Palpation and Assessment Skills: Assessment and Diagnosis Through Touch

Book/CD Review by Steven Lavitan, DC, LAc

Title:

Palpation and Assessment Skills: Assessment and Diagnosis Through Touch

Author:

Leon Chaitow

Publisher:

Churchill-Livingstone (Elsevier)

Type:

Book and CD-ROM

Part #:

T-594

In honor of this being a new concept in multimedia, the usual format of my review will be different. You will get the rating in the first paragraph, followed by what is wrong with this unique book/CD combination, and finally, what is right with it. The rating is a 10.

If some, if not all, of these criticisms seem petty, it is because they are. The writer has a long list of people to whom he dedicates the book. Among them is Bertrand DeJarnette, whose first name, as any SOTer could tell you, is Major (that was not his military title). The CD did not work uniformly in all the computers it was tried in: with some of the earlier Windows' versions, opening the media player resulted in windows appearing every time and staying open after the particular clip was played. In others, the media player appeared the size of a cell phone screen, and you had to find which window it was playing in. When the CD was put on a Windows XT laptop, it generally played without a hitch, but the combination of the CD spinning, the narrator's British accent and the relatively small speakers made the narration hard to decipher. To be fair, some of the clips were sufficiently loud, and even the ones that weren't could be corrected by switching to an externally amplified system.

And now for the good news. This book/CD combination is 21st century stuff. It is a thorough text in its own right that if read, studied and applied, would result in a proficient palpator. In the mid-1970s, my SOT instructor, Lawrence DeMann, DC, at the old Columbia Institute of Chiropractic in Manhattan, stated, "Palpation was the basis of our art. It was what scales and technical exercises were to the concert pianist and required hours of daily practice." In this book, there is lengthy discussion of many palpatory techniques, interspaced with short special topics. Both were provocative. This by itself would have made the book desirable, but the CD puts it in a class by itself. The CD is a recapitulation of the book, which is worth something, but not that much. If you want to print out a diagram or a given section of the writing, it is nice having that option. The "gee wiz" part comes in when you run into a camera and activate the film clip. The material is explained to you with your own tiny tutor.

There is an expression that G-d is in the details, and this work has made a true believer out of me. Some of the video clips are edited such that the patient or subject gets seamlessly interspersed with anatomical models and diagrams. There are certain times where art has been so perfect, you leave the experience saying that overall, it cannot be improved upon. This was such an occasion.

If you are a 1st semester chiropractic student, this book/CD combination is a great introduction. If you are an old codger like me, it is a great review, with some new material to boot. Palpation is predicated on comparing the tactile experience to the set of mental constructs one brings to the experience. Whether read and studied by chiropractors, physical therapists, osteopaths, massage therapists, acupuncturists or anyone else who touches a patient, this resource will make that practitioner better. And isn't that what it's all about? To order a copy of this book, call (800) 359-2289.

Dr. Lavitan's Rating:

10 out of 10