Sagittal Manipulation

Sagittal Manipulations are safe, comfortable, effective, and long-lasting. In the Gonstead Technique of Chiropractic,vertebrae are nudged forward, in the sagittal plane, rather than twisted in rotation. Sagittal manipulations are particularly safe because they minimize rotation and they are comfortable for the same reason. They are effective because they correct the fundamental problem. When a vertebra 'subluxates' (slips out of place) it falls backwards off its disc. Sagittal Gonstead corrections nudge the vertebra forward back into place. Because they correct the underlying problem, they provide long-lasting or even permanent relief.

In the nineteen twenties, Dr. Clarence Gonstead observed that when the spine fails a vertebra slips posterior; it "falls" backwards off of its disc. When he corrected that posteriority, he got simply amazing clinical results.

Recent research has validated Gonstead's theory. Experiment-ally, when the spine is loaded until it fails, that failure is a posterior movement! When vertebrae slip out of place (or "sublux") they do indeed fall backwards off their discs.

Clarence Gonstead devised a system for adjusting the spine by nudging the vertebra from posterior to anterior, from "P to A", guiding the subluxed vertebra sagittally, forward, back into place. In fact, all chiropractors adjust the thoracic spine sagittally P to A, because that is the easiest way of adjusting the thoracic spine. In the neck and low back, however, sagittal manipulations are quite difficult to learn and require a certain finesse; but they're well worth learning because they are so safe, comfortable, and effective.

It is because sagittal manipulations minimize rotation that they are safe and comfortable (you don't feel as though your head is going to be twisted off). Patients often characterize the sagittal adjustments as "gentle". Now, the Gonstead adjustments do "click" the vertebra back into place, but they feel "gentle" because we are nudging the vertebra back into its "preferred" position, the space where it belongs.

Not infrequently, patients who have been to half a dozen practitioners over the years with little benefit respond dramatically to a sagittal correction; and again, quite frequently, we see long-lasting or even permanent benefit.

To recap: Sagittal Gonstead Manipulation (and other chiropractic techniques) address restrictions and misalignments of the spine. If a joint is out of place, we are going to be in a little or a lot of trouble. Sagittal corrections (nudging the vertebra forward) are an extremely effective and safe adjustive technique; and sagittal corrections, because they get to the heart of the problem, are often long-lasting or permanent.