Rehabilitation for Neck Injuries

Halo appears in Walnut Grove

by Erin McKay - Reporter for the Advance News

One of two machines in B.C. designed to assess and improve neck injuries is in Walnut Grove, and a local chiropractor is looking forward to putting it to good use. For such an important part of the body, there is little data available on the next. And when the neck is injured, it is often hard to determine the extent of the damage, or find the proper exercises to strengthen it.

That was a pet peeve for Walnut Grove chiropractor Dr. Alan Irving, who was tired of seeing "people slipping through the cracks" of health care. So just over a month ago, Irving purchased a new machine - one of only two in the province - that he can use to specifically help patients with neck injuries.
 
Walnut Grove Chiropractor Dr. Alan Irving demonstrates his new MCRP machine, which can help those recovering from neck injuries.
 

After completing intensive training, he is the only one in B.C. certified in the use of the Multi-Cervical Rehabilitation Program (MCRP). "It's blown me away," Irving said of the MCRP. "There was a need for this machine in the community." When using the MCRP, patients sit in a chair and a round, adjustable "halo" is secured onto their heads. The halo can measure how much mobility a person has in the neck, and can be used in any direction to record twists, bends, and rotations. It also measures isometric contractions, the best indicator of strength and endurance. When it comes to consistency, "There is nothing else like it on the market," said Irving. "You can't fake it out."

The data retrieved from the MCRP is used as a starting point to measure patients' improvement, and exercises to build those improvements can be done right on the machine. According to Irving, many active rehabilitation exercises currently used for the neck are not effective, as they focus on the wrong parts of the body, or are done incorrectly. With the guidance of the halo, the MCRP ensures the right muscles are being worked. "It makes them do the correct movement," said Irving, noting that the amount of weight used in doing the exercises can be adjusted.

Because the neck is part of the kinetic chain, an injury in the neck can lead to injuries elsewhere in the body, limit movement, and inhibit sight. "The neck is so important," Irving said. "I want to see people get better."

"I think it's important that people know there's something else out there," he said. "You don't have to take painkillers and anti-inflammatories all your life."

(Published in the Langley Advance on September 16, 1997)

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