QuestionDear Doctor Healey,
I have spent a considerable amount of time deciding if I want to become a chiropractor or not. In the event that I do become one, I am looking into following the path of straight chiropractic. There is one main question I have been searching for the answer to, and I hope you can be of some assistance. What evidence is there stating that a vertebral "subluxation" physically (biomechanically/anatomically)impedes or, for that matter, alters nervous system output? By this I mean, having an effect from a vertebra's nerve root and its corresponding organ or organ system. Would you be able to tell me about or possibly cite some studies that have shown this effect? Thank you for you guidance.
Sincerely,
John
AnswerDear John,
Thank you for writing.
There are many published resources which deal with vertebral subluxation, most of which can be found through JVSR.com, the web-site of the Journal of Veretbral Subluxation Research. As you read about vertebral subluxation, though, it will be helpful for you to keep in mind some background on the chiropractic profession so you may make better use of these resources.
Though your message to me, wherein you identify your current career interest, indicates you have at least some familiarity with the two viewpoints in chiropractic, I do not know how you were introduced to chiropractic nor the resources upon which you are relying for that information. Unfortunately, there is much misinformation about this matter. I apologize, then, if some of the following material is redundant or below your current level of knowledge, but I feel it is essential to know that we are talking about the same things.
It is important to mention here that 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). My expertise is in non-therapeutic straight chiropractic.
Therapeutic "mixed" chiropractic is the 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 solely with vertebral subluxation. Vertebral subluxation is a key term of art in non-therapeutic straight chiropractic, so it is important that it be clearly understood. Since it is not specifically and solely the focus within the professional objective of therapeutic mixed chiropractic, it is not unusual for there to be debate on this topic when chiropractic is mistakenly taken as an undivided whole.
Briefly stated, vertebral subluxation describes the situation when a spinal bone (vertebra) becomes misaligned in such a way as to interfere with the information or messages traveling over the nerves of the spinal cord, which is within the spine, or spinal nerve roots, which pass between adjacent segments. The reason that vertebral subluxation is of such concern is that these messages are indisputably essential for proper body function. Every system, every organ, every tissue, down to every cell of your body requires communication with the brain, which is used to create and interpret the information for maintaining life. Without brain messages and the vital information they contain, the cells can no longer function optimally, the way they should to maintain life.
If a vertebral subluxation is found, it is important that it be corrected as soon as possible. The non-therapeutic straight chiropractor is trained in performing analysis of the spine and methods that allow a vertebral subluxation to be corrected with precision and efficiency.
Vertebral subluxations can be caused by a wide variety of factors, what we'll generally call stresses. These stresses can be physical (such as work injuries, being born, strenuous physical activity, sleeping posture and mattress condition, 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.
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 negative effects of vertebral subluxation. There's a saying that 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. Bluntly speaking, it would require your Creator抯 (or creator抯, for agnostics) knowledge in order to answer your question about how this interference may affect the expression of an individual抯 potential. It is a question of enormous interest, but is impossible to answer with certainty in any particular situation. It can easily be understood, however, that it will be impossible to express the fullness of that unique potential, whatever it may be, with such an interference.
As I mentioned earlier, not all chiropractors, nor, therefore, chiropractic research efforts adhere to this viewpoint and it is important that you be able to distinguish between these different approaches if you're going to be able to make sense of the research and gather pertinent information.
When considering chiropractic as a career, and especially when it comes to choosing one branch or the other, others have asked me such things as the educational and licensure requirements. I had known from a very early age that I wanted to get into the field of non-therapeutic straight chiropractic and structured my education accordingly. I attended Gettysburg College and The University of Chicago for my undergraduate degree in biology. I then chose what was known at that time as Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic for my Doctor of Chiropractic degree.
Preparation for entering chiropractic college consists of an assortment of pre-requisites. Generally, the undergraduate college pre-requisites for most programs have an emphasis on the sciences (but within a liberal arts curriculum) and licensure requires certain testing after graduation. As far as specific choices for undergraduate courses, I suggest you contact the chiropractic college you are interested in to determine their particular requirements. It is typically not necessary to attend a college that has a pre-chiropractic program, though that may be helpful in guiding you in completing all the pre-requisites.
The exact educational requirements for graduation from chiropractic college and subsequent licensure, beyond choosing the appropriate type of chiropractic college to suit your career goals and preferences, may vary depending upon the college and the jurisdiction where you seek to be licensed. There is no universal standard for these and it is always best to verify the requirements with the specific institution or agency involved.
Licensure ?the final rite of passage before professional life - is through a state board of examiners. There is also a National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, which administers a multi-part test based on therapeutic mixing chiropractic that most states require an individual to pass before they may sit for state licensure examinations and, in fact, many states will accept national board tests in lieu of their examinations. The requirements for each state can vary greatly. Generally, however, preparation for the field consists of completing an assortment of pre-requisites and graduating from chiropractic college.
You may also benefit to know what is expected of a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor in practice, apart from business decisions. Well, that goes back to the objective. Someone who seeks the services of a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor would expect to be checked for vertebral subluxations on a regular basis for a lifetime. Other non-therapeutic straight chiropractors expect a commitment to that objective so that, if a referral is made, for instance, there are assurances that the person being referred will actually be checked for vertebral subluxations. There is also an expectation that comes from a common high regard for the professional goal; i.e., to help each other excel in the field, whether through technical or professional guidance and support. The reason is because the goal - helping people live a lifetime without persistent vertebral subluxations - contributes to a better world, overall. It's in everyone's best interest for non-therapeutic straight chiropractors to be at their best. I believe there are few careers where there is so much mutual concern for the success of one's colleagues.
