Glossary <span>All</span>

Objective Complaints
— What the doctor finds by examination.

Oblique
— Slanting; diagonal.

Occipital
— Pertaining to the back of the head.

Orthopedics
— Pertaining to the correction or prevention of deformities of the musculoskeletal system.

Osteopathy
— A medical therapy that emphasizes manipulative procedures, uses medication or surgery, and specializes in various areas of medicine.

Palpation
— Examining the spine with your fingers; the art of feeling with the hand.

Pathology
— A disease process.

Pathophysiology
— A malfunction of the body system(s) and/or spine.

Pediatrics
— The care of infants and children and the treatment of their diseases.

Peripheral Nervous System
— The nervous system that connects the central nervous system with every cell, tissue and organ of the body.

Physiology
— The biological science of essential and characteristic life processes, activities and functions; the vital processes of an organism.

Physiotherapy
— Treatment with physical and mechanical means, such as massage, electricity, etc.

Posterior
— Toward the back of the body.

Post-examination
— An examination used to monitor the healing process and the practice member’s progress toward recovery.

Preventive Care
— Health care that focuses on early detection and treatment in an attempt to reduce costs.

Prognosis
— A prediction of the probable course and outcome of a disease or the likelihood of recovery from a disease.

Prone
— Lying horizontally with the face downward.

PT
Physical therapy.

Sacrum
— The triangular bone at the base of the spine.

Sciatica
— A pain that radiates from the back into the buttocks and into the leg caused by the irritation of the sciatic nerve, the largest nerve in the body.

Scoliosis
— A sideways curve of the spine as viewed from the back.

Slipped Disc
— An incorrect name given to a condition in which a disc becomes wedge-shaped and bulges. In extreme cases this pressure will cause a disc to rupture.

SOT
— SOT stands for Sacro Occipital Technique, a method of normalizing the relationship between the foundation of the spine and the top of the spine by specifically positioning the body to use its weight to correct itself.

Spasm
— A contraction of muscle tissue.

Spinous Process
— A posterior protruding part of a spinal bone that can be seen or felt when examining the spine.

Spurring
— A projecting body, as from a bone.

Subluxation
— A misalignment and malfunction of the spine that is less than a dislocation and that interferes with the nervous system, associated organs, muscles and soft tissues of the body.

Superior
— Upper or higher in position.

Supine
— Lying horizontally on the back with the face upward.

Technique
— A specific procedure, method or manoeuvre used to correct spinal problems.

Therapy
— Methods used to assist in the relief of pain, rehabilitation and restoration of normal body functions.

Thoracic
— Pertaining to the part of the spinal column from the base of the neck to about six inches above the waistline.

Traction
— The act of drawing or exerting a pulling force, as along the long axis of a structure.

Transverse Process
— Lateral protrusions (wings) of bone from the vertebrae to which powerful muscles attach.

Trigger Point
— An involuntarily tight band of muscle that is painful when pressed and can cause referred pain in other parts of the body.

Wellness Care
— Health care that is not prompted by sickness or injury but by an attempt to achieve or promote an optimum state of physical, mental and social well-being.

Whiplash
— An injury to the cervical spine caused by an abrupt jerking motion of the head, either backward or forward.

Work Hardening
— Physical conditioning, work simulation and education to build strength and endurance and help an injured employee return to work.

Worker’s Compensation
— A type of insurance that covers employee illnesses, injuries and disabilities occurring in the course of their employment.

X-rays
— Electromagnetic radiation that can penetrate many objects and reveal their internal structure by recording the shadow cast on photographic plates.