Disc Jockey Vert
Here we see Vert jockeying intervertebral discs around as he so glibly talks to his radio audience. Of course, every third word that he is saying has some sort of chiropractic reference. I’ll do my best to decipher his blather:
“All Right Spinal Manipulators!”
DJ Vert talks to his radio audience of chiropractors who engage in “spinal manipulation” (ie. spinal adjustments).
“That was ‘Let’s Sequester’ by the 5th Lumbars…”
Most people know that spinal discs can “slip” or herniate. Essentially a vertebral disc is like a jelly donut. When the “jelly” gets pushed out a little it is known as a “herniation.” When some of the jelly squirts out and “disengages” from the disc and becomes “free floating” it is known as a “sequestration.” This is what Vert is talking about. Playing this great tune is The 5th Lumbars — referring to the lowest back vertebra and a play off of the well known music group from the 60’s and 70’s, “The 5th Dimension.” As a side note, you’ll notice in the cartoon that all three “discs” that Vert has his hands on are herniated. The one on his far right looks like it is about to sequester.
“…on K-HIO radio.”
Vert is stating the call letters of the radio station. Of course there’s meaning behind them
BJ Palmer, the son of the founder of chiropractic, was responsible for taking what his dad started and developing it into something that was able to stand the test of time. One of the many things that BJ did was create an “upper cervical” adjusting technique that focused only on the atlas (the first cervical, neck, vertebra). He called his technique the “Hole in One” technique or “HIO” for short.
“This is the Vertilator hangin’ with ya.”
“Vertilator” refers to Vert’s DJ name. It is a play off of a special chiropractic intersegmental traction-roller table with the brand name “Spinalator.”
“Up next, ‘Can You Feel the Imbibition Baby?'”
The next song on Vertilator’s play list is a parody of the 1971 hit song, “Can You Feel It Baby?” from Austrialian band, Sherbet, covering Blue Mink’s original. Vert’s song however is referring to the process of “imbibition” with regards to vertebral discs. Vertebral discs rely on movement to obtain proper nutrition. So, when the spine moves, the intervertebral discs literally absorb or “imbibe” the surrounding nutrients.
“…But first, let’s check to see how the Nerves are flowing with Mr. BJ in Neurocalometer-1!”
Before Vert plays his next song, he needs to check traffic. In his case, he’s checking for interference out on the nerve “highways” with his traffic correspondent “Mr. BJ” (referring to BJ Palmer, the developer of chiropractic) up in “Neurocalometer-1” (I thought this sounded like a good name for a helicopter).
The Neurocalometer was essentially a “dual thermometer” that BJ invented in 1924 to detect areas of nerve irritation by measuring skin temperature on either side of the spine. Click here to see another cartoon featuring this device. Also, click here to see how our office uses a modernized version of this technology in a process called spinal thermography.
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