Before I went to the chiropractic college, I was in the residential remodeling business. I was a superintendent of construction for a large firm. I knew all the trades, having worked my way up the ladder (ahem), so although I no longer had my tool belt on, I was telling people what to do. I had critical thinking skills, and it was now time to apply them.

Going into an older home to do renovation and upgrading is quite different from new construction; a different approach is required with different tools and skills. Delicate work is needed to work on older homes. Not that 36 is old, but having had 20 years of instability and dysfunction made her a complex case. Everyone in her past had ascribed her problems to the spine, but they hadn’t even evaluated her knees and ankles.

I had taken a series of Extremity Adjusting classes in the College curriculum but also had gone to a number of weekend seminars on the subject. I felt none of them had prepared me for someone with chronically swollen lower legs with an obvious joint dysfunction of the ankles and feet. Big yanking and distraction-type manipulations were not an option for her, since she was too sensitive.

I was trained in Chiropractic Biophysics, which does not offer extremity protocols. All the extremity protocols are done to the mirror image of the subluxation to restore alignment. I could see her lower limbs were deformed and inflamed and in need of intervention. I knew there was a building code to the body and my goal became to reduce the building code violations (reduce the subluxations). So that is what I did. She taught me a lot, as did all the patients that have followed. I seem to collect patients whose stories are terrible except for their will and drive to keep working and get better. Hip replacements gone bad, failed back surgeries… you name it, they have come through my doors. I am forever honored and grateful for their willingness to let me help them achieve better functioning and quality of life.

That first patient was off the cane in three weeks, but she needed it again, 23 years later, in her final days when she was in chemotherapy, to keep herself steady as she walked with terrible weakness.

Every so often I hear the words, “It’s a miracle! Thank you, Doc!” to which I reply, “I don’t do miracles. That’s God’s job.” The body wants to heal.  The body has a building code. I simply find the building code violations and correct them.

This shortening and tightening can cause injury later as the inflexibility causes injury to the joints from improper mechanics. If your knees are bent all the time, in the long term, you will have trouble straightening your knees. I mention this in my book, “Got knee pain? Where is your tibia?” that the Cartesian monks, who pray on their knees 16 to 18 hours a day (Into Great Silence, a documentary by Philip Gröning). After a few years they cannot walk properly. They cannot straighten their knees. 

More than 20 years ago I had a 65-year-old morbidly obese woman come into my office with terribly swollen knees. She denied trauma, but they were very painful to touch. We wrapped her knees in ice for 20 minutes just to do the evaluation. She had significantly posterior tibias.  I asked if she had a history of falls; she said no. I asked her she had a history of motor vehicle accidents; she said no.  So asked her if she did any gardening or kneeling and she said she was a Catholic nun, and had been kneeling to pray daily since she was 16. I said, “I am not a theologian, but I’m pretty sure that this is not required. Can you do your praying seated instead of on your knees?”

After two weeks of adjustments along with this small change in behavior her legs and knees were normal. If you have knee pain, take a look at what you are doing on a daily basis to cause the injury. It seems like such a simple thing, but I constantly find that few people stop to think about it.

I ran marathons in college and continued to run on asphalt for several years after college. In my later years I began to suffer from unhappy knees. It was a drag to say the least. I found myself suffering from knee and leg pain and was unable to continue my very busy lifestyle. I find it frustrating to have limitations of activities and pain with work and daily tasks. I found that if I keep my tibias aligned I am much happier because my knees are happy. I can work all day, which keeps me busy and gives me the sense of satisfaction that I crave in order to feel like a useful member of society. My activities aren’t limited, so I can do “stuff” instead of sitting by watching others do it for me. I can remain independent, which makes me very happy overall.

If you have pain in your knees, you probably have a displaced tibia. If you have heard these words to describe your knee(s):

• meniscus
• cruciate
• collateral
• osteoarthritis
• patellofemoral syndrome
• chondromalacia
• osteochondritis
• dessicans
• patellar tracking problems

then you probably have a displaced tibia. If you have pain in your legs, then you may have a displaced tibia.

