A question we often get asked in the office is, “Why don’t more chiropractors practice this technique?” To be honest, we don't know. I can not imagine what our office and patient outcomes would look like if we didn't have this way of analyzing spines. Maybe one of the main reasons why is because it is not taught in chiropractic schools. It is a question I always asked myself, why aren't more doctors doing this? I don't have the answer to this question however I do know why Owl Chiropractic uses The Pierce Results System.
It all started the first few weeks I was a student at Life University, during what is called club day. At this time, all the different techniques on campus set up information booths and exposed the newer students to their clubs. Clubs are a great way to further your skill set as a new doctor and build relationships with professors and future colleagues.
The Pierce Results System (PRS) had a motion X-ray playing, and I remember walking by and stopping and looking at the TV, thinking, “It would be amazing to be able to see a problem and then know how to fix it.” Well, the rest is history. I signed up to be a member and eventually became the PRS Club’s Vice President and then President. Dr. Scott got exposed to PRS a little later in school when we needed to write evidence-based research papers for a class.
I lied a little when I said I don't know why other chiropractors do not practice PRS. Learning the rules and systems of analysis is hard and takes time to learn and even more time to master. It is not taught in school so you have to learn it from a practicing doctor, seminars, and if you're lucky, an on-campus club at school.
When you are a chiropractic student carrying a course load of 30+ credits every 11 weeks (yes that is correct and having to study for 4 rounds of national boards and 2 OSCE exams) having to learn one more thing seems impossible. But not learning this work seemed impossible.
To see is to believe, and to believe, I need to see. When you can physically see a spinal joint move or not move in motion on an X-ray, it is amazing. Clinically, when working with a patient, this information is invaluable and can never match up to feeling or palpation of the spine alone.
Research states that it only takes the weight of a dime to decrease the function of a nerve. In case you missed the message, your nervous system controls all the systems in your body. If your nervous system is decreased all other systems are decreased.
A good chiropractor can feel when a joint is stuck, possibly putting pressure on a nerve, but a great chiropractor can also correlate that physical finding with a diagnostic finding. I do not want to settle for good, especially when it comes to something so important: health. If I asked my patients if they want good health or great health, what do you think they would say? I hope great!
To help give someone great health, you need great tools, and that's what the Pierce Results System way of analyzing the spine does. The motion X-rays allow us to see and locate a problem, and the thermal scans allow us to monitor the physiology. Why do we use PRS at Owl Chiropractic? Accuracy and reproducibility. These are just a few reasons why Owl Chiropractic continues to use The Pierce Results System in our office.
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