DMX STORY

Digital Motion X-Ray. Torn or stretched ligaments are hard for doctors to see even though patients feel pain. Now a new type of x-ray uses cutting edge technology to see through skin, bone and muscle through a full range of motion to make a diagnosis and set a course for treatment. New ways to see back problems that don't show up on other standard scans.

Side to side, up and down, standing, walking -- for every position there is an image. The human spine is in motion. Digital pictures not only of bone, but the tissue, and joints that interconnect it. Each joint in the neck for example moves sometimes 14 different directions at any given time. It's possible to track movement with digital motion x-ray.

For patient, Jim Smith, the Digital Motion X-ray means getting to the root of his pain. Jim describes, "I'd wake up every morning, my neck is stiff. I have headaches. I have shooting pain going up my neck into my head." The discomfort persisted long after a low impact car crash. But traditional x-rays and MRI's all came out normal. That's because the joints themselves look normal in a static shot. Dr. Katz explains, "To accurately diagnose soft tissue injury you have to stress the area and that means you have to move it." One joint that moves too much and another that moves too little. "As you can see most of the bending is taking place at this part of the neck, however, none of it is taking place at this part of the neck."

The cumulative result of this limitation is degeneration (wearing) of discs and eventually arthritis. Instead Jim does special exercises and goes for chiropractic adjustments aimed at strengthening and correcting the damage. "My headaches have improved, my neck is not as stiff, I just feel more normal." For more information: Katz Chiropractic - (303) 938-9070