Dr. Frederick Schurger practices the Blair Upper Cervical technique in Springfield, IL. He was recently certified proficient in Blair and reveals how that has helped him in practice.
Thanks to Dr. Schurger for taking time out of his schedule to answer questions for The Atlas of Life.
Dr. Harshe: How did you first get into chiropractic?
Dr. Schurger: “It was definitely a trial of 3’s. My first chiropractic adjustment was by a Palmer doc doing Gonstead in my home town. He was pretty solid principle, because you came, you got adjusted and you left. But absolutely no philosophy there, and really, only my mom went to him regularly. This was when I was a child, maybe 8-10 years old. I thought it was neat, but nothing more.
My second experience was when I was in undergrad for engineering, I put on some weight, and there was one year when my low back was all sorts of lit up. I went to a doc in Terre Haute who wouldn’t even try to adjust me unless I was on e-stim for 10 minutes. At that time I knew enough that all I needed was one good adjustment (to my low back at that time) was all I needed, and he really left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
Now oddly enough, it was about this time that I was introduced to the concept of the body being able to heal itself from one of my classmates, and I really started to move away from what was modern medicine to natural healing. It was about a 3 year transition that really set me in place for what I would end up figuring out with my third chiropractor.
I had been practicing Kung Fu for about 4-5 months when I had a fall. No big deal, I had a lot of falls while practicing Kung Fu. It just happens that after that fall, I couldn’t get out bed this next morning, as my right shoulder was killing me. There was a medical clinic down the road, and I wanted to make sure I hadn’t broken anything, and sure enough, no breaks.
Well, I started to put things together (the engineer that I am) as to who knew bones and alignment really well, and I deducted that a chiropractor would be my answer. A chiropractor had done a warm call on me after some of my colleagues at work had started care with him, and I figured he’d be as good as any.
Little did I know I walked into a principled chiropracTOR’s office, and we know how the story goes. I got better. I was still in there pretty frequently (my low back was horrible in those days), but what I saw amazed me. I was looking for something new, and sure enough, that’s where I had to go. I had calls out to Palmer (where Dr Buller graduated), and was figuring out how many classes I had to take. But within a month of starting care, I was registered for pre-req’s (during the end of their semester) and I pitched the MBA application that had been sitting on my desk for almost 2 years! The universe was moving me to where I needed to be.”
Dr. Harshe: What led you to Upper Cervical Chiropractic?
Dr. Schurger: “I was really excited about chiropractic, and Palmer was really amazing at the time. Lots of energy when I started, and then the Guy Riekman thing went down. That brought on a lot of stress. I was going thru all the first year classes, and I was either in the clinic twice a week (something they try to actually make you stop doing, even though you hurt) for full spine care, or I was going to a doc in town who was doing AK. I was taking the AK class that was offered, and it was really neat to experience the technique.
Part of the reason I was under that doc’s care was because early on I had taken the stance that if I’m going to learn a technique, I’m going to be under that kind of care. Well, as we were coming into 4th Tri, I knew toggle was coming up, so I decided to get that set of films for class and for myself. Dr. Justin Brown was an intern about a year ahead of me, and was ready for films and the challenge of adjusting me. We got it put back in place, and sure enough things changed. Not immediately, but I didn’t need to try to get adjusted 2-3 times a week anymore. My low back was feeling good, and one of the best parts was my sinuses cleared up! I haven’t really mentioned it, but I had what I called a constant runny nose, to the point where I would sometimes need 2 hankies to keep my nose dry-ish. I’m not 100% certain if that’s when we had that clear up, but the next several months I was almost exclusively under toggle care.
I had a couple of times when we got me to great clears, and then all of a sudden, no big changes. We were adjusting me ASRP at the time, and the scan just wasn’t changing. We might have adjusted a little deep on some occasions there too. Well, that eventually led me to a set of Blair films and an ASL/PIL listing!! I think this is a good place to lead into your next question.”
Dr. Harshe: How did you decide on Blair as your technique of choice?
Dr. Schurger: “I was very excited about Toggle, and when I heard Dr Tom Forest talking about Blair, the precision that it had made perfect sense to me instantly. And on top of that, when he played a video of Dr Drew Hall speaking about his experience, I knew it was what I had to do pursue next. My engineering background was looking for precision to adjusting, and the analysis of the asymmetries made so simple, just looking at the joint to understand the subluxation. The reality is the atlas subluxation is really a very complex movement of a bone that shouldn’t move in that manner. What Dr. Blair did to simplify our viewing of it, really is a gift to the entire profession!”
Dr. Harshe: Where do you practice right now and how is that going?
Dr. Schurger: “I’m in Springfield, IL, and it’s been a great experience. I don’t have the biggest practice yet, and I’m looking to grow, but what I think is most critical is what I’ve learned in the past years on how to build a practice. There are so many responsibilities that don’t even come to mind, and a lot of the past couple of years have really been learning about myself.
