MECHANICAL "DISEASE"

The greatest scientific discoveries are often those that merely simplify a large number of facts and observations that were previously considered very complicated - and only approachable by extraordinary and very sophisticated means. There is a logical tendency for scientists to attempt such simplifications of new problem by means of techniques that have proven successful in solving previous problems.

This is especially true in medicine because medial science involves the study of such extraordinary, beautiful and complex phenomena that often only a small fraction of the needed facts are actually known, so each subject initially appears to be a frustrating morass of suppositions and beliefs connected by small glimmers of actual concrete facts. Since biochemical, bacterial, viral, and genetic explanations have worked well in the solution of some medical problems, there is a tendency to believe that these disciplines hold the solutions to all medical problem -- and to believe this at the expense of other approaches than should be given more consideration.

This is especially well illustrated by the career of Dr. Milne Ongley, a British physician who has spent more then 40 years studying mechanical damage to joints and the spine as causes of human ailments.

After completing his formal medial training, Dr. Milne Ongley worked for three yeas at St. Thomas's Hospital in London (1953-1956) with Dr. James Cyriax, the founder of orthopedic medicine. He than entered medical practice in New Zealand in 1956, where he worked for 15 years until coming to the United States in 1972.

Most of Dr. Milne Ongley's patients in New Zealand were either athletes or industrial workers with physical injuries. This simplified things for him, since he could usually be quite certain that the symptoms and signs exhibited by his patients was the result of mechanical problems. Gradually, he developed very great skill is the use of diagnostic procedures that he had learned from Dr. Cyriax -- procedures which are based upon functional examination of the various components of the patient's body and upon the usual information available from x-ray examination and, now, other modern imaging techniques.

The diagnosis of mechanical injuries to the knees, the elbows, the back the neck, the joints of the hands and feet, and other such structures is not as easy as one might expect. Many of the essential tissues cannot be seen directly by x-ray examination. The positions and health of these tissue must be inferred from the positions of the bones and other dense structures in various states of flexion and from the symptoms and signs exhibited by the patient. Many years of diagnostic experience are required before a physician is skilled in these techniques, and, even then, additional confirmatory tests are sometimes necessary.

Accurate diagnosis is, of course, only the first step. Treatment is the next. Dr. Milne Ongley specializes in the treatment of mechanical injuries without surgery - techniques that do not require hospitalization or general anesthesia and can be performed in an ordinary doctor's office.

There is an ethical rule in medicine which is expressed as "first, do no harm." Each physician endeavors to help his patient by means that, at the very least, are unlikely to make his condition worse. Since surgery, especially that involving general anesthesia and regardless of the wonderful skills that the surgeons have developed, is inherently a dangerous, expensive procedure that can inadvertently harm the patient, medical ethics requires that non-surgical approaches be exhaustively considered before surgery is carried out -- except, of course, in immediately life-threatening circumstances where time is a critical factor.

Obviously, some injuries are so severe that surgery is ultimately required, but a surprisingly large proportion of mechanical injures do not require surgery and can be more successfully cured without surgery. This is especially so with the use of specialized techniques that Ongley and his predecessors have developed.

For example, if a bone in the back or neck is malaligned (incorrectly positioned as a result of injury), Ongley first destroys scar tissue that has formed at the injury. Then he returns the bone to its correct position by manipulation. Finally, in a series of injections at weekly intervals, he introduces substances at the injury site that stimulate the regeneration of the normal tissues which maintain the bones in their correct position. During this period, the patient regularly performs exercises that involve a full range of motion of the damaged structures, so that the tissues formed will not later inhibit bodily movement.

This use of injected "proliferants," which are defined as substances that case the growth of new tissue by the reproduction of similar cells, is a unique technique. This weekly injection process involves the induction of a repeated and controlled inflammatory response at the site of injury to cause increased normal tissue formation. Dr. Milne Ongley discovered that it is essential for the treated joint to be exercised fully during the healing process to assure normal tissue growth.

Proliferants were originally developed by three American physicians, Dr. C. O. Rice (1936), Dr. George Schultz (who immediately adopted and extended Rice's original work in 1936), and Dr. George Hackett (1956). Each of these men induced tissue formation of their patients by injecting proliferants at the sites of injury. These original proliferants were, however, very painful. Dr. Milne Ongley's contribution (in Zealand in 1957) was to develop a proliferant solution that was painless when injected. This permitted patient compliance with repeated injections and with the necessary exercises following injection.

I know several men, for example, whose typical back injuries were corrected by Ongley more then ten years ago. In each case, the cure was safe, almost painless, and, most importantly, it was permanent. Anyone who has chronic pain in any of his joints or spine, especially if he is considering surgery, should at least consult Dr. Milne Ongley first.

The proliferant solution Ongley uses is a mixture 12.5% glucose, 12.5% glycerine, 1.25% phenol, as 025% (plain) xylocaine. In addition to the proliferant properties of this entire mixture, the phenol and xylocaine help prevent infection and the xylocaine (an anesthetic) helps confirm the correctness of the injection site by relieving pain.

