Review
Principles and Practice of Chiropractic, 2nd Edition
Edited by -- Scott Haldeman, D.C., M.D., Ph.D.
Hardcover -- 641 pages
Please see pages xx, Parts #T-O99, for information on how to order
When I was about 14 years old I felt that the most important thing
in the world was to be as muscular as a Mr. America. My
14-year-old brain was convinced that all the pretty girls would
come running after me if I just had big arms. In fact, I believed
that the whole world would stand in awe if I had big muscles.
One day I went to the local drugstore and purchased a muscle
magazine. For days I walked around with it, with the cover
showing, so that the public could witness my commitment to physical
perfection.
Well, that was quite a number of years ago and fortunately my
commitment to physical perfection has matured into the more
sensible and constructive enterprise of ministering to the physical
welfare of the public as a chiropractic physician.
This type of childish naivete was in the past, or so I thought,
until I received the second edition of Scott Haldeman's
Principles and Practice of Chiropractic. It is such a splendid
volume that it's the kind of thing that makes you want to share it
with others. You want to carry it around and have others look at
it and read it.
In 1980, the first edition was presented. With my usual vigor I
devoured the text, underlining every word and writing commentary in
the margins. Without thinking of all that has transpired in the
last 11 years, my first thought was that little more could be added
to what had already been written in the first edition. Wrong.
The second edition is bigger in every way; it has to be to
accommodate the plethora of new information that is constantly
being produced.
The text is divided into four sections and 32 chapters. Section I
is concerned with the history, philosophy, and sociology of
chiropractic; Section II addresses the physiological and
biomechanical principles of the practice of chiropractic; Section
III is on spinal analysis and diagnostic methods; and Section IV
covers chiropractic care.
As editor, Dr. Haldeman has gathered some of the more erudite authors
in the fields of neurology, physiology, biomechanics, and
chiropractic and put them in a volume that challenges the
possibility of amelioration.
It's impossible to choose any portion of this volume as setting
the criteria for the rest. However, the most important aspect to
me, personally, is that I find text that addresses the relevance of
the somato/visceral reflex to the practice of chiropractic. It's
incomprehensible to me that there are some within the profession
who are content to be musculoskeletal technicians instead of
physicians. They would abrogate the foundation of
chiropractic, while the osteopaths promulgate the somato/visceral,
viscero/somatic reflex as a basic tenet of their philosophy and
practice.
With this in mind, I usually invade a volume with a bias and
consequent search for material germane to my interests. This
resulted in my reading Chapter 7 on the physiology of nerve
compression; Chapter 8 on spinal reflex physiology; Chapter 9 on
the clinical investigations of reflex function; Chapter 10 on the
systemic effects of spinal lesions; and Chapter 24 on the
effectiveness of spinal manipulation and adjustments -- before
reading any other parts. Satisfied that the subject of
somato/visceral reflexes had been properly covered, I moved with
ease through the rest of the text.
To study this book is to delight in the intellect of every
chiropractor -- straight, curved, round or square. There is
something for us all. It begins by covering the history of spinal
manipulation before the emergence of chiropractic and then into the
history of chiropractic itself. The chapters on the
neurophysiology of spinal pain, the pathophysiology of the
intervertebral disc, and Dr. John Triano's fascinating treatise on
the interaction of spinal biomechanics and physiology are
particularly noteworthy.
Everything seems to be in the book -- Dr. L. John Faye on motion
palpation; Dr. William Meeker on soft tissue and non-force
techniques; chapters on radiology; high velocity thrust
adjustments; examination procedures; complications of manipulation
therapy; instrumentation; anatomy; and philosophy. There's
something for all of us -- all integrated with incomparable
illustrations, graphs, and production values that make this a
creation of extraordinary value.
"All" should mean not only chiropractors but the other healing
disciplines. By all means get a copy for yourself, but get others
for the cooperative neurologist, medical orthopedist, or for any
professional whom you might feel should learn more about what we do
and why. The publication of Principles and Practice of
Chiropractic is an event the chiropractic profession can be proud
of and be shared with others for the benefit of the reader and the
patients we all endeavor to serve.
RHT
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