I will be the first to admit that I got into some bad habits while working for corporate America as they call it, and breaking those habits have been hard. But I think in the end, the benefits will be seen!”
Dr. Harshe: How has becoming certified proficient in the Blair Upper Cervical technique affected your practice?
Dr. Schurger: “It’s interesting to see what you really know. I was scared to death to take the proficiency exam for Blair. But I’m a perfectionist, and sometimes that bogs me down because something isn’t just right. Of course, that helps make you a better doctor too, because when the graph doesn’t change the way you think it should, or that gut feeling says something else is going on, you need to look at it with a fine tooth comb. For me, having accomplished this goal is big. I’m more confident in my skills as an adjuster and in analyzing the films. That’s reflected in how I take care of patients, and ultimately, in the level of care they receive.
I think every DC, upper cervical or not, should have some level of proficiency testing beyond what they learned in school to make sure they really know what they are doing. There’s a newer chiropractic directory out there that was suggesting we need to have more alphabet soup so we look better, but if you have ‘MD’ after your name, you’re accepted. I think some of the alphabet soup is good, but the bottom line is we need to be experts in whatever technique we choose, and every individual should strive toward the highest level of mastery as they can within their technique.”
Dr. Harshe: You recently started up your own blog. Can you tell us a little bit about it and how has it been going?
http://uppercervicalspringfield.wordpress.com/
Dr. Schurger: “Well, the blog is really just starting. I haven’t been as active with it as I’d like, quite simply because I was running around all over the place these past months, and then came down with the flu for about a week! But it’s really pretty fun.
I haven’t sat down with the more advanced blogging software, so it’s not quite as fancy as yours is yet, but it really is a springboard for what I’m doing to improve myself. It’s not all Upper Cervical, but you better believe that there’s a lot of Upper Cervical within the content. I do like the fact that I can share some very impressive things about my life with people who really don’t know that I do these things on a regular basis.
Most people, even those who I consider my close friends these days, really don’t know all there is to know about me, as I’ve tended to shed things that either don’t serve me or that I don’t have an outlet for. My musical life is very quiet right now, but I once had a very vibrant musical outlet for many years.
In fact, many of my high school friends first question to me is whether or not I still play my bass, which happens about once a month these days. So things like that get to come out on the blog, and often times come back to Upper Cervical, especially since I don’t get nearly the shoulder strain that I used to get when playing now that I’m under Upper Cervical care. Pretty amazing when you get right down to it.”
Dr. Harshe: What are your thoughts on the recently re-designed Upper Cervical Care website?
Dr. Schurger: “I’m really excited about the new website, and the sub-sites that are available. In fact, I plan on doing double duty with both my office site and the personal blog that I put up. Visibility is key, and even if I’m putting up very similar content, I can re-emphasize on the second blog.
As for the site itself, this is THE face of Upper Cervical Chiropractic, whether you call it “The Specific,” “Upper Cervical Health Centers,” or “Jones Spinal Care.” If you’re doing upper cervical in your office, you need to be a part of this site. Period.
The stronger a front we put to the world, the better the response will be. I’m very proud to be a member of this site, and I’ve been itching to get on this for a while (probably why my other blog has been a little on the quiet side, as I have about 3-4 articles that I haven’t posted there yet).
The explanations are easy. The science is explained, the initial “what is this” is straight forward. If you’re part of group and don’t feel represented, I bet you can record a video to better explain what you do, and you can post it to your sub-site. But it’s going to get people in the door so they can receive the benefits of this wonderful thing that we do.”
Dr. Harshe: What is your vision for the future of Upper Cervical Chiropractic?
Dr. Schurger: “Simple. Upper Cervical Everywhere! It’s so imperative that every man, woman and (especially) child on the planet be under upper cervical care. I’ll be honest, I’ve had a hard time telling the story, not because I don’t believe it, but because I judged who was ready to hear it. The reality is that many people aren’t ready to ACT on it, but they’re all ready for the introduction.
I’m pretty passive about having people come into my office or sign-up for care, but I’m very aggressive when it comes to making sure that they’re running clear. I’ve noticed that the more I focus on their own function, the easier it is to encourage them to come in or sign up for care.
I see upper cervical working very intimately with medical doctors as the first line of health and healing in this country and this world. But first, we have to emphasize the need to improve health instead of managing death and disease, which is the true focus of medicine. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But every medical doctor wants to promote health, they just don’t have what we have. That’s what we have to do.
We have to realize that they are necessary part of our system, and looking for a better way to heal, and they’ve been looking for something every time another pharmaceutical rep walked in. We just happen to be something different enough and gentle enough that many of them are likely to embrace us.”
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Good Interview Doc!
I really love the quote “we have to emphasize the need to improve health instead of managing death and disease”—
That’s the difference between “health care” and sick care…chiropractic and medicine…life and death.