Numerous fascinating findings have followed from these simple techniques. For example, based upon 40 years of professional experience, Ongley has found that the majority of the simple bones that are place in rigid casts during healing would be better treated by no casts at all. If proliferants are properly injected to speed healing and the motion of the limb is not impaired by rigid immobilization, the patients heals more quickly and with less likelihood of restricted limb motion. The broken bones to which this techniques does not apply are largely breaks in load-bearing bones which cannot remain in place if the patient puts weight upon them before they are healed.

Ongley's techniques involving neck injuries are especially interesting. As most people know, the bundle of nerves by which the brain communicates with the rest of the body runs through the neck and down the back in the middle of a long structure of bones and tissues collectively known as the spinal column. There are 33 bony segments m the spinal column called "vertebrae," some of which are in the neck. The spinal column provides flexible structural support for the head and body and also a protective sheath for this important bundle of nerves on which mast bodily movement and sensation depends.

In many track injuries, out-of-place vertebral structures or scar tissue formed at the site of injury press on the nerve bundle. Light pressure can cause such symptoms as tingling of the hands and feet. More serious pressure can damage motor nerves and impair bodily movement. Also, if spinal structures are improperly in contact with this nerve bundle, the chance that it will be seriously damaged in an automobile accident or other such event are markedly increased. The surgery necessary to correct this dangerous condition can often be avoided using Ongley's techniques. Moreover, surgery can lead to additional misplaced scar tissue and recurrence of the condition.

Fewer people know that the vertebral bones and surrounding tissues in the neck also provide a channel for a very special pair of arteries known as the "vertebral arteries," which provide blood for the spinal tissues, the brain stem, and critical parts of the back part of the brain. Since the vertebral arteries supply blood to the most critical areas of the central nervous system, they are encased in the spine for special physical protection.

Top view of Cartoid and Vertebral ArteriesSide view of cartoid and vertebral ArteriesFigure 1 shows the better-known right carotid artery that lies near the front of the neck and supplies blood to the front parts of the brain. Also shown is the right vertebral artery winding its way through the vertebral bones of the neck. A similar left view of the head would show the left carotid and vertebral arteries. Figure 2 shows these two pairs of arteries as seen from the underside of the brain - one pair supplying blood to the front of the brain and one pair to the back. These figures are from Gray's Anatomy 28th Edition, published by Lea and Febiger, Philadelphia, 1966.

The arteries of the brain are connected in such a way that they can sometimes supplement one another and thereby overcome minor restrictions in one artery by circulation through another artery. The brain, however, requires so much oxygen and nutrients that any significant restriction, while perhaps not fatal, may have harmful consequences.

As can be clearly understood from Figure 1, disruption of the spinal structure of the neck can result in impaired blood flow through the vertebral arteries. The joints in the neck, like those in the rest of the body, are relatively easy to injure, especially as the bones in those joints deteriorate with age. Such injuries can lead to many "syndromes."

A "syndrome" is defined as "a group of symptoms and signs of disordered function related to one another by means of some anatomical, physiological, or biochemical peculiarity." Medical scientists simplify their communications with each other and with their patients by giving syndromes specific names such as, to give one example, "multiple sclerosis." Research scientists use the same names and often simplify their work by assuming (sometimes incorrectly) that each syndrome has a discoverable single cause and cure.

Although tens of thousands of research papers have been published by scientists documenting changes in the brain that correlate with age and with specific syndromes associated with degenerative diseases of the brain and nervous system, they rarely consider that these changes could be brought about by simple mechanical injuries or degeneration of the neck. This, however, has bees Dr. Milne Ongley's experience.

He has found that patients who have been diagnosed with, for example, multiple sclerosis (commonly thought to be a disease of biochemical or viral origin) often actually have dislocations in there necks which interfere with proper function of the nerves and the vertebral arteries. By non-surgical treatment of these mechanical problems, he has restored health to many such "multiple sclerosis" patients.

Mechanical diseases of the joints and spine - some of which leadd to pain and some of which lead to other symptoms not obviously related to skeletal problem such as visual or central nervous system malfunctions - afflict a great many people. Yet the field of orthopedic medicine, which involves the nonsurgical treatments that Dr. Milne Ongley and his colleagues have developed, is largely overlooked. Dr. Milne Ongley currently treats patients (in his clinic) in Ensenada, Mexico, about 80 miles south from San Diego, California. Prospective patients who wish to consult Dr. Ongley can contact him at his U.S. Information Office, San Diego - Sun, Mon & Tue 619 934-7905 (message machine)or (619) 301-1802 (Dr. Glenn Ongley's cell phone number)
Clinic Days in Ensenada, Mexico, Wed - Sat.

Why Ensenada? Get used to it. As the United States government (both the Democrat and Republican branches) continues its already well-advanced destruction of free enterprise in medicine, Americans will increasingly find that the best medical care lies beyond the borders of their own country - out of reach of the dead hand of government and, unfortunately, also out of reach of their medical insurance.