Review
Neck and Arm Pain
by -- Rene Cailliet, M.D.
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Softcover -- 162 pages (this book available only in a set of seven
volumes, please see pages XXX on how to order)
On the cover of Rene Cailliet's book, Neck and Arm Pain is a
picture of a hand holding onto the neck in an obvious expression
of discomfort. It's funny how a picture or word can key memories
so vivid that they can never be erased.
While I may have related this story before -- the occasion of this
review prompts a retelling.
Some years ago I got a frantic call from my stepfather that my
mother was in the hospital. Apparently, she had suffered a sudden
and very intense pain in her neck and shoulder. It was of such
severity that medical advice was sought and, after a cursory
examination, she was incarcerated -- or -- I mean sent to the
hospital.
With dispatch I went to the hospital to find this little lady
locked into a cervical traction unit that was loaded with enough
weight to make a horse cry for relief. Quickly I took her out of
the traction and adjusted her cervicals to give her some relief and
then asked her to call the nurse. When I identified myself as a
doctor of chiropractic I thought she might faint. what i wanted
most at the time was to see the x-rays. Unfortunately, the series
that had been taken was not complete, with the physician who had
put her in the hospital excusing the fault by remarking that she
was admitted on the weekend, "and you know what it's like on the
weekend."
They were ready to operate on my mother's neck. Since I felt that
I was too close to the case to be objective, I prevailed upon a
chiropractic orthopedist to visit the hospital and give her an
examination. He was discovered just finishing the exam when the
surgeon and his staff entered. After examining the chiropractor's
notes, the surgeon told the staff that my mother should be released
right away and sent to a chiropractor. She was literally saved
from surgery at the last moment. It goes almost without saying
that with a few adjustments she was without symptoms.
In retrospect, it seems a pity that the admitting physician hadn't
been privy to the information in Cailliet's book. Once again I
must remind the reader that Dr. Cailliet seems to be neither a
friend nor foe of chiropractic. What you need this book for is
the simple and concise manner in which the text is presented by
work and complemented by illustration.
The nine chapters offer an extraordinary compendium of information
so concise in construction that it makes you wonder why all books
of this character aren't presented in the same manner.
It has always been my feeling that anatomy is the most important
aspect in the training of a chiropractic physician. For this
reason chapter one on functional anatomy was my favorite. This is
followed by rather brief but excellent chapters on pain originating
in soft tissues and on diagnosis. Chapter four on cervical disc
disease was another favorite of mine, with an excellent illustrated
summary on the evaluation of diagnostic procedures pertaining to
the location of radicular compromise. Chapter five on subluxations
and "whiplash" promulgates interesting theories on the mechanics of
the forces indigenous to such injuries and is well worth our
attention.
Degenerative disc disease is covered in chapter six followed by a
chapter on cervical spondylotic myelopathy. While chapter eight on
the treatment of cervical pain was excellent in what it said, it
was disappointing in what it omitted. Only slight mention was made
on the value of manipulation, with all references on the subject
being from medical, never chiropractic, sources. Still -- it had
exceptional merit. The final chapter on differential diagnosis
made a satisfying completion to an excellent text.
Professional chauvinism be damned -- this is a medical text by an
MD we all can learn from. Since information seems to travel in
only one direction due to mindless medical bigotry, we may be the
recipients of the wisdom of others, while they in turn are the
ultimate losers -- an example we hopefully will never emulate.
RHT
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