics, and psychology, ZB integrates Eastern philosophy, meditation, and the realignment of vibratory energy fields with practical, hands-on bodywork. Along with relief of physical stress, pain, and dysfunction, ZB aims to enhance emotional equilibrium, concentration, and objectivity.

Developed more than twenty years ago by Frederick (Fritz) Smith, an osteopathic physician, this treatment modality was the culmination of studies Smith completed to earn his master of acupuncture certification. ZB practitioners touch bones to facilitate the flow of skeletal energy (called chi) through three vertical pathways. In the first pathway, energy flows from the skull to spine, pelvis, legs, and feet. In the second pathway, energy flows from the shoulders and vertebral transverse processes to rejoin the central flow at the pelvis. The third pathway travels from the shoulders out through the arms and hands.

Working directly with energy they feel is located in the bones, the densest structures in the body, practitioners assess, balance, and reassess energy flow. Performed on fully clothed people, ZB is relaxing as joints and fulcrums—meeting points of energy and structure—of the musculoskeletal system are gently palpated (touched). Gentle pressure, manipulation, and support of the joints are applied to release tension and ease movement and energy flow. ZB practitioners attend closely to observe responses to treatment. During a ZB session, subjects are said to enter a "working state" with observable signs that energy is shifting, balancing, reorganizing, or integrating. These signs may include a trance state, rapid eyelid fluttering, shallow breathing, bowel sounds, swallowing, and involuntary muscle movements.

Who Practices Zero Balancing?

Practitioners from a variety of disciplines, including traditional allopathic and osteopathic medicine, psychotherapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, massage, and physical therapy, use ZB to locate, isolate, and relieve stress patterns, sources of physical pain, and skeletal imbalance. Many practitioners use ZB in combination with other forms of therapy. Performed before a massage, physical therapy session, or other healing therapy, it relaxes subjects, enabling them to make greater progress in treatment. Used following treatment, it helps to sustain and prolong the benefits of chiropractic, acupuncture, physical, or massage therapy.