Good fences make good neighbours.

Dear Friends

The Chiropractic profession is currently mounting a strong defence against an accreditation body - CCE. They are wanting to direct Chiropractic away from the founding principles of Chiropractic. The following is the letter I have sent to the regulatory body that over sees the process of issuing this accreditation agency with its licence.

9^th September 2011

To whom it may concern: 

I am a practicing Chiropractor in Australia who graduated from Life University, writing to file a complaint against the Council of Chiropractic Education (CCE).

The CCE has control over the direction chiropractic schools are forced to educate their students. Chiropractors spend four years as students, accumulating near $200,000 in debt. After those four years, over half (53.8%) will default on their student loans and no longer be associated with this profession.

Good fences make good neighbours. Chiropractors are not medical doctors, nor are we physical therapist. Yet the CCE's curriculum is focused in that direction. We offer One distinct service that no other profession on the planet can offer; the analysis, detection, and correction of Vertebral Subluxations. Yet the CCE is attempting to remove the word subluxation from being taught on anything but an "obsolete" historical observation.

You will find our office follows the tenets of Chiropractic as they were taught to us, in everything we do. It’s on our website; it’s on our new patient forms, it’s how we educate our patients. We are Chiropractors! We practice Chiropractic!

There are several courses that need to be cut from the chiropractic curriculum (i.e. Obstetrics and Gynaecology - in which we are required to spend six hours a week in lecture and three hours a week practicing skills that no chiropractor in the world will ever use) and several requirements that need to be added (only 250 adjustments are required to graduate) to properly prepare the future generation of chiropractors for life after graduation. 

I would hope that you organize and maintain an accrediting agency that focuses the curriculum of Chiropractic schools on a Subluxation based education.

Thank you for your time,

Dr Lucia R. Wilkinson

Chiropractor

If you want to see Chiropractors practice CHIROPRACTIC for years to come and not be reduced to a jack of all trades, master of none, please contact me.

I'm left handed now!

It only took 40 years but I've gone left handed.

Using a mouse that is, for all else I still use my right hand predominately.The change was amazing and by balancing the body in this one area, it had a ripple effect every where else. My neck and shoulder stress has diminished, the subluxations in this area were significantly less. My overall posture at the computer ( where I've been spending more and more time) has improved and relaxed.

Let me take you back over 18 months now. My desk has always been ergonomically sound, we took great care when setting up the office to look at such issues. A few years ago we had chairs specifically built for us. I can tell if someone has changed chairs with mine and if they have changed the settings :) But longer hours spend typing away, like I am now meant that on top of my daily adjusting patients, my wrists were causing me great concern.

Looking after my patients is my joy, so my only thought was to look outside of the box to a solution. My right hand and my work were one and the same. Then the thought came to me that my left hand was capable, just untrained and it could be put to good use, after all plenty of people had probably made the same changes after injury and illness.

The first month was all about giving my left hand an experience of using the mouse. Yes it felt strange at first. I played solitaire on the computer to help with general mouse movement, while it went a long way to help my control it did little for my scores. Then I progressed to reading my emails and generally using it to surf, with each of these activities I worked mainly in the less busy times of the day. Interval training helped me to lighten the load away from my right hand and not over burden the left at the same time.

Slowly but surely I picked up speed in the second months and by months end I knew I had reached a milestone when I went to use another computer in the office and searched for the mouse with my left hand. Strength and speed have increased with time and I still focus on my posture. My next venture is getting used to my saddle seat at home. But that's another story for another time. For now I balance my load of work with both hands and exercise my wrists and hands along with regular adjustments.

Please note these exercise may not be for everyone, please check with your Chiropractor if they would recommend them specifically you. Remember to take care not to force your hands or wrists and please take your time.

Stretch Out.- We are constantly gripping things with our hands. The pen we write with, the door handle we open the door with, even using the keyboard to strike the keys with is a partial gripping action. While a stress ball feels great at times, again its a gripping action at work. Balancing what the hands do, will mean we should stretch out the whole hand.

• Step 1, place your hands palm side down on a flat surface and relax your wrists. 
• Step 2, gently spread your fingers apart and hold them for a count of 5.
• Step 3. repeat for 3 to 5 times.

Stretch back - Now that your fingers are gently warmed up, try the next stretch to get that extra flexibility going.

• Step 1. from the relaxed position in Stretch out, lift just your fingers off the flat surface. Try to keep the palm of your hand on the flat surface and still. Hold this for a count of 5 or less if this it too much for the first time. Slowly build up to it, there is no use over doing it at the beginning.

• Step 2, repeat for 3 to 5 times.

Make a Fist - After you have exercised in one direction its now time to do the other direction.

• Step 1, from the relaxed position in Stretch out, make a gentle fist with your hands. Again hold for a count of 5 or what ever you are first capable of.

• Step 2, repeat for 3 to 5 times.

Wrist moves - Moving up from the hands, its now time to move those wrists. Gentle! Please be aware that forcing any of these moves is NOT what these exercises are about, you are just after a gentle stretch pressure. If any of these hurts please stop and discuss your difficulties with your Chiropractor.

• Step 1, from the relaxed position, bend one or both your wrists at the same time UP and hold for a count of 5 or as what ever you are capable of. Then rest your whole hand flat.

• Step 2, lift your whole lower arm off the flat surface, keeping as horizontal as possible and bend down at the wrist. Hold for a count of 5. Rest once you have done that.

• Step 3, repeat for 3 to 5 times in both directions. Alternately you can do this exercise with both hands together for light or greater resistance.