In our November 15 issue of Dynamic Chiropractic we announced that John C. Lowe, M.A., D.C. of Houston, Texas is joining us as a new member of the 1990 MPI faculty. In addition to his new duties teaching the MPI weekend myofascial seminars, he has agreed to write a monthly column in Dynamic Chiropractic.
To members of the chiropractic profession outside the state of Texas, Dr. Lowe is most well-known for his popular 1983 book entitled, SPASM -- the book for chiropractors and their patients on the treatment of chronic muscle tension and pain.
Since then, he has been a prominent lecturer on the subject of myofascial therapy. His strength in lecturing and teaching myofascial therapy is that for the past ten years he has played the dual role of clinical practitioner and academic researcher. His background thus enables him to bring his students a harmonic understanding of both.
Dr. Lowe began his career by first obtaining his B.A. and M.A. degrees in psychology from the University of West Florida. He also holds a B.S. degree in human biology and a D.C. degree from the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic. He taught psychology at the Miami-Dade Community College and clinical nutrition in the Clinical Sciences Division of the Texas Chiropractic College. He formerly was editor of the Texas Chiropractic College Review, and is presently the chiropractic member of the Board of Advisors of Inside Texas Running Magazine. Dr. Lowe has written scores of articles and papers for magazines, newspapers and scientific and professional journals. In 1977, he received the Annual Scientific Paper Award from the Journal of the American Chiropractic Association.
He is also currently working on another textbook, Myofascial Therapy written from the standpoint and within the context of chiropractic. According to Dr. Lowe, his book will outdate and supercede Dr. Travell and Dr. Simon's trigger point manual.
Dr. Lowe maintains that hands-on treatment procedures are what gives patients such rapid and dramatic pain relief. "That myofascial therapy absolutely works is the premise upon which to base all clinical decisions. So when patients fail to respond to effectively given therapeutic treatment, there must be something else going on physiologically." These patients that don't quickly respond shouldn't be given up on. A critical phase of myofascial therapy is identifying, eliminating, or controlling the underlying factors that can make a patient resistent to the best treatment procedures. "When you help a patient eliminate or control these factors, he's likely to respond promptly to procedures that previously failed."
Dr. Lowe asserts, "Researchers at the 1st International Symposium on Myofascial Pain in Minneapolis in May of 1989, reported that no drug works well in relieving myofascial pain and dysfunction. This has been determined through excellent controlled studies. But what most of the researchers have learned of the pathophysiology involved leads them to say things like: 'and this is why stretching is so effective in relieving the problem,' or 'This is why soft tissue manipulation works so well.' They know the non-pharmaceutical, non-invasive approach works best because the ever-mounting evidence leads unavoidably to this conclusion."
"But," he continues, "I want every chiropractor in the world to know this -- what they do clinically works better than anything else with myofascial pain syndromes. Chiropractic's Dr. Raymond Nimmo knew this back in the 50's when he and Dr. Janet Travell were both (albeit separately) trying to understand myofascial pain syndromes and how to relieve them. Dr. Travell got more support from her discipline than Dr. Nimmo did from chiropractors, and so now the medics and their allies have the myofascial banner and are trying to run with it. But chiropractors are hands-down the best qualified to understand and perform myofascial therapy. Our training, orientation and clinical experience make this so. Therefore, I'm going to see to it that we grab hold of that banner and lead the group of health-care disciplines that are carrying it."
Dynamic Chiropractic feels that under the enthusiastic tutelage and leadership of those of such persuasion as Dr. John Lowe's, this challenge will be met by the chiropractic profession. It is our pleasure to invite you to enjoy his very first column in DC.
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