Dr. Scott F. Gillman - Family & Sports Chiropractic

Glossary of Chiropractic &
Medical Terms

FACET - A posterior structure of a vertebra which articulates with a facet of an adjacent vertebra to form a facet joint that allows motion in the spinal column. Each vertebra has two superior and two inferior facets. The vertebrae connect with a disc in front and two facet joints in back.

FALSE NEGATIVE RESULT: A negative result in a patient with a disorder.

FALSE POSITIVE RESULT: A positive result in a person who does not have the disorder.

FALSE-NEGATIVE RATE (FNR): The likelihood of a negative test in a patient with a disorder.

FALSE-POSITIVE RATE (FPR): The likelihood of a positive test in a patient without a disorder.

FATIGUE FRACTURE - A fracture that occurs in bone or in other materials as a result of repeated stress as opposed to a single injury.

FIBROSIS - The replacement of normal tissue with scar tissue.

FILM/SCREEN SPEED SYSTEMS: Film intensifying screens are assigned a speed by the manufacturer and combinations of these yield a total system speed ranging from 80 to 1200 with par being 100.

FLEXION-DISTRACTION TECHNIQUE - A spine traction based method which distracts apart the vertebrae. In theory, and with limited evidence, it can pull in a bulging intervertebral disc away from the spinal cord and spinal nerves. This technique incorporates a special table that hydraulically disengages and flexes downward and moves side to side while the spine is distracted.

FONTANELLE - Normal openings in the skull of infants; the largest of these is the anterior fontanel or "soft spot" in the middle of the head.

FORAMEN - A natural opening or passage in bone.

FORAMINOTOMY - Surgical opening or enlargement of the bony opening traversed by a nerve root as it leaves the spinal canal.

FRACTURE – A direct break in the normal continuity of bone.

FREQUENCY OF CARE: The number of times a patient is treated over a given period and the interval between treatments.