Pettibon Chiropractic

The Pettibon System :
Posture Correction and Spinal Rehabilitation
For a Lifetime of Health and Vitality

“Forward head posture leads to long term muscle strain, disc herniations, arthritis and pinched nerves.”  The Mayo Clinic, Nov. 3rd, 2000

Before and After Pettibon Chiropractic X-rays

Your spine is perfectly designed for normal standing posture. It consists of a series of curves called the Cervical, Thoracic and Lumbar. The three spinal curves make up a natural ‘S’ curve, which we associate with good posture. When these three curves are intact it leads to an increase in spinal strength, which is 16 times greater than that of a straight column. Your spinal cord, which is housed in your spine, benefits by running most efficiently when you have proper spinal curves.  If you lose the proper curves your spinal cord is stretched and loses blood supply. Thus, your entire body system is maximized by good posture.Curves and Posture of the Spine as they Relate to Pettibon Chiropractic  The Pettibon System restores spinal curves and helps keep your spine young, for life.

 Abnormal posture can cause alterations in some of our basic physiological processes and cause problems: Headaches, blood pressure, emotional highs and lows, digestion issues, elimination problems, diminished lung capacity, and hormone imbalance have all been linked to poor posture.

Instead of just adjusting the individual vertebrae of the spine, Pettibon doctors also adjust the spine as a whole. If we move individual segments but ignore your poor posture then degeneration and aberrant nerve function continues. Implement the Pettibon System and spinal regeneration and posture correction is possible.

Usually, when seeking help from Dr Fields, he will follow the Pettibon System guidelines and do a series of very specific x-rays.  However, a rudimentary way of looking at the spine would be to analyze your posture. The posture is a window to the spine. If your head is jetting just one inch out in front of your body it effectively doubles the weight your head will be affecting your entire body.

Forward Head Posture and Pettibon Chiropractic. Mayo Clinic“For every inch of forward head posture, it can increase the weight of the head on the spine by an additional 10 pounds.” Kapandji, Physiology of Joints, Vol 3.


The Pettibon System is a system of spinal reconstruction which brings your body to its optimum mechanical and neurological state. This creates a person that has extra reserves for his or her body systems because the body does not have to expend extra energy to keep itself up. Your brain/body connection will be optimized due to proper spinal curve restoration.  IMAGE 52 of x-ray with cervical curve and written “x degree spinal curve” on it and “x% Loss”. Latest research shows that when we lose our spinal curves the spinal cord loses some of its blood supply and cells go into hibernation and  slowly die.

Restoration of the spine is not about beating the body into position. It is a system of adjusting and rehabilitating which causes your body to adapt into the desired function. The body is coaxed into alignment by adding forces by which the body must adapt to. The body’s own adaptive response is creating most of the change. Much like putting a backpack on an having your body go into a poor posture, with the Pettibon Weighting System weight is put on the body to have it go into a desired posture with optimal spinal curves.

The Pettibon Weighting System which helps restore posture and spinal curves.

An Example of the Pettibon Weighting System

Whether on the sports field, in the middle of a major stress, exercising your immune system, or reaching your 90th birthday, when optimal spinal function is achieved your body will test on top. Whether mechanically, neurologically, muscularly or chemically with the Pettibon System your body will learn how to deal with life in an efficient and powerful way.



I practiced traditional chiropractic for 12 years and saw dramatic results. All techniques in chiropractic offer a great benefit to humanity. However, knowledge of the spine and nervous system is rapidly increasing with the information age and the Pettibon System is applying that knowledge to you and others. Pettibon shows quantifiable results that are visible on x-ray. This was not the case with the other techniques I was using.  When I did start to x-ray some of my regular patients, I was surprised to see that many of them had poor spinal curves and degenerating discs. This could have been prevented had they been under Pettibon care.

Dr Adam Fields Chiropractor San Jose California

Adam B. Fields, DC