The Diagnostic Test Most Iowa Providers Cannot Order
And Why It Changes the Picture for Complex Cases
When a patient walks into an orthopedic office or a neurology clinic with unexplained chronic pain, the diagnostic workup usually includes a static MRI, a CT scan, and a set of plain X-rays. These are excellent tools. They have been the standard of care for decades, and for most structural questions they produce the answer the provider needs.
But there is one kind of injury these tests routinely miss. And it is the kind of injury that explains a substantial portion of chronic neck pain, chronic headaches, post-traumatic symptoms, and cases that have gone unresolved for years.
That kind of injury is ligamentous instability. And the only imaging tool in common clinical use that can reliably see it is Digital Motion X-Ray (DMX).
Precision Chiropractic West, under Dr. Laurel Griffin, operates the only Digital Motion X-Ray imaging center in the state of Iowa. Patients, attorneys, and referring providers from across the state and from surrounding states travel here for DMX studies because there is no other option in the region.
What Digital Motion X-Ray Is
Digital Motion X-Ray is a video X-ray. Instead of producing a single static image of the spine at rest, it records a fluoroscopic sequence of the spine as the patient moves through flexion, extension, rotation, and lateral bending. The result is a moving picture of the cervical or lumbar spine as it is actually being used.
The radiation dose is significantly lower than a hospital fluoroscopy study. The scan itself takes about 15 minutes. The detailed diagnostic report that follows includes frame-by-frame measurements of intervertebral motion, evaluated against the AMA Guides for impairment and instability. The findings are measurable, documentable, and defensible.
What DMX Reveals That Static Imaging Cannot
A static MRI can show a torn ligament if the tear is severe enough to produce visible signal changes at rest. What it cannot show is whether an intact-looking ligament is still functionally incompetent — whether it is still doing its job of holding the vertebrae in proper alignment during motion.
DMX answers that question directly. Common findings that DMX identifies and static imaging misses include:
- Excessive intervertebral motion at specific cervical segments, indicating underlying ligamentous compromise.
- Aberrant motion patterns that reveal compensation from prior injury.
- Missed fractures — particularly in the upper cervical spine — that were not visible on prior X-rays, MRI, or CT.
- Torn or compromised capsular ligaments that allow instability under load but not at rest.
- Surgical hardware assessment — whether fusion hardware is intact, whether adjacent segments are compensating abnormally, and whether the hardware itself has failed.
- Documentation of rateable impairment under the AMA Guides for medical-legal purposes.
Who Orders a DMX Study
Patients with unresolved chronic neck pain, chronic headaches, post-concussion symptoms, or post-whiplash symptoms — particularly when prior imaging has been read as “normal.”
Personal injury and workers’ compensation attorneys who require objective, measurable documentation of soft tissue injury for legal proceedings.
Physical therapists, dentists, optometrists, and medical physicians whose patients present with symptoms suggestive of cervical instability.
Patients preparing for cellular regenerative therapy, including referrals to Centeno Schultz, where a DMX study is part of the pre-procedure workup.
Chiropractors managing complex cases where the treatment direction depends on biomechanical findings that static imaging does not provide.
Why This Matters for Patients in Iowa
If you live in Iowa and your provider has recommended a DMX study — or if you have researched DMX yourself because your symptoms have gone unexplained — there is exactly one place in the state where the study can be performed. That is not a competitive claim. It is a fact of geography and equipment. DMX requires a specialized fluoroscopy unit, trained operators, and a reader qualified to interpret the findings against the AMA Guides. In Iowa, that capability exists only at Precision Chiropractic West in West Des Moines.
For Attorneys and Referring Providers
For personal injury and workers’ compensation cases, DMX produces the kind of objective, measurable documentation that static imaging cannot. Findings are quantified, referenced to the AMA Guides, and delivered in a report format designed for legal and medical review. For attorneys whose clients have been dismissed by radiologists who read the initial MRI as normal, DMX is often the evidence that changes the case.
For referring medical providers, we welcome direct referrals and are happy to coordinate with your office on scheduling, record-sharing, and post-scan communication. For colleagues who have not seen a DMX study before, we are glad to walk through the findings and explain what the scan shows.
What to Expect When You Come In
A DMX appointment at Precision Chiropractic West takes approximately one hour. That includes the scan itself (about 15 minutes), the detailed report preparation (about 15 to 30 minutes), and a review with Dr. Griffin. You leave with a written report, a clear explanation of the findings, and if appropriate, a recommended next step.
Most patients who come in for a DMX are not Precision Chiropractic West patients at the time of the scan. Some are referred in by other chiropractors, physical therapists, dentists, or attorneys. Others self-refer after research. Whether you become a patient of our practice or take the report back to your existing provider is entirely up to you. The scan is the scan. The report is the report. The next step is yours to make.
Questions About Whether DMX Is Right for Your Case?
Contact Precision Chiropractic West in West Des Moines. We will review your situation, explain what DMX can and cannot tell us, and help you decide whether this is the right diagnostic step for you.
Contact Us About a DMX Study