A PAIN IN THE NECK

Lesson? "I always tell my patients: Don't burn the toast. A little dab'll do you," Dr. Stjernholm says.

"What Dr. Stjernholm is doing has had extraordinary results--anecdotally," says Gorman. "That said, I must stress that it's an experimental therapy; there's no direct scientific foundation for what he's doing. He's had tremendous success. But we can't endorse it."

She continues: "Dr. Al can be considered a pioneer. He's the most ethical doctor I've ever met. But he uses unorthodox treatment for his patients. He believes so strongly in the ability of the body to heal itself. And he believes strongly in his ability to do it. It's such a powerful thing to have that belief."

While he observes his patients absorbing the dancing laser light, Dr. Stjernholm is inspired. He delivers a short lecture:

The Body's Response to Good Chiropractic. "She'll probably kill me for telling you this, but my wife, Elsie, was scrubbing the floor the other day, the old-fashioned way, on her knees, and when she was done she had hemorrhoids this big," Dr. Stjernholm says, holding his thumb and forefinger in a circle the size of a half-dollar. A series of proper manipulations, however, and they soon disappeared.

Another example: Dr. Stjernholm says, "The wildest thing I have in my video library--Cindy, who takes my X-rays, her uncle, Ken, I've known for thirty years. He came in with hemorrhoids. And I said, `Ken, why don't you get off your duff and go home and do the stretches I told you to do? Do that slowly and gently every day forever, and they'll disappear.' And they did."

Lesson? "Movement is life," Dr. Stjernholm says. "Ain't been a cat born that don't know how to stretch."

end of part 2