Question
Our 19 year old daughter played the violin for 12 years.  At 14 she experience pain on top of hand.  At 16, same thing but with a spot on the back of her neck between shoulder and neck.  PT, chiro, massage...some relief.  At 17/18 right wrist at snuf box became painful.  Saw orthos, chiros, accupuncture, rolfer....in the end, she quit violin and wears an ace brace whenever she uses it....period.  Neck pain is back so she was getting some massage, chiro working on teaching her some exercises...but after a visit a couple of nights ago, the pain was very bad the next day and she also had bad pain down right side of neck.  Appt. with ND today...did biofeedback and had 50% improvement.  She was shocked that nobody ever took a picture of her neck...only the wrist with x-ray and mri's.  She believes there is a compression just on description of symptoms.  Ortho appt. Wed.  She recommends nucca chiro in chicago.  It certainly makes sense that her wrist may be connected to a subluxation somewhere near her neck....don't want to try another approach without more advice.  She heads back to college in a month...any advice on this type of chiro approach is appreciated!

Answer
Dear Jackie,

Thank you for your questions.  I don抰 know how much background you already have in chiropractic, though the content of your question make it sound as if you have at least some experience as a consumer.  You may find, then, that some of what I will write is a review for you, and for that I apologize, but I feel it would be better to be too inclusive than risk being incomplete.  In order to give you the greatest benefit in answering your questions, I抣l first need to give you some background information.  

There are two branches or schools of thought in chiropractic.  Briefly, they are differentiated by whether they deal with the limited therapeutic approach for aches and pains (commonly termed "mixed" chiropractic because it represents a mixture of a chiropractor with a non-chiropractic matter) or a non-therapeutic approach to optimum body performance (termed "straight" chiropractic because there is no mixing of chiropractic with anything else and it is distinct from the field of medicine).  My expertise is in non-therapeutic straight chiropractic.

Therapeutic "mixed" chiropractic is an older approach based on a split from the founding principles of chiropractic about a century ago.  

Non-therapeutic "straight" chiropractic is the more modern of the two.  It deals with a particular, common situation called a vertebral subluxation.  It抯 clear that this is not the same as the findings you mention, however.  Vertebral subluxation is not defined by 揷licking,?for example.  I will address the matter of misalignment in more detail a bit later in this message.  

The spine is made of many bone segments which house and protect the spinal cord and the smaller spinal nerve branches that come off the spinal cord and exit between the bones.  These nerve pathways carry information or messages between the brain and the cells of the body.  These messages are essential for the life of the cells.  Without vital brain messages, the cells immediately begin the process of dying; i.e., they can no longer function the way they should to maintain life.

Because the bones are moveable, they can misalign in such a way as to interfere with the messages and, ultimately, the ability of the person to function at their best or express their optimum potential.  People with vertebral subluxations are not able to get all they can out of life.

Vertebral subluxations can be caused by a wide variety of factors, what we'll generally call stresses.  These stresses can be physical (such as sleeping posture and mattress condition, the birth process, sneezing, falling down, etc.), mental / emotional (in its many forms, probably the most familiar use of the word stress), or chemical (such as pollution, drugs, etc.), which are, unfortunately, regular parts of daily living for all age groups.  In short, a vertebral subluxation can occur for a multitude of reasons.

Tragically, vertebral subluxations are rarely obvious to the individual they affect.  They usually have no symptoms.  The reason is that most of what goes on inside you happens without your awareness.  As an example, try to "feel" your liver.  What's it doing right now?  You can't know, so you can't know if it's functioning at its best or something less.  To complicate things, nerve pathways that carry messages of control (termed "motor" nerves) have no way of transmitting ache or pain messages, so your body function may be far from perfect and you'd not have any alerting signal whatsoever.  The branching of the nerve pathways is complex and extensive, making it exceedingly difficult to predict or determine exactly how the person will be affected.  In order to know if someone has a vertebral subluxation, it is necessary to have that person抯 spine checked by a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor using a method of "analysis."  When a vertebral subluxation is detected this way, it is obviously important to correct it as soon as possible.  The term for this is 揳djustment,?and can be accomplished in a variety of ways, depending upon the unique vertebral subluxation and the individual person.  

Since vertebral subluxations are caused by so many different things, people choose to go to a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor on a regular basis to enjoy the most time free of the life-robbing effects of vertebral subluxation. There's a saying that non-therapeutic straight chiropractic is not about your back, it's not about your pain, it's about your life.  Each person has a unique potential in life.  With vertebral subluxation, it's impossible to realize that potential.