Luckily it isn’t difficult to adjust a knee. In fact, with the proper knowledge it only takes a few minutes to adjust your knees. My book, “Got Knee pain? Where is your Tibia?” goes through the process of lining up your own knees. I go over in detail how to find where your tibia is relative to your femur. We want them lined up. The best weight bearing happens when the tibia is squarely under the femur in the neutral, standing position. You, the knee pain sufferer, have the most motivation to get these two bones lined up. And you are the most convenient person to intervene, your knees are always with you. Once that has been determined then you initiate the self aligning maneuvers you need to get your tibia lined up. This injury is an injury to the ligaments of the knee. Ligaments do not heal quickly, especially if you are older. (If you know who Gene Kelly was you are in trouble.)

I do not know why the orthopedic/physical therapy profession do not line the tibia up with femur post injury. I have been in practice foe 33+ years and I find no one with aligned tibias that have a history of care with any of
our professions. I know why it is not occurring: it is not taught. Aligning the tibia is not being taught. I have the textbooks, been to the seminars and have colleagues that teach. I cannot find any evidence that they are teaching this informamtion. Therefore I have written this book to help the lay-person adjust their own knees for more mobility and decreased pain.

In 1992 my wife, Diane, was in a car accident. Her right foot was on the brake pedal and the event displaced her right hip bone. This was very painful for her. She had a history of cervical cancer. She was in her fifth year of being post-surgery and she was getting checked semiannually. Her next semiannual appointment was two days after the car accident. I went in with her as I knew the doctor and I wanted to propose an experiment. I told her about Diane’s accident and how it changed the shape of her pelvis. I asked her to do her regular pelvic examination, give me her verbal findings and then let me adjust her and redo the pelvic examination. She agreed and said “I was taught in school that these bones don’t move, but I’ve had babies and I’ve been adjusted by chiropractors, so I know they move.”

While Diane was on the table, I showed the doctor how Diane’s pubic bones were misaligned. Her right pubic bone was higher than the left one. I also showed her how Diane’s right abdominal wall was tighter. The doctor acknowledged that she could see and feel this. She began her examination and Diane arched her back off the table. She was in terrible pain. In at least 45 exams over the past 6 years, neither the doctor nor Diane could not recall a pain reaction like this.

The doctor said “I can’t get to the right ovary; the uterus is in the way. This feels completely asymmetrical” and then commented that she can easily get to the left ovary. Diane said it didn’t hurt as much for the doctor to go to the left. I waited for her to finish her examination and then I realigned Diane’s pelvis. When the doctor performed the examination a second time, both were shocked that there was no pain.  The doctor said, “I can easily get to the right ovary, this feels symmetrical in here now. Could this be the source of all the undiagnosed pelvic pain I encounter in so many of my patients?”

When the marriage ended, Diane moved away and I didn’t see her for thirteen years. During that meeting I inquired about her gynecological health and she said, “I am scheduled for a hysterectomy next Tuesday morning. I can hardly wait to get this shit out of me!” I asked if she thought that the car accident in 1992 was responsible for her need to have a hysterectomy. She said, “absolutely.”  She had stopped getting adjustments and she ignored her pelvic misalignment for thirteen years.

I feel that gynecological health is related to pelvic alignment. The condition I saw in the anatomy lab years ago was in fact preventable. Pelvic alignment is not looked upon by the gynecological and obstetrical doctors as being important. I feel this is wrong. Women need to know that their health and reproductive viability are connected to proper health care which includes pelvic alignment.

Sally Hill is the registered nurse and midwife who wrote the introduction to my book “If Mom is not Happy, No One is Happy”. I taught her how to align a pelvis to help with labor and delivery for her patients. I saw her a few months later and she said that what I had taught her was “killing her”. I asked “why?” She said that she was now the “go-to person for all difficult labor and deliveries at Alta Bates and Summit hospitals”. I asked how many of those were caused by misaligned pelvises. And she said, “all of them…” as if it was a stupid question. I asked if we could make this information available to the gynecological and obstetrics communities and she laughed so hard she almost rolled off the table.

I feel I have a huge responsibility to try to change things. Women are suffering from painful pregnancy, fibroid tumors and even infertility due to a misaligned pelvis.  Babies are born with birth related trauma due to stalled labors.  As unbelievable as it may sound, this is preventable with simple adjusting techniques that anyone can do. I cannot stress this enough. Opioid medications are not a solution.  We cannot ignore the alignment of the pelvic bones.   

