Gonstead Method

The five checks at a glance

A sore neck is sometimes a pelvis that has been tipping for years. The spine works as one column, so the visit starts by finding where the problem actually sits. Nothing is adjusted until those checks agree.

1. 01

   Visualisation

   See the whole picture

   Before any contact, the chiropractor watches how you stand, walk, and turn. A dropped shoulder or a short step can show a pattern that a film on its own would miss.

2. 02

   Instrumentation

   A heat reading along the spine

   A small instrument is glided over the skin. A warmer spot between two vertebrae can mark irritation. It is one objective clue, and it is read together with the other four checks.

3. 03

   Static palpation

   Feel what the tissue is holding

   Trained hands feel for swelling, tenderness, and tight muscle at each level. Texture that matches the heat reading narrows the segment instead of treating a whole region.

4. 04

   Motion palpation

   Where movement has stopped

   Each joint is moved through its small normal range. The segment that will not glide is the one under consideration. Joints that still move are left alone.

5. 05

   X-ray analysis

   Precision you can look at

   When films are appropriate, they are taken standing, the way the spine actually carries weight. Angles guide the level and direction of the contact. Pregnancy and young children are not sent for a full-spine series.