Palpation: A Chiropractic Art

You may have heard us use the words “palpate” or “palpation” – but do you know what these words mean?


By pressing gently along bones, muscles and ligaments, your body gives up vital secrets about your health.

Palpation is one of the most basic diagnostic tools we chiropractors use to examine the spine for the purpose of locating and reducing nerve interference. In its simplest form, it is the use of a chiropractor’s hands to touch and “feel” exactly where and how the spine needs to be adjusted. It is the first diagnostic tool a chiropractor learns in chiropractic college and the basis of the art and science of chiropractic. In fact, the very word chiropractic means, “done by hand.”

Palpation is an essential skill that improves with daily practice. Over time, a chiropractor learns to master this procedure to discover a vast array of information that is contained in body tissue. Unlike the use of other diagnostic instruments that are learned and mastered in a relatively short period, palpation provides an ongoing learning experience, as no two patients ever “feel” the same way.

Since the hands are the basic “tools” of the chiropractic profession, palpation is the very basis of the art and science of chiropractic diagnosis. Chiropractic history is replete with stories of blind chiropractors who were extraordinary chiropractors because they had such a highly developed sense of touch!

Dr. Holden Asks some important questions of interest to Austin residents - Chiropractor Austin Dr. Holden Asks...

Are chiropractors just concerned with the spine?
Our interest in the spine is because it covers the major communications conduit between your brain and your body. As a Austin chiropractor my job is to locate areas (usually along the spine) that interfere with proper nerve communications to and from your brain. Chiropractic adjustments help restore nervous system integrity. In this way, chiropractic care can affect the function of your entire body.
Which organs are extra?
You don't have any spare parts. Sure, we can survive without our tonsils, appendix, gall bladder and several other tissues, but each serves a purpose. We chiropractors recognize this. So the chiropractic approach I use in Austin is to reduce nerve interferences to the control and regulation of every tissue, organ and system of your body.