The DC’s guide to bilateral nasal specific technique in chiropractic care

Bilateral Nasal Specific Technique FAQs

The bilateral nasal specific (BNS) technique is a product of the studies of the disciplines of the ears, nose and throat (ENT) and osteopathic cranial manipulation. This article explores the history and status of the BNS technique and its use in chiropractic care.

History of the bilateral nasal specific technique

The following doctors paved the way to the BNS technique:

My mentor, Wendell Diebold, DO, ND, introduced me to JR Stober, DC, ND, in 1976. Diebold was 86 years old at the time and a 1925 graduate of the Chicago College of Osteopathy. Diebold was a practicing osteopathic craniopath, and he taught me many osteopathic cranial manipulative techniques he learned from Sutherland. He knew of Stober’s work and recommended I learn his technique.

“Stober’s technique was far advanced to the osteopathic cranial manipulative techniques,” according to Diebold. Attending my first Stober lecture, “the light went on” for me. I believed he could help me with my chronic sinusitis and headaches caused by some fights I had growing up in Philadelphia and a broken nose from playing rugby.

In 1976, my first treatment from Stober convinced me I needed to learn his technique. I studied with him for 10 years and more than 1,000 hours, became his protégé and was his only student allowed to treat him from the residuals of his broken nose suffered as a kid.

I have been practicing this technique on patients from newborns to 98 years old and everyone in between. Professional Broadway and ballet dancers, jockeys, world-class athletes and everyday patients, all looking for relief from common conditions, such as chronic sinusitis, migraine headaches, snoring, sleep apnea, mouth breathing, concussions and other cranial and neurologically related conditions from the 22 bones of the head being “locked up” and the patient “driving around with their brakes on.”

That is, until the sphenoid bone, the base of the skull, is adjusted and the primary respiratory mechanism is free to move as nature designed.

• WG Sutherland, DO
• Wilbur King, DC
• Angus McFee, DDS
• Duncan McFee, DDS
• JR Stober, DC, ND

Stober’s pivotal lecture

I distinctly remember sitting in one lecture, listening to his discussion on how the pituitary gland, sitting in the sella turcica, is influenced by the positioning and movement of the sphenoid bone or the base of the skull. And if the sphenoid was properly positioned and moving as designed, the pituitary and the rest of the brain would be making and pumping out their nutrients via cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Little did I know this specific procedure would help one of my patients stop the process of her second adoption because she was able to get pregnant.

My health journey

I was born in Nazareth Hospital and raised outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My great-uncle, Joseph J. Toland, MD, founded Nazareth Hospital, and he was a general surgeon. His son, my second cousin, Joseph J. Toland, Jr., MD, was an orthopedist. I was born with a clubfoot, but my father refused to allow surgery. My cousin Joe and our family DC took care of me. My cousin with my orthopedic shoe and Hill with his adjustments.

Athletic, educational and clinical experience

I was able to play baseball and basketball through college and pitch semiprofessionally in the Portland City baseball leagues up until 2020. I was voted into their Hall of Fame, winning more than 200 games as a pitcher.

After graduating from Schiller University with a dual degree in political science and religious studies, I realized I didn’t want to be a lawyer, politician, priest or pastor. I felt a real pull to become a doctor, with my great-uncle, cousin and family DC as mentors. But I also felt a pull to the natural side of healthcare based on the way I was raised. Premed studies at Penn State and Temple University and working at Holy Redeemer Hospital in the pathology lab convinced me I’d be happier in the natural health field than going to Jefferson Medical College. I began attending Western States Chiropractic College in June of 1976.

My career journey

Before graduating I took a year off from 1977-78, when I was scheduled to begin my internship at WSCC clinic. I was helping pay my school tuition by having a massage therapy license. A serendipitous thing happened when I was hired by the Broadway touring show “A Chorus Line” and others.

During that year, I treated dancers and performers from different ballet companies. It was, as they say in Broadway, “a bus and truck gig.” I literally had my own traveling clinic of chiropractic, nasal specifics, nutrition, sports medicine and rehab patients. I also studied intensely at Theresa Pfrimmer’s Deep Muscle Therapy Clinic in Ontario, Canada, for two weeks before returning to Western States.

Once back in school, I worked at the Portland Meadows Racetrack, taking care of the jockeys. More athletes, more incredible on-the-job training in chiropractic, sports medicine and the BNS technique.

After graduating from WSCC, I practiced in San Francisco for six months. Once I returned to Portland, I was invited to practice at an orthopedic sports medicine clinic in Pisa, Italy. I started taking care of many of the athletes from the Italian Olympic Team’s Track and Field Division located at their Olympic Training Center (CONI) and was eventually hired by the Italian Olympic Team as their full-time DC in the spring of 1983.

This job took me all over Italy for European track and field meets, to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, to Mexico City for altitude training before the 1984 Summer Olympics, experiencing training methods and treatments from the Soviets and Eastern European athletes and their doctors.

Returning to Oregon, Diebold introduced me to George Dunn, DC, from the Dunn Chiropractic Clinic in McMinnville, Oregon. Dunn was mentored by Byron White, DC, who started the practice in 1922 and had a 22-bed hospital where he did “bloodless surgery/chiropractic orthopedic manipulation” for back and internal medicine issues. Patients came from all over the US. When White died, Dunn kept up White’s practice of chiropractic, nutrition and sports medicine. Dunn offered me an associate position in 1985. I moved my family from Portland to McMinnville after the Olympics, and I studied with Stober until he passed away.

