Blog Post

What is Chiropractic BioPhysics (CBP), and why should you care?

Ryan Winslow • Jan 23, 2018

This uncommon, but advanced technique may very well be the future of the profession. Don't miss out on the opportunity to experience it now.

Chiropractic BioPhysics is a technique that is only practiced by chiropractors who invest in a large amount of extra education and equipment. It takes time, money, and extra effort to become a certified CBP practitioner. Once certified, a chiropractor can become advanced certified by doubling the amount of education and publishing a research study. Dr. Ryan Winslow is one of the few advanced CBP practitioners in the midwest.


CBP practitioners don't have magical adjusting powers, they are simply trained to use science to diagnose a problem, and use a unique treatment (traction) to correct the problem. It is the only technique to demonstrate consistent, published evidence of it's effectiveness in correcting the shape of the spine towards an established normal value.

The established normal value for the shape of the spine was missing until a CBP study proposed a geometric, measurable shape. CBP practitioners examine spines, measure how far they've deviated from normal, decide if that might be involved with pain or dysfunction, and correct the spine towards normal if necessary.

The most basic example of this is reducing forward head carriage in people with neck pain. It is just common sense that having your head stick straight forward is going to put stress on the neck and mid-back. But CBP studies are some of the first to actually consistently document the physical correction of these conditions. The same idea can be applied to the whole spine. Each area of the spine has well-defined deviations. Some are very common, some are rare. CBP training focuses on identifying all of these different types of deviations, and each deviation is paired with a technical protocol for correcting the issue. Each protocol is unique.

CBP is more than posture, it is about curvature.

Posture gets a bad rap from therapists. Everyone seems to be a posture expert, and makes these outrageous claims of how correcting posture fixes this or that. Obviously some of this must be true, but the therapists disagree about so much. CBP practitioners look one layer deeper than just posture. We also look at spinal x-rays, and determine the curvature of the spine. This is critical, because posture alone does not give information about the curvature of the spine.


Lets take the example of head posture and neck curvature: A person could have absolutely perfect head and shoulder posture where their head is perfectly seated on their neck, and even with the shoulders (imagine we are looking from the side). Everyone would agree that this person has great posture. But what if this person was suffering from severe neck pain? How could a therapist who only focused on posture help? By taking an x-ray of this person's neck we would be able to see if he had a normal curve where the peak of the curve points towards the throat, or a reversed curve where the peak of the curve points towards the back of the neck. Thus, we could tell if this person with perfect posture had a neck that had a normal curve or an abnormal curve. This gives us options for treatment where traditional posture-focused treatments would run out of options.

CBP practitioners are essentially experts in using traction to correct the spine.

This part is boring, but important. Traction is a unique therapy that is distinct from other therapies like exercise, stretching, adjustments, heat, ice, etc... Traction is a sustained stretch applied to joints that are relaxed. It is intended to change the structure of ligaments, which hold the spine locked into a unique shape for each individual. Traction is sometimes used in surgery for a completely different purpose, and it is also sometimes used by Physical Therapists and other therapists to "decompress" injured discs. The type of traction used by CBP practitioners is very different from either of these types of traction.

CBP traction involves bending, and it sometimes utilizes combinations of different pulls to change the shape of the spine. General chiropractors, physical therapists, and medical doctors are unfamiliar with these techniques and do not offer them as treatments. This is why CBP practitioners get substantially different (and better) results.

Unfortunately, adjustments alone do NOT change the shape of the spine. This is a tough pill for any chiropractor to swallow, and many refuse to acknowledge this. After all, the founders of the profession thought that they were doing just that!

Why use CBP?

CBP is all about creating long term relief. Chiropractic can do so much more than short term pain relief. The technique combines traction with the chiropractic adjustment, specific exercises and focused stretching. These therapies are made just for you, based off of the unique shape of your spine.

The combination of traction, exercise, and adjustments produces measurable changes to the shape of your spine. These changes last, and allow the spine to fully heal. CBP is the only technique proven to do this consistently in peer-reviewed research.

Dr. Ryan Winslow holds an advanced certification in the Chiropractic BioPhysics technique. CBP inspired him as a student to pursue research, and he graduated with Research Honors. His office is fully equipped to to deliver the best the technique has to offer.

Call or email our office to learn if you may be a candidate for this technique. This technique has successfully treated complicated cases like low back pain with radiculopathy, and neck pain with migraine headaches. At the date of writing this, Dr. Ryan Winslow is the only Advanced CBP certified practitioner in Gurneeand the surrounding area.

Interested in CBP research?

There are over 200 (!) published studies focused on various aspects of the CBP technique from randomized-control trials, to x-ray analysis reliability studies, case reports, and literature reviews. You can find an up-to-date list sorted by category at https://cbpnonprofit.com/publications/.

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What To Expect From Our Blog

By Ryan Winslow • 02 Oct, 2017
Ok, here we go! We plan to post monthly blog articles about things you might be interested in: New and interesting treatments to keep you moving and feeling well. We'll include videos from our YouTube Channel . We hope these articles and videos can help some people treat themselves, and allow us to help people who need a helping hand. We want to be your Gurnee Chiropractor ! Our philosophy here at Straight Up Spine and Posture is simple: Mixing treatments like adjustments, exercise, and decompression together gets better results. Our Gurnee chiropractic clinic is outfitted with all of the equipment needed to provide specific chiropractic adjustments, spinal disc decompression, core strengthening and stabilization exercises, posture analysis and correction, as well as on-site digital x-ray services. We focus on treating the body as a whole. We evaluate both the structure and function of the spine and improve both to get the best results. If you're looking for a chiropractor in Lake County Illinois, we'd love to help. Our office is located in Gurnee, IL on the corner of Washington and Cemetery in the same office park as Honey Orthodontics and Code Ninjas. Call our office to schedule an appointment: 224-656-5778 6021 Washington St., Unit B Gurnee, IL 60031
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