Question
I have been having shoulder pain radiating to hands, neck pain and mainly mid back pain which causes some upper abdominal discomfort as well. Is it due to Stomach or something or throacic region problem. Whenever eat i feel pain in the upper abdomen and when i go thru endoscopy they found mild stomach inflammation but in MRI of the thoracic lumbar back shows some vertical misaligment at t12 l1 region. What is the problem is it the back pain cauisng the mid back and upper abdominal pain or is the upper abdominal discomfort causing my mid back pain? kindly clarify

Answer
Dear Rajesh Kumar,

Thank you for your question.  I can understand your frustration at having some bits of information but no single, clear concept that brings them all together.  Yours is a question similar to those I have heard from others who are investigating chiropractic.  Unfortunately, though, it is based on some misconceptions.  In order to answer it properly, I抣l first need to give you some background on the chiropractic profession.

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 with a particular, common situation called a vertebral subluxation.  This is not the same as the spinal findings you mention in your question, though they may exist together.  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 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 exercise, 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.  You ask if I can comment on why you have the various pain sensations from your neck to your mid-back and into your abdomen and shoulder or what causes them.  First, that question comes from the limited therapeutic concept of mixing chiropractic, and such advice is not within my field.  Second, and perhaps of more use to you, the branching of the nerve pathways is quite complex and extensive, making it exceedingly difficult to predict or determine exactly how the person will be affected.  Certainly, every part of the body must have connections to the nerve system so that vital information may be transmitted between the brain and the cells.  There are some who would attempt to review the possible nerve connections between a nerve root and specific organs or tissues, but this ignores the multitude of variables that determine the expression of function.  

To illustrate the complexity of this question, consider the following hypothetical issues (not that I know there is any proposed mechanism such as this in your specific situation).  Is it possible that digestive tract tissue may be affected by the balance of digestive enzymes and that in order to manufacture them the glands would require a certain chemical balance?  Could such a chemical balance be affected by electrolytes in the body and a resulting state of hydration?  Is it further possible that these electrolyte alterations may be due to a kidney unable to regulate the balance of these chemical parameters?  Let抯 add just one more layer and ask if it is possible that the kidney is unable to do this because the liver is not properly regulating the production of chemicals?  Are any of these steps possibly affected by interference along nerve pathways to the vital information exchange between the brain and the body?  As you can see, the question is enormously complex and would require your Creator抯 (or creator抯, for the agnostic) knowledge, or at least far more than our educated knowledge of the complexities of life.  For this reason alone, it is impossible for anyone to give you reliable answers as to what may cause the various aches or pains you describe in your questions or if they may be related to a vertebral subluxation.  At best, such a conclusion would be no more than a guess.  

You ask if there are reasons for the pains you抮e experiencing.  Yes, there are; but it is not pertinent to the matter of whether you will benefit from being free of vertebral subluxations.  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.

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 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.

A key question to ask for your purposes, then, would be, Is someone who has the complaints you have listed, such as back, shoulder or abdominal pain, be 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 you should see a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor FOR back, shoulder or abdominal pain ?you should visit one in an effort to be free of vertebral subluxations, even WITH such complaints.  Non-therapeutic straight chiropractic is not about diagnosing and/or treating back pain or any therapeutic-model or medical condition.  It is entirely separate in its goal.  

As I mentioned earlier, not all chiropractors adhere to this and it is important that you be able to distinguish which ones do if you're going to seek this type of service.  You need to understand very clearly that the practice objectives of therapeutic mixed chiropractic and non-therapeutic straight chiropractic are quite different, as described above.  

It would certainly be wise to have your spine checked for subluxations by a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor, even if you still elect to have therapeutic attention for your reported complaints.  Remember, the two objectives are not the same.  

If you are interested in finding out how to locate a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor in your area, please contact me at this site again or at [email protected].  

Rajesh, I wish you the best in understanding what chiropractic has to offer.  It has been my pleasure to provide you with some information.

Sincerely,
James W. Healey, D.C.