Digital spinal imaging, on-site
Many people don’t realise that chiropractors are trained to take and read X-rays. At Vitalign we offer advanced digital full spinal imaging on-site, without the need for a GP referral.
Having it in the building matters for a practical reason: if the examination raises a question that imaging would answer, it gets answered that day rather than after two more appointments and a wait.
Not needing a referral is not the same as needing the scan
Most people do not need imaging. Routine X-rays of everyone who walks in is not good practice: it exposes people to radiation for no clinical gain, and incidental findings on a scan can send care in an unhelpful direction. We image when the history, the examination or the neurological findings give us a reason to, and when the result will genuinely change what we recommend.
Digital motion study X-ray
A standard X-ray shows the spine held still. That is useful for structure, but it says nothing directly about movement, which is often the thing we actually want to know about.
A digital motion study captures the spine while it moves. It is used for particular presentations where segmental movement is the clinical question, most commonly after neck trauma such as whiplash or a car accident, where instability or restriction may not show on a static film.
Q-ROM digital range of motion
The Q-ROM station measures spinal ranges of motion quickly and accurately. It produces a number rather than a clinical impression.
That is the useful part. A number recorded on your first visit can be compared against the same measurement six weeks later, so the question “is this working?” has an answer that does not depend on either of us remembering how you felt in March. It is the same principle behind the four-week review in our spinal decompression programs: measure at the start, and check honestly against it.
What we do with the findings
Imaging and measurement inform a plan; they are not the plan. What comes out of the assessment is an explanation of what we found and a recommendation, which may be adjustment and rehabilitation, may be a course of decompression, and may be a referral to someone else entirely.
If something on a scan needs medical or surgical review, we will tell you that directly and help you get to the right person.