I抦 certain you would find non-therapeutic straight chiropractic to be a rewarding career choice. Consider that if you were to ask, Who would benefit from being free of vertebral subluxation?, you would easily see that this service is critical to every person on the planet. Once someone understands what is offered by non-therapeutic straight chiropractic, they typically make it part of their lifelong pursuits. This alone does not mean that these people will come banging down your door to find it ?they don抰 even know about it in some communities! People may initially come in to my office with therapeutic concerns ?it抯 a very common misconception about my field based upon the split that exists between the therapeutic and non-therapeutc viewpoints - but they choose to become life-long users for a much different and larger purpose. It may be said that they come in WITH many different circumstances, but not FOR them. That抯 why I抦 glad to have you investigate chiropractic and hopeful that you may even choose to practice non-therapeutic straight chiropractic as a career or simply share this information with others. Understand that this opinion is about non-therapeutic straight chiropractic. It will be different for therapeutic mixing chiropractic. It is not uncommon for members of that segment of the profession to want to move it into the field of medicine entirely and, so, it would be absorbed, perhaps to the point of non-existence, but that is a field outside of my expertise.
You may be interested in the evolution of the profession and how the split that exists came about. With much that could be said, here are some key points from the profession抯 history. Chiropractic was founded in Davenport, Iowa, on September 18, 1895 by Daniel David (揇.D.? Palmer. Palmer had studied the human body extensively, by nineteenth century standards, with particular focus on the relationship of the various nerve pathways to the spine. Harvey Lillard worked as the custodian in the building where Palmer抯 office was located. Lillard had been deaf for 17 years when he related to Palmer the story of the incident that led to his hearing loss. He reported that he was lifting something heavy beneath a stairwell and felt something 損op?in his neck or upper back and immediately lost his hearing. Palmer noted a 搇ump?in Lillard抯 neck and reasoned that it was a vertebra that had been 搑acked?out of position. He further reasoned that it was this vertebra that was interfering with Lillard抯 hearing in some way by affecting the nerves of the spinal cord or spinal nerve trunks. Palmer devised a method to 搑ack?(his word) the vertebra back toward its proper position, following which Lillard regained his hearing.
At first, Palmer thought he had discovered a cure for deafness. So did others! He had many people come to him in the next several months for this cure. The problem was that not everyone who had hearing loss had vertebrae out of place like Lillard and those who did didn抰 always regain their hearing after his corrective efforts. He noticed, though, that often these people experienced other changes. Some who limped beforehand could now walk more easily; so Palmer then modified his thinking to include that it was also a cure for the lame. Again, though, not all had the same vertebrae out of place and those who did didn抰 always experience the same changes. Similar patterns happened with other ailments. He had to amend his thinking yet again, now believing that his new method was a cure for some problems. But the list of ailments he saw respond to his method kept growing, until he came to another conclusion that it was a cure for all ailments. What still puzzled him, though, was that there were others, even with vertebrae out of place, who had no problems whatsoever.
Palmer, with his son, Bartlett Joshua (揃.J.? Palmer, and at his urging to expand the base of people who could provide this service to others, took on apprentices but were quickly overwhelmed with requests. Many of the early apprentices of the Palmers were actually medical doctors or medical students from the colleges in the east who were interested in learning the 揷ures?they had heard about or seen for themselves. D.D. was even invited to lecture at the medical colleges but declined. In his response, he noted that it was not enough to simply learn the method because his new profession (by that time having been given the name chiropractic) was not intended simply as a borrowed method alone to be used for a non-chiropractic goal, it was an entire system of reasoning as well. In fact, he stated, 揑 don抰 mix my chiropractic with anything else, I practice it straight,?which is where we get parts of today抯 terminology, as I explained above. Ironically, the Palmers opened a school to teach the Palmer Method. Despite D.D.抯 admonition and charge, many of the therapeutically-minded, medically-trained students and apprentices went on to mix the method with a therapeutic objective and therapeutic mixed chiropractic split away and continued in its model, going progressively further from the thinking that would ultimately lead to modern non-therapeutic straight chiropractic.
The Palmers never actually solved the puzzle of why vertebral subluxations and ailments didn抰 always correspond. It wasn抰 until the 1970抯 that Reggie Gold, D.C., a chiropractor of enormous insight, brought the profession to the next and highest evolution yet. He was the first to define chiropractic by its objective; i.e., detecting and correcting vertebral subluxations because, in and of themselves, they were a detriment to the fullest expression of life and individual potential. Gold proposed that chiropractic concerned every aspect of human performance. He reasoned that it was not necessary to connect vertebral subluxation and disease at all, that health (meaning the contrast between sickness and disease) was merely one aspect of human performance. Chiropractic, in this model, was not a treatment for anything. This was the origin of non-therapeutic straight chiropractic. Therapeutic mixing chiropractic and non-therapeutic straight chiropractic are not at opposite ends of a spectrum of chiropractic. The therapeutic mixing and non-therapeutic straight chiropractic spectra are entirely separate and do not intersect or adjoin each other at all.
There is also a wonderful text on the history of straight chiropractic, Refined By Fire, by Joseph Strauss, D.C., available at www.F-A-C-E.com, the web site of the Foundation for the Advancement of Chiropractic Education, or perhaps at your library.
I hope to welcome you someday to what I already find, that non-therapeutic straight chiropractic is a very low-stress career choice, immensely rewarding in that I have the opportunity to work with individuals of all ages in their pursuit of optimal life expression and peak performance. Ultimately, like me, many of my colleagues see their careers in non-therapeutic straight chiropractic as something much larger than their job ?we see it as making a difference in the world one person at a time.
Incidentally, if you are interested in finding out how to locate a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor in your area for your chiropractic needs, please contact me at this site again.
John, it has been my pleasure to provide you with some information. I wish you the best in whatever will be your chosen career path and good luck to you in your studies.
Sincerely,
James W. Healey, D.C.
