The Jordan Method, Chiropractic III/IV
Tuesday May 28, 2024 by Christopher Jordan

The foundation of The Jordan Method lies with how Dr. Jordan perceives the human body. A separate narrative will describe his view of the human body related to the principles of Body, Mind and Spirit. What will be more important for a prospective patient is to understand his approach to care of the body relative to how he treats the body. There have been several pivotal moments in Dr. Jordan’s more than four decades-long career, one was his study of the myofascial system of the body.

Dr. Jordan describes the structure of the body as being fabric. We are created as layers of continuous fascial sheets, within which are segmental bones and muscles. Using the analogy of a pup-tent, the fabric of the tent defines the shape of the tent. The tent is expanded into its defined shape by placing poles at each end to push out into the fabric, like bones; and attaching lines to the perimeter of the tent, which are pulled out and staked down, like muscle. One can adapt the tent to any tent-site by adjusting the orientation of the poles and line, just as muscles can contract and relax, while bones move about their joints to reposition the body. It is the fascia that will define the limits of position, how the body can be positioned.

The thick white tunic around a steak is fascia, the perimysium. Its outer fibers are continuous with those muscles that are contiguous with each other, as well as the membranes between bones, including the capsule of a joint. Consider what holds a turkey leg on until it is thoroughly cooked, that’s the joint capsule. The inner marbling of a steak are the fascial sheaths surrounding the bundles of muscle cells within the muscle itself, this is the epimysium. All of these fascial structures are subjected to inflammation when strained, as well as tearing when traumatized. The continuous nature of fascia, that is, it being uninterrupted from head to toe, can lead to compensatory measures by the body at any point along their pathways. A foot and ankle issue can lead to a head and neck issue, or anything in between.

Healing in the fascial pathway can lead to condensation or shortening in the tissue. If one had a tear in their tent and sewed it together, it may shorten the fabric. It will be necessary to change the orientation of the lines and/or poles to adapt to the length change in the fabric. So too may our bodies compensate for tissue healing that may change the length or elasticity of our tissue. This may cause joint or muscle adaptation that could lead to other orthopedic issues. As muscle reacts to abnormal loading, there may be changes in tone (tightness), which could lead to the reduction of local circulation resulting in the pain associated with ischemia (low blood flow) and associated hypoxia (low oxygen) of the tissues. There may be tendonous irritation leading to tendonitis, worsening to include its cousin bursitis.

Changes in joint motion can lead to irritation of the joint tissues resulting in arthritic conditions such as arthritis, which over time can lead to the more chronic condition of degenerative joint disease. Restricted joint motion in the acute stages of arthritis due to muscle guarding can also occur as the body will purposely reduce joint motion to prevent further irritation. The key phrase here is motion.

It is the restoration of motion to our joint structures that is the primary purpose of chiropractic technique. While there are positional issues to some regions of the spine, these are a result of altered biomechanics regarding muscle tone and imbalanced fascial loading. This is what Dr. Jordan seeks to reduce and/or correct. Joint motion must be restored to return to the nervous system the feed-back provided by mechanoreceptors (found in all structures of the body) that report all activity associated with body movement. This helps the central nervous system report to the muscles how and what they need to do to move the joints appropriately. Normal body movement leads to healing.