Expert: Gerald Anzalone, D.C. - 9/20/2006

Question
I recently went to a health fair and had a free analysis done.  It was a device that looked like a an axle with wheels and the technician put it on the back of my neck and side of ears.  Results were displayed in seconds on a laptop.  It showed my right side only in the red and black for much of C1-C7 nerves.  What does it really mean and is there much concern?  I run 3 miles almost daily and have been taking yoga for one year and have no pain or symptoms

Answer
In response to your question, which is an excellent one, I would suggest the following:

1. As far as I am aware, the use of thermal scanning devices has not been demonstrated to be of any significant diagnostic value in the peer-reviewed scientific literature.

Some subluxation-based chiropractors claim that thermal scanning can demonstrate a spinal lesion or levels of nerve interference. As I understand it, the manufacturers of these devices, and the individuals who use them, claim that the thermal scan detects imbalances in temperature patterns on each side of the spine. They correlate these skin temperature imbalances to "nerve interference."

Subluxation-based chiropractors also claim that "vertebral subluxation" can be an asymptomatic process with devastating health consequences.

These claims have not been proven in the scientific literature, and these assertions are not considered to be consistent with current evidence-based chiropactic practice guidelines and a scientific consensus.

A PubMed and Manual Alternative and Natural Therapy Index System literature search revealed a 2004 study in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological
Therapeutics which suggested that changes in paraspinal thermography are most likely due to actual physiological changes (Ownens EF, Hart JF, Donofrio JJ, et al. Paraspinal skin temperature patterns: an interexaminer and intraexaminer reliability study. 2004 Mar-Apr;27(3):155-9).

However, the clinical significance of these findings remain equivocal. In other words, although there may be some interesting and reproducible results with thermal scanning, no one really knows what those results actually mean with regard to patients' symptoms, their overall health, or their clinical condition.

2. As far as I am aware, the federal government (i.e., the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) and private health insurance companies do not consider the use of these devices to be of any clinical value or appropriate for diagnostic purposes. In other words, they won't pay for these devices to be used for examination purposes.

3. In my opinion, the use of these devices has more to do with marketing than appropriate clinical science, due to the paucity of the research to show their clinical significance and value. I certainly wouldn't trust a someone to evaluate my health or arrive at a diagnosis using such devices.

4. Nerve function and integrity is best tested by standard medical electrodiagnostic testing, i.e., nerve conduction velocity tests (NCV) and electromyography (EMG). In my practice, I refer patients requiring these tests to a neurologist.

I hope that this answers your question.