Spinology-- Just plain ole maintenance for the nerve system

SPINOLOGY…Non-therapeutic maintenance for the spine.
By- Michael Meyer, Certified Spinologist
Director of the European School of Spinology, Ireland Branch

Non-therapeutic??? How in the world does that work? Those were my thoughts in that order when I was first introduced to the philosophy of Spinology in 1995. I was a practicing doctor of chiropractic at the time and I was having tremendous clinical results treating the aliments and injuries my patients came to me with. I was extremely open to any information concerning the spine and anything to preserve it. I was open because I have two severely herniated discs in my lumbar (lower back) region, and every few months my back would force me to close my office and seek chiropractic manipulations for a week or two.

I was open to new ideas because I recognised that each time my spine went into an acute state it was worse than in the past and the time between episodes got less and less. I began yoga due to the fact that it is intended for daily practice to keep everything in proper working order and that was fantastic, yet my lower spine just didn’t feel as it should. I felt as if my spine was keeping me from getting the best physical benefits from my yoga practice. The damage from years of neglect to my spine had caught up with me and I needed long term assistance for my spine specifically.

Enter Spinology…

Spinology is a fairly new profession, having been founded in 1980 by Dr. Reginald R. Gold from London, England. He began the profession in the United States when he noted a complete lack of attention to maintaining the spinal column on a regular basis. And, his observation also included the fact that very little emphasis was being placed on the function of the nervous system in relation to the spine. This, he thought, was the most valuable information we can share with the general public and nobody is sharing it.

The emphasis in Spinology is not on ‘fixing bad backs’ as that is not possible with years of damage. The emphasis is to assist the body in proper spinal alignment on a regular basis. It may take a decade or longer for a spinal misalignments to cause enough damage to cause pain. That type of damage will never be fixed good as new. The choice becomes one of continued neglect or maintenance.

Message of Spinology…

The brain controls bodily function by receiving and sending impulses over the spinal nerves to and from all cells of the body. This is how the body regulates itself in regards to proper hormone levels and vital chemical balance necessary to function properly. When there is interference along a nerve pathway this communication between brain and body is adversely affected. Every cell of the body depends on the nerve system for life.

When a spinal bone, via some type of force, becomes misaligned the holes between the vertebrae, where the nerve roots exit, become altered and this affects the delicate nerve root tissue. The body will attempt self correction using the small muscles that attach to the spine. If successful you resume normal function. If unsuccessful you have what is known in Spinology as a Spinal Occlusion. The tiny muscles attached to the occlusion will continue in their attempt at correction for years and decades.

Our childhood sees us take more knocks, falls and spills than we will have throughout our entire adulthood. This is when we first acquire spinal occlusions. Only after years of neglect and reduced function do we seek some sort of treatment and expect miraculous results lasting the rest of our lives. Spinologists aren’t interested in treating symptoms. They will explain how the body works, what happens to the body with spinal occlusions, and then begin the process of spinal maintenance.

A Spinologist is specifically trained to palpate or feel the spinal muscles and detect these muscle fibres that are pulling or working to realign this vertebra. When the spinal occlusion is detected a Spinologist will not be concerned with what specifically caused it, how long it has been present or what type of symptoms it may be causing. The body is failing at an attempt of self correction and the Spinologist will simply assist.

The Spinology Technique

The Spinology technique is non-manipulative. A manipulation is performed by a doctor or therapist to force a bone or joint into a position that the practitioner thinks it should be. A Spinologist will not claim to know where the bone needs to be, but will be certain that the wisdom of the body knows. The muscles attempting self correction simply need some assistance. Therefore, a Spinologist provides an assistive thrust to allow the muscles to realign the occlusion. Since this type of thrust causes no manipulations, Spinology, like yoga, is something that you can add to your life every day if you wish.

Since maintenance is the motto it isn’t crucial for the bone to move itself very far at all. The process will be repeated throughout the spine as often as one would visit a gym to stay fit. It is just so simple and logical that I nearly missed out on a wonderful profession. You see, since Spinologists are not doctors and I was at the time, my ego very nearly dismissed the profession as something beneath me. Now, I have clients that are doctors and when I explain Spinology to them they are as amazed as I was at the simplicity and effectiveness of regular spinal maintenance.

Spinology Currently…

I operate The SPINE Centre (www.thespinecentre.ie) in beautiful Greystones, Co. Wicklow, Ireland, and see hundreds of families from the community and surrounding areas. The European School of Spinology is preparing for the first intake of students to begin the two year part time training program to graduate as Certified Spinologists. Please go to www.spinology.org for more information on the school.