(Editor’s note: This is the second part in a three-part series written by Dr. Steve Agocs. Dr. Agocs practices in the Kansas City, MO area.)
Hole-in-One
From this research, BJ developed the idea of a “whole in one” adjustment, which he quickly changed the name of to “hole in one” after the golf rarity. Like in golf, BJ believed that the fewer adjustments needed to make a person well, the better, and so he was on the hunt for the “hole in one” adjustment, or the one adjustment that would correct the whole spine. Initially this was basically just an offshoot of the “majors and minors” full-spine technique, but as the records of adjustments were analyzed, according to BJ, the hole-in-one adjustment seemed to come most often from the upper cervical region of the spine.
By 1931, BJ said, “the Hole-in-One subluxation can be located at any vertebra in the spine, including sacrum and coccyx,” but also added that, “the majority of Hole-in-One subluxations and adjustments are in the cervical region, the majority either atlas or axis…” (The Hour Has Arrived, 1931).
BJ’s 1932 Lyceum speech, Crowding the Hour, featured a lengthier and more technical explanation of the upper cervical subluxation complex and in 1934 he published his magnum opus on upper cervical technique, The Subluxation Specific – The Adjustment Specific.
In 1936, an engineer Palmer hired as a consultant improved on the NCM by adding a printer to it, called the Neurocalograph (NCGH). This engineer, Otto Schiernbeck, also invented the Neurotempometer, which attempted to control the speed at which the instrument was glided along the spine. Without the invention of the NCGH, Palmer never would have developed the pattern analysis that is a basic part of most upper cervical techniques today.
Without the influence of a humble Hollywood chiropractor, though, it’s unlikely that the technique would look much like it does now.
The Hollywood Chiropractor and BJ
1926 Palmer School graduate Aleck August Wernsing was developing innovative approaches toward upper cervical chiropractic technique before BJ. AA Wernsing invented the procedure of true plane radiography (the use of “scout” films to determine the angle of atlas tilt, so that the nasium view reflects the true plane of the atlas without projectional distortion), describing misalignments in degrees and listings, and a side-lying adjusting table and procedure.
By 1933, BJ had his instructors traveling all over the country to teach his upper cervical ideas, and Wernsing attended one of these events. Wernsing felt that there were major flaws in BJ’s work, so in January of 1934 he took a train to Davenport and presented his work to BJ, Herb Hender and “Laddie” Heath, BJ’s closest confidantes.
Based on Wernsing’s presentation, BJ altered many of his ideas about the upper cervical subluxation complex, even changing the title of his book published that same year, which was based largely upon adjusting the axis rather than atlas relative to occiput, as Wernsing had developed.
Recommended Reading
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