What Is NSA?

Network Spinal Analysis is an approach to chiropractic care, which synthesizes - or networks - various chiropractic methods and techniques, specifically intending to serve and enhance the body's own healing process.

"Network Chiropractic" was conceived and developed by Donald Epstein, D.C. in the 1970s and early '80s.  In his practice in New York, Dr. Epstein noticed that some chiropractic techniques worked better in some areas of the spine than others, and in certain cases, some adjustments didn't work at all.  Furthermore, he consistently noticed that the order of the segments adjusted was incredibly important.  If adjustments were performed in a particular sequence, the body was better able to process them, and their effectiveness was greatly enhanced.  Through research conducted in field offices, his observations were found to be predictable and repeatable, and word of his methodology began to spread.

Today, Network Chiropractic has evolved into Network Spinal Analysis (NSA).  NSA is a remarkable and unique system of wellness care that optimizes spinal and neural integrity and results in a more flexible spine, free from mechanical tension and interference. Not only does this directly and indirectly affect the way we perceive and handle our life circumstances, but it empowers the body to maximize its own self-healing capabilities.

In your Network Chiropractor's office, s/he will use many parameters to analyze your spine and your health to determine and prioritize which areas should be addressed first. S/he may not focus on an area where you are feeling particular pain.  In most cases, pain is an indication that something else is out of balance.  The Network Chiropractor systematically finds the best place to begin the approach to "unwind" the tension in your nervous system, thereby addressing the underlying causes for pain and symptoms - whether physical, chemical or mental/emotional. 

The Network Chiropractor uses a series of "Levels of Care" to apply the Network protocol.  There are two levels of corrective care, and two levels of wellness care.  Level One, which may last several weeks to several months, involves brief, very gentle touches to specific areas of the neck region and lower spine.  This entrains the nervous system to begin dissipating energy, and prompts self-corrective movements in the body, allowing the body to set up a long-term strategy for spinal stability. 

Level Two of care may involve a wider range of adjusting techniques, occasionally including gentle structural moves. At this point, if a structural adjustment is indicated, your nervous system and musculature are "ready" to accept it; thus much less force is needed to accomplish the move, and the body integrates it more completely.  This level is designed to address chronic misalignments and interferences while deepening self-correcting and synergistic responses in the body.

In later levels of care, your doctor may gently position you in ways that allow the body's own self-generated waves (waves of breath, movement, and quantum physics applications) to correct imbalances and misalignments.

By this time, you have experienced a new-found awareness of your spine and body.  You notice when you are in positions that place stress on your nervous system, and you shift to correct them.  You notice when an area of your spine feels the slightest bit "out," and often you are able to move in a certain way, or simply breathe, and correct it yourself.

But the benefits of Network Spinal Analysis are even more far-reaching.  Current research, for example, has shown significant statistical and clinical evidence that NSA has profoundly positive effects not only on the physical state, but also the mental/emotional state, as well as on stress levels, life enjoyment, and overall quality of life.1

Network Spinal Analysis is about true healing on all levels, not about making symptoms go away.  While most people do get relief from symptoms with NSA, it is not the primary objective of the care.  Network Spinal Analysis intends to help the body heal itself, and consequently, opens and deepens the body's expression of its truest and most profound power.  In so doing, it supports us in reaching our highest potential as human beings.

1Blanks, Schuster, Dobson;  “A Retrospective Assessment of Network Care Using a Survey of Self-related Health, Wellness, and Quality of Life;”  Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research.   1997: 1 (4)