Scanning can be the most informative and inspiring experience for both the patient and the doctor if the results are delivered with certainty and coupled with a clear solution. In communicating at any level, to any patient, I’ll share some good advice given to me in the early days. I was instructed to analyze and report in the PCS manner: Problem; Cause; Solution. Chiropractors are hopeful by nature. Our philosophy guides us to understand the re-organizational power of Innate Intelligence. We embrace improvement, sometimes to a fault. So often we look away from the obvious and share the secret of healing, forgetting the principle of the “limitations of matter.” Here’s what I know for sure. Chiropractic is working EVERY time an adjustment is made, but we are up against decades of time and compensation within the body parts and the nervous system. The miracle of healing is CHANGE and change is what we see on scans. In fact, if scans don’t change, we should be concerned. Under response on a scan is far more concerning than over-response. At least when there is excess activity, we can say that the system is alive!
Getting back to PCS. The problem that we often see on scans when people arrive in the office is not the same problem the patient perceives they have. They often see their problem as a disconnected event resulting in pain or symptoms. We see an intelligent system having lost its way. Many times I listen and then relate the problem as I see it. “Mrs. Jones, I can see you are in pain and distress. The question that comes to my mind is, ‘Why didn’t your body handle the stresses that led to this?’ Were there too many of them or was it one incident that caused all this trouble? As a chiropractor, I want to know how these stresses have overwhelmed your natural reserves. We use precision technologies designed to measure where stress has changed your spine and also how deeply that stress has affected the nerve connections within the spine. We will run 3 (or more) scanning tests today along with other examinations. This will give me a much better idea how to find the ideal solution to the immediate problem and get to the deeper issue of managing those stresses.”
Remember, when the chiropractic solution is framed against a deepening, older problem, the use of scans allows us to see change as the adjustments take hold. On subsequent scans that show more activity and less balance, let them know that this intelligent system is using the adjustments to unwind old patterns and develop new and stronger habits. The “bad” scans that do exist, are scans that shows no change or a lowering of the HRV on 2 or 3 subsequent tests. EMG and Thermal scans can be fluctuant especially in the first 2 or 3 re-exams. There’s a lot of history we are working with! The good news is, the vast majority of scans show gradual continual improvement in their efficiency, making our job of reporting much more exciting.
When the HRV results are stuck in a low and unbalanced position, the concern remains that the patient is not really healing. They may feel better as the spinal nerves unwind, but the deeper causes still need to be addressed. Using the COREscore to keep track and report on progress is the ideal solution for creating a thriving practice. This is the joy of having all the tools to make all the difference in the families of your community.
A great example of an INSiGHT doctor who has patients that are seeing the results everyday is Dr. Gena Bofshever from Plantation, Florida. Read this blog from Dr. Gena’s website – it written by a patient who has seen the value of INSiGHT and coreSCORE.
Thanks for reading!
(Photo credit to Dr. Gena Bofshever)