How the bilateral nasal specific treatment works

The BNS technique is an adjustment of the sphenoid bone, which Stober referred to as the base of the skull. All the cranial nerves and all 22 cranial bones are affected. This treatment, done correctly, may affect the whole body, mind and psyche, with patients reporting a greater sense of well-being, a more relaxed physical state, more focus, more clarity of thought, increased emotional stability and boosted confidence.

I have been practicing this technique as it was developed, taught and practiced by Stober for more than 40 years. In this sense, I am a “clone,” but I have also been referred to as the “Guru” and “Godfather.” More importantly, I have been practicing the technique as it was designed most efficiently to help the patient.

The treatment, which begins by reestablishing proper nerve flow, literally, according to Stober, “reboots your computer from your nose to your toes,” proof of which has been observed in a 93-year-old patient with significantly swollen ankles and feet, peripheral neuropathy and varicosities, all of which diminished significantly after a series of treatments.

In my experience, this procedure actually enhances the chiropractic adjustment. Stober would offer to adjust the full spine after each BNS treatment, keeping in harmony with the principles of Sutherland that there is a connection between the sacrum, occiput and cranial vault.

Once a patient is cleared for treatment, the sphenoid bone is adjusted via the nasopharynx by securely placing a finger cot on the tip of a blood pressure bulb, inserting it into the inferior, middle and superior turbinates of the nose (see Figures 1 and 2) and inflating the finger cot, one turbinate at a time, bilaterally. This sequence produces sensations of pressure and release, ultimately relieving pressure and restriction in nasal passages and the bones of the skull.

Conditions treated with bilateral nasal specific technique: Full transparency

Do I help everyone? No. However, I can say that probably 95% of my patients report breathing better from the BNS procedure. In addition, if you can breathe better and get more oxygen and circulation to your brain, all kinds of other conditions may “clear up.” Unlocking the sphenoid bone promotes this 95% success rate in breathing better and other improvements. Table 1 provides other common conditions this technique successfully treats.

Table 1: Conditions BNS can address

Concussion and bilateral nasal specific technique

The BNS technique is a revolutionary treatment with the potential to help patients with concussions and their sequelae, such as cognitive disorders, balance issues and chronic sinusitis, where other interventions have not helped.

Concussions, nearly an everyday occurrence in sports, also happen as a result of falls and motor vehicle accidents. The sooner you get to patients with concussions and “reset” their brains, the better. Otherwise, the sequelae may persist and worsen for years, eventually causing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive neurogenerative disease with symptoms, including cognitive impairment, behavioral changes, tremors, balance problems, headaches and other issues. I believe the BNS treatment, along with particular chiropractic adjustments, can prevent the advancement of CTE.

Once a concussion occurs, the sooner the BNS treatment is performed, the faster the patient’s healing and returning back to pre-concussion status. The further out from their concussion the treatment happens, the slower the healing. Even with the procedure taking place close to the concussion, migraine headaches, cognitive problems and other sequelae may occur, but to a potentially lesser extent.

Although a very strong nutritional component must also be addressed, the primary recommended treatment is the BNS technique as developed by Stober.

Real patients and how they recovered

Regardless of an injury’s severity, the bilateral nasal specific treatment can trigger trillions of brain cells in the blink of an eye and forever change a patient’s life. Here are a couple of examples from my experiences with patients:

Sam, now a gunnery sergeant in the Marines, regained his hearing after being hit on the head by a baseball bat at age five. Many years after his successful treatment, he brought his brother in to see me after he lost control of his dirt bike on a jump and crashed chest/headfirst into a tree, cracking his helmet. Taken to the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), imaged and kept overnight for observation, he came to me for treatment two days after the crash. I treated him daily for a week. He recovered and is now a local fireman. Age, time and immediate treatment were on his side. (Of course, some kind of maintenance care is always recommended, and follow-through depends on the patient.)

I also treated a 10-year-old mute patient referred to me by her DC in hopes I could help her talk. The girl had been through a severe combination of physical abuse and emotional suffering. After several treatments, she came into the clinic and greeted me personally. This was a huge success, after not ever having spoken at all prior to her treatment with me.

Innovative technique with infinite potential

The BNS technique has stood the test of time. For more than 40 years, I have built this part of my practice on my skill level, education, referrals and most importantly, successful outcomes, and helped patients from Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and all points in between.

If you choose to pursue mastery of this technique, continue to learn, study and develop your skills. This niche has far-reaching benefits. In athletics, personal injury and everyday bumps and thumps lead to many and varied sequelae that will bring you many patients who need your help.

Final thoughts

Could the BNS technique be part of the standard chiropractic protocol of the future? The technique, in the hands of a skilled practitioner, provides another opportunity for a patient to achieve maximum functional capacity for their body and mind. The BNS technique has allowed my practice to develop and thrive. Once you become proficient and confident in your skill level, it can do the same for you.

Acknowledgment

I would like to give a special thanks to my initial cranial mentor, Wendell Diebold, DO, ND, graduate of the Little John College of Osteopathy in Chicago, now the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, student of William Sutherland. At age 86, after many hours of teaching me osteopathic cranial manipulation procedures, he simply said, “You need to go meet Stober, as what he is doing is way up the ladder.” Diebold was my nasal specific patient until he passed at age 98. Both are with me daily in clinic.

George Siegfried, DC, practices at Dunn Chiropractic Clinic, a pain and wellness practice founded in 1922. Siegfried received his undergraduate degree from Schiller University in Heidelberg, Germany, in 1974 and attended premed classes at Penn State and Temple University. He has degrees from the University of Western States and the National College of Naturopathic Medicine. He has been in practice since 1981. He is the father of four children and has nine grandchildren. Contact Siegfried via email at info@nasalspecific.com or his website, nasalspecific.info.