Obscure Orthopedic Research Confirms Chiropractic Findings of Dr. C. S. Gonstead

Throughout the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s, there was one doctor that stood out above the rest – chiropractor Dr. C.S. Gonstead.  Not only was he known as the “Chiropractor’s Chiropractor” for taking care of so many doctors, he also took care of the families of the top medical institutions – at the time, the Mayo Clinic – as well.

The demand he created for chiropractic care was created in large part by the findings he had made regarding the spine and the role of trauma and how it affected not only the function of the spine but also overall health and healing.  Even Grey’s Anatomy changed their texts to reflect the nature of the motion of the pelvis found by Dr. Gonstead.

But there was this obscure piece of research – orthopedic research, actually – that verified many claims made by Dr. Gonstead about the spine were not only correct, but in fact well ahead of his time.

This is what that piece of research had to say – after trauma, there was regularly found “a very interesting combination of a hypermobile vertebra in the anterior direction proximal to a fixed segment.”1

What Does That Mean?

It means that injury causes more than simply stretched and strained tissue.  Not only were soft tissues of the joint damaged causing excessive joint motion, but after trauma there was commonly a joint that was not moving properly that had decreased motion in the same area of the spine!  So ligament damage and laxity was worsened and proper healing was lost when there was a joint that had lost it’s healthy range of motion – when a joint was “stuck.”

Dr. Gonstead recognized this and saw that the key to healing after a trauma was to correct the “stuck,” or hypomobile, joint.  Once this “stuck” joint began moving freely again, it took the stress off of the stretched, stressed and damaged tissue, allowing it to finally start the healing process.  It turns out that the great results Dr. Gonstead had with patients, and chiropractors have had for decades, had a reason after all!

To see more in-depth descriptions of how this process works, see “The Textbook of Clinical Chiropractic” edited by Dr. Gregory Plaugher. Check out figure 7.17, C and D, for an excellent example.  That is in chapter 7, on page 203 of the first edition.

And it turns out, that this important but obscure research also had another groundbreaking piece of information – that proper healing took six months to achieve.  Turns out much later research confirmed this finding, that damaged tissue is still remodeling up to two years after injury!  So proper motion through this period is critical for you to regain as much strength to the damaged area as possible, before it is permanently weakened after injury.

So after a trauma, it is an important step on your road to recovery to have your spine checked by a chiropractor to ensure proper motion and recovery.  If you want to locate a Gonstead chiropractor, see the referral directory maintained by the Gonstead Clinical Studies Society – a non-profit dedicated to researching the work of Dr. Gonstead.

1. Study of the Cervical Syndrome.  Clinical Orthopedics and Related Research. January-February 1965, No. 38, pp. 135-142

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