-- by Dr. Rick Boatright

"How nice," I thought when I read through a newsletter from my chiropractic alma mater. "Another alumnus of Life Chiropractic College West has written a book too." I decided to e-mail her with my congratulations. My name's Dr. Rick Boatright. I'm a chiropractor in Pinetop, Arizona.

I've been a chiropractor since 1988 and I had published a book on all-natural ways to work with type II diabetes called "Surviving Type II Diabetes, (In Spite of the Experts' Advice)" at about the same time that Dr. June Wieder published her book called, "Song of the Spine, sound healing & vibrational therapy." Dr. Wieder has been doing body work for many years in several different disciplines and has held a special interest in the science of sound and sound waves. Her amazing book makes references to standing waves, the effects of sound on physical structures and the therapeutic effects that tuning forks in particular can have on the human spine.

When I e-mailed her with my congratulations, the contact resulted in the two of us exchanging copies of our newly published books.

The use of chants, music and specific tones has been used in the healing arts for millennia. Today, they're still in use in many forms. "In East Asia," for instance, according to Dr. Wieder, "gongs are believed to resonate harmonically with the vibrational frequencies of the cosmos. Gongs have such richness and depth of sound that they're thought to be capable of tuning and aligning the body on a cellular level."

Tibetan singing bowls, made of seven different metals are used to realign and balance the physical energetic fields of the body.

Drums are common to many healing ceremonies and according to a 1970's study were found to release endorphins which in turn had beneficial effects on the nervous system. Drumming was found to be of particular benefit to the elderly for promoting healing.

Even today in modern, mainstream medicine, ultrasound is used as both a diagnostic and powerful therapeutic tool. Ultrasound is simply high frequency sound beyond the range of human hearing, but physical sound, nonetheless.

In the spring of 2006, my wife, Linda, and I enjoyed a therapeutic session with one of my own patients at a local bodyworking establishment. She used chimes, gongs and tuning forks to address vibrational frequencies in the human body. My wife and I were both impressed with the results we achieved in the session in terms of both pain reduction and feelings of well being.

So, when I received Dr. Wieder's book at his office, I immediately consumed the entire book, making notes on just how I planned to test out her theories in my own practice.

Everything in the universe vibrates. It turns out that everything in the universe has its own resonant frequency of vibration as well. Resonant frequencies are a very interesting phenomenon. If you hold something vibrating at another object's resonant frequency very close to the object, the second one will begin to vibrate at its resonant frequency without physical contact. For instance, if you strike a 196.00 Hz tuning fork and hold it a couple of inches away from another 196.00 Hz tuning fork, the second one will begin to vibrate even without being struck. Hold it next to a tuning fork of any other frequency and nothing will happen.

Dr. Wieder has identified the resonant frequencies of all 24 of the human vertebrae. By holding the resonant frequencies of these bones in direct contact with them via specific tuning forks, the resonant frequencies of the vertebrae can be re-established. Consequently the vertebrae can function in a more healthy way.

Due to trauma, stress, over-use, repetitive misuse, or altered bio-mechanics, vertebrae can lose their natural, optimal vibration, their resonant frequency. When this happens, it can affect surrounding nerves causing them to either over-function or under-function. An over-functioning nerve can cause pain. It can also cause a body function to work too much as in the case of muscle spasms, diarrhea, tics and chronic anxiety just to name a few. An under-functioning nerve can cause numbness, weakness, constipation, slow digestion, under-active thyroid function and other symptoms of under-functioning organs.

The nerves in the spine are the most important in the body, second only to the brain itself, a huge ball of nerve tissue. The spinal nerves are so important because they control the function of our internal organs. So it was perfectly logical for Dr. Wieder to first identify the resonant frequencies of the 24 spinal vertebrae.

However, I also do a large amount of extremity work in my chiropractic practice. Extremities are all of the parts of the arms and legs. I also address jaws (TMJ), ribs, the pelvic girdle, the sacrum and the sternum. So, immediately, I began to test patients who needed adjusting in these areas to identify the tuning fork frequencies needed to reset the resonant frequencies of these joints as well. At the time of this writing, I've been able to identify the resonant frequencies for an additional 22 joints outside of the spine.

