What I'm watching this morning: Here are my notes on Gestalt Education’s interview with George DeFranca, a chiropractic physician out of Massachusetts.
DeFranca met Len Faye at a seminar in the 1970s or 80s, where he was exposed to a motion palpation seminar. In this he learned a more functional approach to chiropractic vs the "bone out of place" thinking of the time. He learned through mentors the delicateness of technique and functional diagnosis. Gentle mobilization and manipulation. He was then exposed to the function and mobility of the locomotor system through Karl Levitt.
Listen as assess twice as much as you treat. First clear the spine, re-assess, then explore other causes. Spine. Nervous System. Healing. Normalizing spinal reflexes, balances out the nervous system, and it drives healing.
How to joints get blocked? Joints are postural driven. Poor loading, poor moving pattern. A joint gets stressed, and articular capsular ligaments become shortened. This poor movement and shortened ligaments spread to muscle function and the locomotor system. We are made for movement, speed, and agility, and we end up sitting all day. Immobilization will lead to joint disfunction, soft tissue shortening, and other problems down the line. The nervous system generates movement, and you can't separate soft tissue from joint function.
Palpating the spine. Run your thumbs along the inter laminar groove just to the side of the spinal process, just medial to the multifidi. Feel for soft tissue stiffness or tightness. He will manipulate the problem segment in the lumbar spine, then dry needle the same area. Start, assess, and see where the body takes you.
