Posture Pump

The ear canal arrow should line up with center of shoulder. Check yours!
By Denise Pauck, RN, ACLS and Richard Graham, DC

     Many years ago, before the advent of orthodontics, crowded adult teeth causing pain and swelling were simply pulled out. Now we have the knowledge and ability to make room for crowded teeth by reshaping the mouth and straightening the teeth. Of course it takes more time and money to save teeth than pull them but we've found it generally wiser to preserve than to waste. This is especially true of joints and discs in the neck and back. Since the spine is made of movable bones that house the central nervous system and allows us freedom of movement, degeneration here leads to years of painfull stiff misery and poor health. If your spine has lost its normal shape and the joints in your neck or back are abnormally compressed, locked or misaligned, the discs between the bones may have already started to decay. (Please see x-rays below) Valuable correction time should never be wasted. Where the spine is concerned we must save rather than waste. There are now two types of chiropractic care available: well-known Relief Care and modern day Corrective Care.

     With Relief Care, some joint compression, muscle tension and nerve pressure can be relieved and most people feel better fast. However, the application of Relief Care is similar to inflating a tire with a leak. the damaged tire may be useful temporarily but will always require re-inflation. Further, the tire's leak is a structural weakness, a warning that it may fail unexpectedly. While Relief Care is an extremely valuable tool, it cannot reshape abnormal areas of the spine that cause disc tissue to wear away and spinal joints to become stiff, painful and arthritic. Think of Relief Care as temporarily relieving the pain and swelling caused by teeth that have grown too tightly together; but without straightening the teeth and reshaping the mouth as the orthodontist would.

     Corrective Care is a modern, advanced form of chiropractic treatment designed to realign twisted joints while simultaneously restoring the neck and back to their natural curved shapes. It requires detailed geometric spinal analysis and a specially trained doctor. With Corrective Care you and your doctor working as a team can improve the motion, function and longevity of your spine by decompressing, unlocking and reshaping it. Think of Corrective Care as orthodontics of the spine without the braces. Unfortunately many patients have allowed their spines to deteriorate to the point that Corrective Care is not possible with current technology. However, for those patients where Corrective Care is still an option, the extra time, money and effort they spend now may help them avoid an early road to aging, years of hunched, stiff, painful posture and potential spinal surgery.

     While Corrective Care in your case may not take the 2 to 4 years required to straighten teeth, it does require patient participation, especially with home care appliances and exercise. To straighten teeth and reshape the mouth, orthodontists apply pressure-over-time. Forcing the teeth in a desired direction over a prolonged period of time is what changes the alignment and shape of the mouth. Similarly, the doctor of chiropractic utilizes special equipment like the Posture Pump® to lift, decompress and reshape the spine. The Posture Pump® is a home care appliance that inflates the neck and back into their proper curved shapes, applying pressure-over-time.

     If you were asked how much you should pay the dentist you would rightfully inquire as to the extent of services you would be receiving. You would of course expect to pay more to have your teeth straightened than to fix a toothache. Since there is limited insurance coverage for orthodontics, most patients finance their care or pay cash. The cost of Corrective Spinal Care will vary from case to case depending on its severity and length of treatment anticipated by the treating doctor. As an RN (registered nurse), I have worked in the emergency room
and outpatient surgical units for over 15 years. I am continually amazed at the number and variety of people who choose to have expensive elective procedures not covered by insurance. For example, breast augmentations $7,000 plus, tummy tucks $9,000 plus, lipo-suction $4,000 plus, lip injections for that fuller look $2,000 plus, botox injections over $500 every 3 months and the list goes on. I have found that in most cases if a patient feels it is important enough, the finances can be worked out.

     Fixing a toothache may take a day and cost hundreds, while having your teeth straightened takes years and costs thousands. is having your spine Corrected and preserved worth as much as having your teeth straightened? You better believe it. Not hundreds but thousands of dollars alone in surgical prevention! Furthermore, stiffness and hunched posture is what makes een young people look and feel old. Premature aging of the neck and back will always occur whne the spine buckles forward or is locked to one side. People notice. Again, as a registered nurse, I have all too often seen the chronic use of painkillers and muscle relaxants destroy relationships and productive lives while hiding progressive spinal disease. My vote is for prevention and correction.

     If a health care professional provided this information to you, he or she probably offers both Relief Care and Corrective Care. So is now the time to fix your spine? The choice is yours!

NORMAL CURVED SHAPE

75-year-old patient (#8202) with normal curve. Can you see the wide disc spaces between the bones? (see arrows) A curved shape in the neck and back allowes the weight to be evenly distributed on the joints. Even at 75-years-old this person has feedom of movement without pain and stiffness. Note the curved shape of this spine compared to the one below right. (See curved line here and straight-line on the x-ray below)

ABNORMAL SHAPE

55-year-old patient (#6184) Note that the curve is missing! Can you see how thin the disc spaces become when the curve is lost? (See Arrows) As weight bears forward, compressing the joints, soft discs between the bones dry out and die. Can you notice the bones deforming in shape and taking an a melting candle appearance? Even though this patient is much younger than the one opposite advanced decay has set in. Valuable correction time has been lost and years of painful stiff misery loom ahead. (See joint decay at arrows and compare with above x-ray)

