Review

Chiropractic Rehabilitation

By -- Cely Shands

Please see pages xx, #T-132 on how to order

This review is approached with a degree of sadness. Sadness from the realization that there will be many that will not avail themselves of this interesting and important text because of one word -- "softcover." As bizarre as that may sound, the very idea that a book is not in hardcover will turn away many a potential buyer. In my own situation, I was fortunate enough to have a text of mine published by MPI some time ago. While it eventually sold out, the vigor of its sales, I feel, was hampered by the fact that it wasn't in a hardcover.

Think about this for a moment. There are those out there whose purchase of a book is based almost completely upon its visual appearance on the bookshelf. The fact that such a text might contain important and useful information seems of little concern. This isn't ignorance -- it's just plain old stupidity.

So, here is a softcover book -- and, like it or not, one that you should own regardless of your belief that only the worthwhile texts come in a cover that can't be bent or looks pretty on the shelf. It is also a text that should be purchased regardless of your concentration in the rehabilitative processes of your practice, for natural healing is essentially a form of rehabilitation as well as specifically therapeutic.

In a text such as this, the credentials of the author are of particular importance. Coly Shands is not a chiropractor and as such can approach the process of rehabilitation in a more objective manner. At the same time, she's associated with a chiropractic clinic and under the guidance and direction of a chiropractic physician. This means that the programs she has developed are in accordance with the maintenance and enhancement of structural integrity.

The book is divided into six sections: I) Overview, II) Rehabilitation Program Design, III) The Nine Phase Rehabilitation Program, IV) Documentation, V) Patient Case History I and Patient Case History II, VI) Clinic Management.

The overview is short but essential to the understanding and implementation of what follows. In this overview, the author succinctly outlines the nine phases of the program that are its conceptual core.

Phase one implements cardiovascular conditioning, two is concerned with the isometrics necessary to maintain muscle tonus during the acute stages of the pain process, three and four are concerned with passive and active ranges of motion, five with joint motion integrity, six with stretching techniques and conscious contractive exercises for stabilization, seven and eight with resistance training, and nine with isokinetic testing and exercise.

The next two phases on passive range of motion are almost identical, with the exception of added exertion by the patient at the end of each exercise in the second phase.

The phases that follow are extremely interesting, with exercises that I found both unique and valid. For years I was involved in bodybuilding, both actively, myself, and as the West Coast editor for two bodybuilding publications. It's always a pleasure, therefore, to find interesting moves that are both anatomically and physiologically sound.

The documentation and case histories that follow the exercise programs validate what has preceded. The final section is on clinic management and addresses the types, dimensions and costs of establishing rehabilitation facilities in your office.

My advice is to get this excellent text regardless of whatever plans you might have for your own clinical operation. The wealth of information imparted on the continuing care of your patients is well worth the cost. To those interested in the complete welfare of their patients, this book deserves your attention and purchase. Indeed, to paraphrase a famous saying -- the value of this book should not be judged upon the quality of its cover but on the character of its content.