A few weeks ago the COD team was cruising Facebook and saw an advertisement for a new “anterior adjusting aide” called the Hanterior. Being that most, if not all doctors perform some variation of anterior thoracic adjusting we thought it only prudent that the COD team reach out to the founder of the company and see if we could perform a product review on the Hanterior. After speaking with Adam they agreed to send over a test unit for our founder Dr. Beau Pierce to test.
Here is Dr. Beau’s review of the Hanterior Adjusting Tool:
Greetings Circle of Docs! I am excited to share with you a new tool that I have been using in my practice for the past thirty days. Let me start by saying that in my practice I use my hands to adjust 90% of my patients, the other 10% I use instrument adjusting for special populations. With that said I deliver A LOT of anterior thoracic adjustments every day. Sometimes by the end of the day my wrists are killing me from so many anterior moves and about 6 months ago I started to use a Tepperwedge to aide my routine. When I was alerted to the Hanterior I immediately jumped at the opportunity to review the product.
What is the Hanterior?
According to their website, “the Hanterior is the only anterior chiropractic adjusting tool that allows you to maintain an efficient practice. The solid hard plastic base with soft plastic (replaceable) contacts mimics your hand contact with a smaller surface area contacting the patient letting you be more specific and use less force. All you need to do after palpating is slide the Hanterior to your palm and adjust away! The design mimics the standard hand contact so there is very little change in your adjusting mechanics and the soft contacts are more patient friendly than your fist!”
First Impression:
When I opened the box containing the Hanterior I was utterly shocked… It’s tiny!
This adjusting tool is so much smaller than the Tepperwedge that I had previously been using. I was expecting another big, clunky piece of hard rubber. But something was pleasantly different. When I picked it up out of the box and started to feel it, I noticed the attention to detail and craftmanship that was put into the unit. Every portion of the tool seemed to fit perfectly with its counterpoint. It was firm and rigid at the base, yet soft and supple at the contacts.
Fit:
When trying on the Hanterior it felt like nothing I have ever used to adjust with before. It fit perfectly in my palm. Note: I have pretty large hands ( I am 6’4”) and this tool seemed to meld in to the palm of my hand. To contrast the Hanterior with the Tepperwedge, it is much larger, I would say at least 2x as big. The only way to describe how the Hanterior fits is to compare it with how your Iphone just “fits” in your hand when you hold it.
The tool is also very lightweight and when you have it on, you almost forget you are wearing it.
The one small thing I would suggest to the company is that on the backside where the Velcro strap connects they could make it a bit longer. With larger hands it popped off when I used it on occasion. I will say though that I like the Velcro idea, as once you find your desired “size” its very easy to use and slide on/off your hand.
Performance:
It was very easy to take out of my pocket, slide on my hand and position it in my palm. Matter of fact, after using it about 20x that first morning, patients could not even tell I was putting the tool on/off in my adjusting routine.
The biggest difference between the Hanterior and other anterior adjusting wedges is the way it allows you to adjust. The “other” tools provide a “block under the vertebrae experience”. These other tools were created to provide leverage to adjust the segment. The Hanterior is completely different.
When wearing the Hanterior I could still palpate the thoracic segments and really position myself as to the correct line of drive that I wanted to use to deliver the adjustment. With the Tepperwedge I was more “guesstimating” where to adjust then applying a downward force.
During the actual delivery of the adjustment there is a vast difference when using the Hanterior. When I adjust using just my hands I can feel every vertebrae move and the skin to skin contact is so pure. However, when I used the Tepperwedge I found I didn’t have to apply as much force as a manual adjustment to create movement, however the “feel” of the adjustment is totally lost.
I think the Hanterior provides a perfect middle ground. When I was using the tool I felt I still had the ability to create that “big cavitation” if I wanted, or go easy and really feel the movement in the subluxated segments. I felt totally comfortable using this on a patient who was as young as five years old, a 94yr old granny, and a 345lb football lineman at my local college.
Price
The retail price for the Hanterior is $80. I find this to be a great price compared to other adjusting tools being sold in the $200-400 dollar range. The Hanterior brand is a relatively new company so they are working hard to get their product to the masses. In doing so, they have temporarily lowered the price $59.To go one step further, we secured a discounted rate for COD members. Use the “Circle15” and it will give you an additional $10 off an order of 2 or more (on top of the normal free shipping for orders of 2 or more).’
Visit their website to get your own Hanterior
Note: COD receives NO compensation if you should decide to purchase this product.
Conclusion
For the Doctor
-Reduced stress on the hand/fingers
-Less force needed during anterior adjustment
-Allows normal palpation
-Fits in your pocket
-Adjustable elastic strap allows you to move it to the wrist or back of the hand when not in use
-Replaceable contacts
-Contacts have enough give to be comfortable for the patient but still transmit the force needed
-Doesn’t slow you down
-Solid, durable base with smooth rounded edges for comfort
-No need to change your adjustment
-Can be used anywhere you would use your hand
For the Patient
-Comfortable soft contacts
-Less force used
-Better adjustment
-Happy doctor
Includes: Hanterior (base + 2 contacts) and an adjustable elastic strap.