Laser therapy, known in scientific terms as photobiomodulation, exposes the cells and tissues to a safe, low-level laser treatment that is used to treat both acute and chronic pain. Laser applications to the body have been studied and researched since the 1970s and the benefits are well-established in medical literature. Here are some of the healing effects of laser treatment on different tissues and systems of the body:

Reduced inflammation

Laser therapy has been shown to increase inflammatory meditators (white blood cells), which can accelerate and resolve the inflammatory process. It can also increase cytokines, which are secreted by immune cells, and which also have anti-inflammatory effects on the tissues. At the same time, it can reduce damaging free radical levels by increasing the release of enzymes that neutralize free radicals in the body.

Faster pain reduction with longer lasting relief

Laser therapy decreases nerve sensitivity by decreasing a pain-eliciting chemical in the body known as bradykinin. It helps the targeted cells to balance ion levels and release endorphins (the body’s natural pain reliever) that similarly work to reduce pain levels.  It can also help decrease nerve sensitivity and relieve nerve pain.

Vascular system benefits

Laser therapy has been shown to help in the development of new blood vessels, a process called angiogenesis, which aids the body in bringing increased blood flow to injured areas to expedite healing. The treatment also improves blood and lymph flow by causing a dilation of the vessels in the area being treated. This dilation allows more space for nutrients to pass to the injured area, which may result in faster healing and the removal of dead and damaged cells. This effect also results in less swelling and water retention in the treated area, known as edema.

Increase in cell growth

Synthesis of ATP, the cell’s fuel, is shown to be increased by exposure to the laser. This increases the energy that is available to the cell to carry out its functions, including carrying nutrients, oxygen, getting rid of waste products, etc. ATP is the energy source for all chemical reactions in the cell. As a result, the cells of tendons, ligaments, nerves, and muscles can repair faster.

Increased activity of stem cells

Laser therapy has also been shown to increase the number of stem cells, which enhances the healing process and the birth of new cells in injured areas.

Bone regeneration

There is evidence emerging in current research that bone regeneration may be stimulated by laser therapy. (See studies below!)

Immune system regulation

Laser therapy may also help with restoring immuno-competence to cells. Chromophores in the cell, which react to and absorb light, activate enzymes that increase ATP, the cell’s fuel, which we referenced earlier. This has a direct effect on the immune system, stimulating the immune system’s cells to higher activity levels. These higher-functioning immune cells may contribute to a more functional immune response.

Improved nerve function and regeneration

Laser therapy has been shown to increase the reproduction of nerve cells and the fatty sheaths that surround them, which can help nerves to recover from damage. Numbness, impaired limb usage, and chronic pain can be targeted by the treatment because of its effects on neural healing. It can speed up the transmission of information from nerve to nerve, nerve to organ, and nerve to brain.

Muscle repair and regeneration

Laser therapy penetrates deep into tissues and can stimulate cellular reproduction and growth in muscle cells, too. This expedites the healing process after a tear, strain, or any injury sustained to muscle.

Scar tissue reduction & collagen production

Laser therapy can help break up scar tissue from old wounds and prevent the formation of scar tissue in newer, more recently healed wounds. By expediting the healing process and encouraging cellular regeneration in the collagen fibers that make up scars, exposure to the laser light can have softening and shrinking effects on scars. This is especially beneficial for scar tissue that impedes one’s ability to move (think: scar tissue around knee replacement) and causes pain with movement and activity. It is also helpful for newer injuries, like torn ligaments and tendons, to prevent the development of scar tissue.

Joints

Laser therapy also has proven effects on the cells that make up our body’s joints, called chondrocytes. It has similar effects as detailed above on the cells: it speeds up their growth and reproduction, increases their capacity to carry nutrients and oxygen, and increases the production of ATP, the cell’s fuel. This expedites and improves cartilage deposition and joint function.

Here is some more reading on laser therapy:

• Effect of low-level laser therapy on mesenchymal stem cell proliferation: a systematic review
• Comparison of the in vitro effects of low-level laser therapy and low-intensity pulsed ultrasound therapy on bony cells and stem cells
• Immunomodulatory effects of laser therapy in the treatment of chronic tonsillitis
• Immune-modulating Effects of Therapeutic Laser
• Role of Low-Level Laser Therapy in Neurorehabilitation
• A systematic review of low level laser therapy with location-specific doses for pain from chronic joint disorders
• Low level laser therapy for sports injuries
• Limb Blood Flow After Class 4 Laser Therapy
• The Effectiveness of Therapeutic Class IV (10 W) Laser Treatment for Epicondylitis

Adapted from Justin Vorwaller, MBA: “How Photobiomodulation Technology Can Increase Your Clinical and Financial Outcomes,” in Chiropractic Products.