The frequencies I work with are 12 notes, one octave below middle C. They range from 130.81 HZ to 246.94 Hz. Each tuning fork corresponds to the resonant frequency of two vertebrae, relating to the natural primary and secondary curvatures of the spine.

The tuning forks are the notes A through G, A# through D# and F# and G#.

Initially, I wanted to simply test Dr. Wieder's information to see if it produced similar, measurable, beneficial effects in his own patients. I worked with my patients, adjusting them in my normal chiropractic fashion, then followed up by working with each person's most persistent pattern of misalignment to see if the tuning forks could interrupt the pattern. For instance, if a patient demonstrated a misalignment at T6, the middle vertebra in the mid back, and it seemed to be misaligned again at every visit, I would follow the adjustment with the application of a 220.20 Hz tuning fork, (the note A) for ten seconds. Within just a few weeks, I had discovered that I could indeed interrupt persistent patterns having adjustments "hold" much longer. Patterns began to change indicating that corrections of old, persistent misalignments were holding better and longer.

During the first month, I discovered that not only was I able to break persistent patterns of misalignments, but in general, I could reduce the overall number of misalignments in successive visits, making my chiropractic care more effective so spinal problems resolved faster.

Areas outside of the spine where I 've been able to use tuning forks in my course of therapy include the jaw (TMJ), some ribs, the shoulder joints, the elbow joints, the small bones in the wrist (carpal tunnel syndrome), the hip joints, the knees, the ankle, the foot, the sacroiliac joints, the sacrum, the sternum and the mastoid portions of the occiput (base of the skull).

Within the first two weeks of working with the tuning forks, my patients began to request that I use them again, stating that when I had used them the last time, the adjustments were noticeably more effective.

I still want to identify resonant frequencies for other joints and to cross-test my findings with other doctors for the frequencies at the joints I work with now. But I have been pleased with the results I've gotten to date.

Dr. Wieder uses a standard muscle testing procedure to identify which vertebrae need application of the tuning forks. In this process, she touches a vertebra, and presses on one of the patient's arms while the patient resists the pressure. She repeats the procedure with each vertebra. When she touches a vertebra that needs to be "toned" with a tuning fork, the patient's resistance will be weak. After she applies the appropriate tuning fork for 10 to 15 seconds, she muscle tests again looking for the resistance to have become strong, indicating that a correction has been made.

I, however, like many people, have difficulty with standard muscle testing because "resistance" can vary so greatly from patient to patient and often requires a great deal of interpretation by the doctor. Therefore, I use "leg length testing procedures" in place of standard muscle testing. In leg length testing, I place directional stresses into joints, including vertebral joints, either by stroking the joint with my hand or by having the patient actively contract specific muscles that span a particular joint. Then I check the leg lengths to see if there has been a comparative change. These changes are obvious and not subject to interpretation, so they make identification of joints needing attention much easier. There is either a shorter leg on one side, or they are even. When one is short, it indicates the need to work on the joint being tested, just as weak resistance would indicate in standard muscle testing. When the leg lengths are even, it indicates that the joint or the vertebra is functioning properly and needs no therapeutic applications in that session.

Most recently, I've experimented with using tuning forks in lieu of my normal chiropractic procedures and so far have found that the two patients I've worked with receive comparable correction using the tuning forks alone. The technique looks very promising.

Since this procedure is not yet a recognized chiropractic technique, its use is not limited to chiropractors. Other body workers can experiment with it as well.

Dr. Wieder provides an in-depth explanation of the science behind sound, sound waves and resonant frequencies in healthcare applications in her book. To find out more about it, go to www.songofthespine.com.

As I develop my technique with the tuning forks, I plan to share my findings with chiropractors and other professional body-workers. To find out more about my expanded work with the use of tuning forks and the human skeletal frame, e-mail me at ralbie@cybertrails.com