About
About Dr. Jerome Fryer โ Nanaimo, BC, Chiropractor
Who Am I?
Dr. Jerome Fryer obtained his bachelor of science degree in biopsychology from the University of British Columbia in 1995. He then obtained his doctorate degree in chiropractic, graduating with honors, from the University of Western States, Portland Oregon in 1999. Between the years of 2000-2006 practiced on the West Coast of Vancouver Island in Ucluelet and later expanded to Tofino with a satellite clinic.
In 2006, decided to move to Nanaimo for more opportunities where he currently practices Mon Wed, Thurs and Fri making room for conducting spine research and crafting spine education models. He also lectures on the topics of degenerative disc disease and related spinal hydraulics and nutrition. His latest was at the request of the mechanical engineering department at the University of British Columbia.
Dr. Fryer has a history of sport. His four personal North American Speedskating Championships as well as seven Canadian National Championships set the foundation for a career in chiropractic. Dr. Jerome Fryer has extensive knowledge in sport physiology and injuries.
See Jerome Fryerโs Google Scholar page to view his publications and how others are citing his work.
Current Projects
On September 19-23, 2022 at the World Congress on Pain Dr. Fryerโs self-developed Pain Meter will be presented as a poster on the deviceโs reliability and validity. Two other Universities are currently using this device to understand a patientโs experience of pain.
On Nov 29th, 2022 Jeromeโs work on his patented ergonomic workstation chair was published in the journal Ergonomics. The results demonstrated a significant reduction in spine compression compared to the control seat.
On Oct 1st, 2020, Jerome Fryer revealed what he has been developing over the past three years. The Pain Meter is a device he uses to help extract more data about the mechanical clinical encounter to help him arrive at a more accurate diagnosis. This is a simple hand-held tool that a patient holds in hand to express the degree of tenderness the patient feels while Dr. Fryer palpates and probes the anatomical tissues in question that cause mechanical pain. This device allows the patient to be listened to and empowers the patient to help monitor forces elicited to ensure that the practitioner does not over-stress any sensitive tissues. Currently, this device is being included in the methodology of a dissertation award-winning study by Mona Frey. The award was issued by the International Society of Biomechanics.
Dr. Fryer continues to push forward with several projects. After in 2010 publishing two papers on the simple act of using oneโs arms to decompress oneโs own spine, he has since developed an ergonomic chair. In 2019, a group of researchers from the SpineLab at Memorial University in St. Johns Newfoundland presented the data at the 50th annual convention of the Association of Canadian Ergonomists. The study, which included gamers, looked at posture change and spine height loss over a one hour period of sitting. The subject group included healthy males playing the popular video game Fortnite. The results showed that Dr. Fryerโs ergonomic chair decompressed the spine as he predicted it would. Publication of the Triton Support Chair will soon be revealed.
Dr. Fryer continues to research and investigate his latest observation in the sound source of a joint โcrackโ after the serendipitous discovery of what he believes to be making the noise with spinal manipulation. His curiosity into this started when he asked the question after his first chiropractic adjustment in 1996: โwhere is that popping noise coming from?โ After nearly 20 years of thinking on the topic, along with his development work with The Oracle Model, has led to his hypothesis of a synovial fold release, a similar mechanism to a suction cup release. Data collection using cine MRI at the University of Alberta led to the publication in a peer-reviewed open-access journal in PLOS One.
Further study on the topic of the sound source origin of a joint crack has led to a short paper submitted to the Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association on March 26, 2016, which was published on Mar 15th, 2017. It is titled: A proposed in vitro model for investigating the mechanisms of โjoint crackingโ: a short report of preliminary techniques and observations.
The University of British Columbiaโs Mechanical Engineering Department conducts a follow-up study on the ongoing investigation and publications. A successful campaign to attract $29,000 helped fund the study. These monies have been donated by colleagues, Dr. Jerome Fryerโs patients and the Blue Moon Fund (Vancouver division). Currently, the project is on hold because of physical restrictions due to Covid19.
In the May 2017 edition of Canadian Chiropractor Magazine, Dr. Jerome Fryer was highlighted as a cover story with his work on the sound origins of joint cracking (audible release). His interests are in the study of the sound origins and mechanisms of joint movement.
- At the Annual General Meeting in Victoria (2015), Dr. Jerome Fryer was awarded for Excellence in Research โ issued by the British Columbia College of Chiropractors (The Award of Excellence is granted to BCCA members who have demonstrated exceptional dedication or service to the chiropractic profession and/or the community)
- The publication in The Journal of Sleep Disorders and Therapy is another example of his drive to understand better the optimal forces in the greater understanding of hydraulic recuperation of the spinal discs in sleep. This is a continuing theme evolving from his previous work on the hydraulics of the spine and sleep.
- Having completed and published the follow-up study to a โPreliminary investigation of a seated unloaded strategy for the lumbar spine: a pilot studyโ which was published in The Spine Journal, the next task is to find funding to conduct the hypothesis REM atonia manuscript (with the biomedical engineering department at UBC); a sleep-spine study through the MRI UBC research center. This is an investigation of REM sleep and its relationship to the muscles and corresponding regenerative intervertebral disc hydraulics.
- Dr. Jerome Fryer, Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Dynamic Disc Designs Corp continues to add new anatomical spine models to www.dynamicdiscdesigns.com with testimonials from all over the world. Read more.
- A research grant has been awarded to Dr. Jerome Fryer from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Dr. Jerome Fryer has now completed the work (2012) regarding this project with the University of Alberta in the research and development of human spine modelling.
Research Reviews
Dr. Fryer is a reviewer of submitted manuscripts published by Dove Medical Press for the Journal of Pain Research. Fryer provided his latest review on pain in children and in the management of common conditions. He is also a reviewer for publications with other journals including Human Factors.
Publications by Fryer
Magnetic resonance imaging and stadiometric assessment of the lumbar discs after sitting and chair-care decompression exercise: a pilot study
JCJ Fryer, JA Quon, FW Smith
The Spine Journal 10 (4), 297-305
A proposed in vitro model for investigating the mechanisms of โjoint crackingโ: a short report of preliminary techniques and observations
J CJ Fryer, Quon J, Vann, R
Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association
Real-time Visualization of Joint Cavitation
G N Kawchuk, JCJ Fryer, JL Jaremko, H Zeng, L Rowe, R Thompson
PLOS One (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0119470)
Preliminary investigation into a seated unloading movement strategy for the lumbar spine: a pilot study
JCJ Fryer, W Zhang
Journal of bodywork and movement therapies 14 (2), 119-126
Is a purpose of REM sleep atonia to help regenerate intervertebral disc volumetric loss?
JCJ Fryer
Journal of circadian rhythms 7 (1), 1
Hypnic Reflex: A Spinal Perspective
JC Fryer
Journal of Sleep Disorders and Therapy 3 (177)