Question
HI THIS IS ALTA MARIE MILLER.  IA AM HEARING IMPAIRED.  AND I HAVE PROBLEM WITH MISALIGNMENT SKULL CAUSING MY LEFT SIDE PAIN FROM HEAD TO TOES SINCE THREE YEARS.  I WENT TO SEVERAL DOCTORS, DENTIST, CHIROPRACTOR, AND SEVERAL MRI AND CAT SCAN.
AND INTERNAL MEDICINE STATE THAT I AM COMPLETE HEALTHY BUT HAVE PROBLEM WITH MY LEFT FACIAL PAIN CAUSING MY INNER EAR INFLAMMATORY, AND TEETHING, AND CHEEK AND NECK SHOULDER, PELVIS PAIN KNEE  ANKLE AND FOOT STRESS AND TOES AND MY LEFT FOOT WILL HAVING FIRST TOES SURGERY AND BUNION  AND  MY MISALIGNMENT BACK SKULL AND NECK VERY PAINFUL PUT THE STRESS ON MY LEFT SIDE.  AND ARE YOU EXPERIENCE TO ADJUST MY MISALIGNMENT SKULL. I AM COMPLETE HEALTHY. BUT SPINE PROBLEM.   PLEASE E-MAIL ASAP  THANKS.

Answer
Dear Alta,

Thank you for your question.  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 more traditional 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 specifically the same as the findings referenced in your question, but 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 vertebrae, the bones of the spine, 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 accidental trauma, 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.  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."  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, Would someone with the history you report 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.  

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.  It is possible that the chiropractor you mention in your question is practicing therapeutic 搈ixed?chiropractic, so I will not comment on what may have been done to address what you call 搒kull misalignment?(the bones of the skull are not segments of the spine and, therefore, do not constitute vertebral subluxations) or the therapeutic conclusions about this in your question.  The answer is similar regarding the question of addressing your pain therapeutically.  Such matters are mistakenly thought to be part of non-therapeutic chiropractic.  

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 you other 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].  

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

Sincerely,
James W. Healey, D.C.