Digital spinal imaging, on-site
Many people don’t realise that chiropractors are trained to take and read X-rays. At Vitalign we offer digital full spinal imaging on-site, without the need for a GP referral. X-rays are charged separately, and only taken when clinically indicated.
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.
Motion X-ray with Penning’s analysis
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 motion X-ray captures the spine while it moves. For the neck, we take views as you bend forward and back, then measure the movement at each level using Penning’s analysis, an established method for assessing how much each segment of the cervical spine moves. That can show a level moving more or less than expected, which a still film can miss. 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.
MotionIQ range of motion testing
MotionIQ uses wearable sensors to measure how far your neck, mid back and lower back move, and compares each result with the normal range, so restricted areas are easy to see. It produces a number rather than a clinical impression, on a one-page report you can see.
That is the useful part. A later measurement sits next to your first, 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 we use across care: 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 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.