Status of Activator Methods Chiropractic Technique, Theory, and Practice

Objective: The purpose of this case report is to describe the response to chiropractic care of a pediatric patient with complaints of neck pain; headaches; and hand, leg, and foot pain after head trauma and the reports of changes in the patient's history of chronic fatigue, vomiting, and coughing. Clinical Features: A 6-year-old girl was pushed into a playground slide, hitting her head and resulting in acute complaints of her "neck and brain hurting" and hand, foot, and occasional leg pain. In addition, the patient had a several-year history of unexplained fatigue, vomiting, and coughing spells. She had a neck pain disability index of 17.8%; left lateral and rotational head tilt; cervical antalgic lean; loss of cervical range of motion; anterior cervical translation; and spasm, tenderness, trigger points, and edema along the cervical and thoracic spine. Intervention and Outcome: The patient was cared for using Activator Methods protocol. After the fifth treatment, all the patient's symptoms dissipated, with a complete return to normal activity and spinal stability after 9 treatments. At 19 weeks, her spine continued to be asymptomatic; and her neck disability index was 0%. Conclusion: This case demonstrated that the Activator Method of chiropractic care had a beneficial effect for this pediatric patient.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chiropractic care of a 6-year–old girl with neck pain; headaches; hand, leg, and foot pain; and other nonmusculoskeletal symptoms

Roberts

Wolfe

2009

“…Following a chiropractic adjustment, these tests are repeated to evaluate for functional changes to the neuroarticular unit. 18 Activator Methods Chiropractic Technique is used with older adults because it may be well suited for the aging spine. 7,19 Patient Response to Care…”

Section: Chiropractic Management Protocolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in Quality of Life in 7 Older Adult Patients Receiving Activator Methods Chiropractic Technique

Russell¹,

Kimura

Cowie

et al. 2016

Objective: The purpose of this case series is to report on symptomatic and quality of life (QoL) changes in 7 older adult chiropractic patients who were receiving care using Activator Methods Chiropractic Technique (AMCT). Clinical Features: Seven patients were selected from 2 chiropractic offices in Auckland, New Zealand. Patients were included if they were older adults receiving AMCT care and for whom at least 2 QoL assessments had been performed. The patients, aged 69-80 years, primarily received care for a variety of musculoskeletal complaints. Intervention and Outcomes: The patients reported improvements in their presenting complaints as well as a number of nonmusculoskeletal symptoms. Each patient demonstrated clinical improvements in their RAND 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) results. The average improvement in QoL measured using a SF-36 questionnaire was 8.0 points in the physical component and 4.1 points in the mental component. Four cases had a second progress evaluation using the SF-36 and showed an overall improvement of 5.2 in the physical and 9.8 in the mental components from baseline. Conclusion: This case series describes an improvement in QoL, as measured by the SF-36 instrument, as well as subjectively reported improvements in both musculoskeletal and nonmusculoskeletal symptoms in 7 older adults receiving chiropractic care.

“…21 The high-speed/low-amplitude adjustive thrust, one per segment, is delivered by the Activator Four Adjusting Instrument (AAI). 22 Based upon the Activator Methods protocol, he presented with a pelvic deficiency (PD) of 1½ in. "Neurological chains of information isolated within a malfunctioning biomechanical unit will feed back through the nervous system, creating an error in muscular activation; this can be visualized as a change in leg length."…”

Section: Case Reportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chiropractic management of a veteran with lower back pain associated with diffuse idiopathic skeletal hypertrophy and degenerative disk disease

Roberts

Wolfe

2012

Objective: The purpose of this article is to report the response of chiropractic care of a geriatric veteran with degenerative disk disease and diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis. Clinical Features: A 74-year-old man presented with low back pain (LBP) and loss of feeling in his lower extremities for 3 months. The LBP was of insidious onset with a 10/10 pain rating on the numeric pain scale (NPS) and history of degenerative disk disease and diffuse idiopathic skeletal hypertrophy. Oswestry questionnaire was 44% and health status questionnaire was 52%, which were below average for his age. The patient presented with antalgia and severe difficulty with ambulation and thus used a walker. Intervention and Outcome: Chiropractic care included Activator Methods protocol. Two weeks into treatment, he reported no back pain; and after 4 treatments, he was able to walk with a cane instead of a walker. The NPS decreased from a 10/10 to a 0/10, and his Revised Oswestry score decreased from 44/100 to 13.3/100. His Health Status Questionnaire score increased 25 points to 77/100, bringing him from below average for his age to above average for his age. Follow-up with the patient at approximately 1 year and 9 months showed an Oswestry score of 10/100 and a Health Status Questionnaire score of 67/100, still above average for his age. Conclusion: The findings in this case study showed that Activator-assisted spinal manipulative therapy had positive subjective and objective results for LBP and ambulation in a geriatric veteran with degenerative disk disease and diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis.