Question
Hi, Dr. Healey.  I have been having pain and discomfort in the middle of my back, right about where the shoulderblades meet, although it's tough to
pinpoint it.  It feels as if there is something out of place, and there is slight pain (although it varies day to day). I have a constant urge to crack
it, which feels good for about as long as it takes to crack it.  I can crack it by pushing my shoulderblades together, and the muscles that do so
sometimes get sore I do it so much.  Also, I play marimba/vibes/xylophone, and when playing for over an hour my right lat and the middle of my back will
get very stiff.  I do not have pain, numbness, or tingling anywhere, except the pain in my back.

I am 21 years old.  I don't think age is an issue.  I weight train, which I think could be related.  However, I have been lifting a few years without a
problem, and there was no instance where I knew I'd hurt something; this pain just started for no (known) reason.  I do train heavy, my max squat and
deadlift are 1.5 and 2 times my body weight, respectively.  I am 6'1", 190 lbs.  Some days certain lifts hurt, other days it's fine.

I tend to be stiffer in the morning, and looser but in more pain by bedtime.  The pain varies day to day from almost none to so bad I take a couple
aspirin.  I saw a physician, he gave me muscle relaxers and I saw a chiropractor five weeks, once a week.  That didn't help.  He had me get x rays, of
the thoracic spine, the chest (he thought it was a displaced rib) and a scholiosis series, all of which came back normal.  I tried quitting weight
training for two months, no lifting whatsoever (which I hated to do but was willing to try it) and it didn't help.  

I would like to get an mri but cannot afford to on my insurance, it would be about 1000 dollars co pay and I'm not sure it will even show anything.  

Do you have any idea what might be my problem?  Mainly I am worried that continued heavy lifting could lead to a serious back failure.  But so far
lifting has not improved or worsened the problem.  I am very confused.  Any input would help at this point.  I appreciate your time very much.  

Sincerely,

Jim R.

Answer
Dear Jim R.,

Thank you for your question.  Unfortunately, your question seems to be based on some common misconceptions regarding chiropractic, similar to others I have received.  Since I have no information from you on what you already know about this field, in order to give you the greatest benefit in answering, 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 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.  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 lifting weights, perhaps, but also 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.  Your sensations, including pain, an urge to 揷rack?joints or a feeling of stiffness, unfortunately, are quite unreliable when it comes to vertebral subluxation.  In fact, the only reliable and valid 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.  The term for this procedure of effecting a correction of a vertebral subluxation is 揳djustment.?br>
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 a system of diagnosing the nature or cause of pain.  Are there reasons for what you抮e experiencing?  Even though they may be beyond our ability to identify, of course, there are; but pinning them down is not relevant to the matter of whether you would benefit from being free of vertebral subluxations, whether they resulted from a weight training / lifting event, your musical performances or any other of the many different opportunities that come from daily living.  Vertebral subluxation is, in and of itself, detrimental to life.  

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.  The term for this procedure is 揳djustment.?

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.  

A key question to ask for your purposes, then, would be, Is someone who lifts weights 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.  So, having one抯 spine checked for vertebral subluxation is tremendously important, but it抯 not for the purpose of dealing with pain.  In other words, non-therapeutic straight chiropractic can be of benefit to any spine-owner, but perhaps in ways that you may not have considered.  It抯 not that you should see a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor FOR your pain ?you should visit one in an effort to be free of vertebral subluxations, even WITH such matters in your history.  

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.  What information I give you must not be interpreted from the mixed viewpoint.  

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 injury concerns.  Remember, the two objectives are not the same.    

Regarding the specific question you pose about what may be causing your pain or, as you put it, if I have 揳ny idea what might be [the] problem,?even though this is not a service that I would provide in my field, I would say to you that diagnosis under the best of circumstances is something of an art.  Anyone who is willing to speculate about your situation by e-mail is providing you little more than a guess.  

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].  

Jim, I wish you the best in understanding what non-therapeutic straight chiropractic has to offer.  It has been my pleasure to provide you with some information.

Sincerely,
James W. Healey, D.C.