Anatomical, Physiological And Field Support Data For Posture Pump®

“While a student, I heard many conflicting opinions throughout the profession arguing whether or not it was possible to restore a normal cervical curve once it had been lost. To many of the chiropractors with whom I came in contact, curve restoration in a neck that had either lost its curve, or worse, had gone kyphotic, was an impossibility. Once I began my internship at Parker, I began to agree with the naysayers. Then I saw a Posture Pump demonstration at a Parker Seminar, and I bought one. My wife and I loved it. I was then granted permission by the Parker Clinic to prescribe a Posture Pump to a whiplash victim who had a kyphotic neck whose curve measured negative (-) 15 degrees. She had been under the care of an MD for six weeks, and then under the care of another chiropractor for eight weeks before coming to see me. She had x-rays taken by each of the three of us each time she began care. Each of the three lateral cervical neutral views showed a neck that was clearly kyphotic. After 6 weeks of using the Posture Pump three times per week for fifteen minutes, this previously unresponsive patient was getting dramatic relief. Her improvement was so impressive that I decided to do the unspeakable: I took a post x-ray!! With the angle of her mandible identical to the first lateral cervical neutral taken at the Parker Clinic, her now lordotic curve measured positive (+) 26 degrees!!! Several of the staff doctors gathered around the view box and began asking me ‘how the heck did you do that?!!’ Three weeks later, after she was rear-ended again at 50+ m.p.h., I was shocked to see while analyzing her new films that she had not lost a bit of her curve restoration!! COUNT ME SOLD!!”

Dr. Eric VanderWerff, Irving, Texas

“Considerable evidence exists to support the point of view that aging and degenerative changes are not synonymous and that degenerative changes do not appear unless the joint has been damaged by trauma. Many elderly joints prove to be just as strong in torsion or compression as the younger ones.”

(Harry F. Farfan, M.Sc., M.D., C.M., F.R.C.S., Managing Low Back Pain, W. H. Kirkaldy-Willis, Second Edition, © Churchill Livingstone Inc 1988, p 25.)

“WOLFF’S LAW: Established (1868). Equal pressure to the epiphyseal plates results in symmetrical growth. Asymmetrical pressure results in asymmetrical growth and vertebral deformity.” “Abnormal postures are well known to play a role in the causation of pain and functional impairment leading to disability.” “Most disk hydration occurs via imbibition. If imbibition by the disk is a factor in its nutrition, it is mandatory that there is alternating compression and relaxation of the disk to ensure its: sponge imbibition action.”

(Cailliett, R., M.D., Low Back Pain Syndrome, Edition 4, Pain Series, © F.A. Davis ©Company Fourth printing, 1991, pgs. 5-8 and 26-43.)

“The lumbar disc is a unique structure in many ways. It is vascular only during infancy and is dependent afterwards on the diffusion of nutrients from adjacent vertebrae across the endplate. The relaxation of musculature and decrease in loading creates a ‘bellows-like’ phenomenon, which appears to enhance the diffusion of nutrients across the disc endplate. I suggest that during episodes of discal decompression when nutrition is enhanced and discal volume increases this is also the phase when healing occurs. Although this remains to be demonstrated experimentally, it seems logical to assume that the deposition of reparative collagen in the natural healing of annular tears and fissures would be enhanced under these conditions.”

(Charles V. Burton, M. D., F.A.C.S. Kirkaldy-Willis, M.A.,M.D., F.R.C.S.,[Edin], F.A.C.S., Managing Low Back Pain, Second Edition, Churchill Livingstone, 1988, p 306-307.)

“The Posture Pump® Spine Trainer™ achieves angular joint separation by lifting the spine with Vectored Pneumatic Force™. Normal spinal shape and disc nutrition are enhanced while the dura, cord and nerve-roots are lifted into a safe, relaxed configuration. This is accomplished with air pressures of less than 8-lbs!”

Richard A. Graham, D.C., Huntington Beach, California

“The Posture Pump has been an incredible addition to our office. Our patients have benefited tremendously and the results have been overwhelming. Our office has always implemented cervical and lumbar traction devices along with the chiropractic adjustments, but nothing has come close to the Posture Pump. Our patients feel immediate relief and enjoy participating in their health care. The most remarkable thing about the Posture Pump is the improvement of the cervical lordosis. It’s inspiring not only to the doctors, but especially to the patients when their 100% loss of curve has improved by 50-70% in just a few months. I’m excited to see similar results with the Full Spine Attachment.”

Dr. Hilary B. Storm, Oyster Bay, New York

“After a clinical trial in my office I am amazed at the incredible changes in restoration of the cervical curve from the Posture Pump. My patients are amazed at how easy it is to get in and out of, and how fun it is to use. When I lecture across the country I have had numerous D.C.’s comment on how happy they are with Posture Pump’s results in cervical curve restoration, and the number of sales to their patients for home care. This is truly a new innovative support that all chiropractors should use in their offices. Thank you for being on the cutting edge.”

Mark A. Cymerint, D.C., Q.M.E., C.C.S.T.

“In all my years of practice and teaching national seminars, rarely have I personally endorsed a product. However, I feel so strongly about the Posture Pump that I give it my “WHOLE HEARTED” endorsement for safe patient rehabilitation. I’ve found Posture Pump to be durable, user friendly, efficient and effortless. My patients love this state of the art product. Whether used in the office, at home or both, my objective clinical results are dramatic! Also, third party reimbursement is simple based on clinical evidence.”

K.S.J. Murkowski, A.S., B.S., D.C., D.C.T., F.I.C.A., F.M.C.C.

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