In summary, then, a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor has the professional objective of checking the spine on a regular basis for vertebral subluxations and safely correcting those that are found so that the individual may express their optimum potential on all levels.  

It is important to discuss objectives here.  It is actually the objective that determines one profession from another.   Ask someone, 揥hat profession uses x-ray?? Consider that dentists, podiatrists, medical doctors, osteopaths and even chiropractors may employ x-ray methods in their work, yet they are not interchangeable professions.  It is the goal or reason ?in other words, the objective ?for which the x-ray is used that determines which profession it is.  An important consideration, then, when considering chiropractic techniques is the type of chiropractic you wish to receive.  Since you are asking me about NUCCA, you should know that this is an acronym for National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association.  This group focuses their attention on the upper two bones of the spine.  

Now that you have more information about the body and vertebral subluxation, how do you make use of it?  Well, first understand that this is not an explanation of why you have the various symptoms you described, such as hand, shoulder or back problems, or whether they are related to vertebral subluxation.  When you ask if these symptoms may be related to the various findings proposed by the practitioners you抳e visited, the short answer is, maybe.  It should be understood, though, that it also means, maybe not.  Nonetheless, symptoms of any kind are certainly not reliable indicators of vertebral subluxation.  Are there reasons for what your daughter is experiencing?  Even though they may be beyond our ability to identify, yes, there are; but pinning them down is not relevant to the matter of whether she will benefit from being free of vertebral subluxations.  Vertebral subluxation is, in and of itself, detrimental to your life.  It is not valid or reliable to try to connect it to hand complaints or back problems, from the things you mentioned, or any other organ or tissue conditions.  

As I mentioned earlier, not all chiropractors adhere to the non-therapeutic straight chiropractic division.  A key question to ask for your purposes, then, would be, Is someone with the symptoms you list better off with vertebral subluxation / nerve interference or free of subluxation / with the nerve channels open?  It is easy to see that having all the available nerve messages getting through is better than only some of them getting through, regardless of the person's situation otherwise.  It抯 not that your daughter should see a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor FOR her symptoms ?she should visit one in an effort to be free of vertebral subluxations, even WITH those symptoms.  Non-therapeutic straight chiropractic is not about diagnosing and/or treating these complaints or any therapeutic-model or medical condition.  It is entirely separate in its goal.  

Specifically regarding NUCCA, in non-therapeutic straight chiropractic, there are many different technical adjusting styles.  Rather than tell you what I think of a technique, consider this: it is more important what you think about it.  If you wish to receive non-therapeutic straight chiropractic services and believe that a particular technique package is best suited to helping your body be free of vertebral subluxations, then so be it!  Keep in mind, however, that the actual technical considerations inherent in its use are of less importance than whether it is being used in the correction of vertebral subluxations.  Methods will vary in whether they will deal with only a portion of the spine, require the use of drop-pieces, hands or instruments, more or less force, or whatever other variable you wish to name.  I would be more inclined to consider, then, more questions about why one would use a particular style rather than questions about how it is done, unless for some reason that is a major concern for you as well.  If the service you seek is to be checked for vertebral subluxations and effect their correction, ultimately, you will have to weigh your confidence in the chiropractor抯 ability to effectively and safely effect the correction of those vertebral subluxations that are identified.  I do not know enough about you to tell you that a particular technique is suitable to you and a particular vertebral subluxation(s) on any given day.  

NUCCA affiliation does not determine if a chiropractor is of the non-therapeutic straight viewpoint.  It simply designates the area of interest where the techniques are applied.  It is also often therapeutic in its goal and, so, is not about the vertebral subluxation as much as about the symptoms or complaints.  

As we saw above, vertebral subluxations are not reliably revealed by symptoms.  The only way to know if someone has a vertebral subluxation is to have that person抯 spine checked by a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor using a method of analysis.  This is the only valid determinant of vertebral subluxation.  

Incidentally, I don抰 know what type of office you have visited in the past, but since you do not mention vertebral subluxation, it may have been to a therapeutic mixed chiropractic office.  Vertebral subluxation is the hallmark and sole concern in a non-therapeutic straight chiropractic office, not such things as hand pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, etc., as mentioned in your question.  Remember, it is not the technical style that determines this, it is the reason why it is done.  If you are interested in finding out how to locate a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor in your area for your daughter抯 (or your own, or any spine-owner抯, for that matter) chiropractic needs, please contact me at this site again.  

Jackie, it has been my pleasure to provide you with some information.  I wish you the best.  

Sincerely,
James W. Healey, D.C.