Dr. Albert Abrams : Spondylotherapy

In 1909, a new theory of healing appeared on the American medical scene. It was called "spondylotherapy,". Dr. Albert Abrams, claimed that this technique enabled him to diagnose and cure disease, simply by rapidly hammering a patient's spine. Despite of a critical response from the medical establishment in general, Abrams was quick to find supporters for his new theory, and spent years touring and explaining his new technique.

Abrams published several books on a medical technique he called Spondylotherapy, a manipulative technique not dissimilar to Chiropractic and Osteopathy, but involving electricity. Abrams described the theory and practice of spondylotherapy in a 1910 book by that name.

Abrams fraudulently claimed to have qualified in medicine from the University of Heidelberg at the age of variously 18 to 20. In Abrams' view, American medicine was dominated by physicians who admired German doctors and researchers excessively. Earlier, he had aroused their anger by dubbing them in his writings Dr. Hades, Dr. Inferior, etc (comparing their looks to typhoid and other germs), and by making fun of various abstruse therapies that at the time were considered "scientific" by the medical establishment. In a hilarious send-up in verse of Balloon therapy, for instance, the doctors take their patients up in the air but don't know how to bring the Balloon down again. The poem ends with the lines: But they never came back. That's why we confess / Aëronautic therapy is not a success.

To apply spondylotherapy, the clinician must be well acquainted with spinal cord . At one time, chiropractic students were required to memorize a great deal of data.

Deep, repetitive, short-duration percussion upon a neuromere, nomally applied today by an electric vertical percussion vibrator at a rate of 1–3 impulses per second for about 20 seconds with a similar rest interval is used to stimulate a spinal center. Total session time is usually 1–2 minutes. Pressure should be held firmly to avoid sliping but not be too excessive. Prolonged stimulation (more than 3 minutes) tends to fatigue neuromere excitability and produces an inhibitory effect.

Spondylotherapy can be applied manually by placing a clenched first over the appropriate spinal region and repeatedly striking it. Long ago, electrotherapists used a paraspinal sinusoidal current to apply spondylotherapy. Recent years, pulsating ultrasound has been investigated.

A large number of types of distress can be relieved in this manner however, the relief is normally temporary. But sometimes, the relief is relatively permanent. This has been attributed to breaking a self-perpetuating reflex arc.

Only two of the cephalad parasympathetics can be directly influenced by spondylotherapy: The vagus nerve at the C1-2 level and the phrenic nerve at C3-4. Vagal stimulation is usually applied to increase gastric activity, intestinal peristalsis, and nasal secretions. Phrenic inhibition is helpful in chronic cough and hiccups.