QuestionI recently consulted a straight chiropractor in my local area regarding tension in my neck and shoulder area. This was upon advisment of a masseur who recommended I have an adjustment which might help relieve the tightness I experience in this area. My first visit was a free "consultation" where one of the DCs led me through a power point presentation of this practice. My first real visit consisted of x-rays, an NCM scan, and an EMG scan. Following this, they recommended I commit to 90 visits over 12 months at the cost of $3,080.00 I have never heard of chiropractic offices operating in this manner. Is this a normal procedure? How do they know I will need this many adjustments during one year? What do these scans really show? Should I be concerned that my neck has no curvature as revealed by the x-rays?
AnswerDear Cindy,
Thank you for your question. Yours is a question similar to those I have heard from others who are investigating chiropractic and fees are often critical in whether someone will pursue it. Unfortunately, though, your question is lacking some critical information for me to give you the best answer. In order for you to understand why, 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. 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 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. For example, try specifically to "feel" your liver. Try to be aware of exactly what it抯 doing right now. You can't, 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 say in your message that you were motivated to look into chiropractic because you had tension in your neck and shoulder. That may very well be a concern for a therapeutic office, but that is a question outside the realm of non-therapeutic straight chiropractic. Unfortunately, when it comes to determining if there is a vertebral subluxation present, tension is not a valid or reliable measuring stick. In addition, and quite relevant to whether any complaints are related to vertebral subluxation ?including tension, as you have reported - 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. For this reason alone, it is impossible for anyone to give you reliable answers as to whether particular symptoms may be related to a vertebral subluxation. At best, such a conclusion would be no more than a guess. 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. The question of how your individual body carries out the myriad of activities just to maintain life is enormous 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.
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. 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,?which may be quite different from how you use it in your question, as we will discuss in a moment. Chiropractic adjustments for the correction of vertebral subluxations 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 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.
Now, that you have more information about the body and vertebral subluxation, how do you make use of it? Well, first understand that you (or any spine owner, for that matter) will benefit from being free of vertebral subluxations. Vertebral subluxation is, in and of itself, detrimental to your life. A key question to ask for your purposes, then, would be, Is someone with tension 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 is much like eating good food, in that respect. It is not done to treat something, it is simply better to be nourished than to be starving if you expect to get the best from your body and life. Similarly, non-therapeutic straight chiropractic ?the correcting of vertebral subluxations ?is not a treatment for something, it is simply better to be 搉ourished?with brain messages than to be starved of them if you expect to live at your best. It抯 not that you should see a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor FOR your tension symptoms ?you should visit one in an effort to be free of vertebral subluxations, even WITH those complaints. Non-therapeutic straight chiropractic is not about diagnosing and/or treating this or any other 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. It is not certain from the information you provided if the chiropractor you visited was offering therapeutic mixed chiropractic or non-therapeutic straight chiropractic, though there are some indicators that he/she is of the therapeutic mixed way of practice.
In discussing vertebral subluxation earlier in this message, I used the word misalignment. I am not talking here about a lack of curve, however, and it is not interchangeable with the term vertebral subluxation. The misalignment that I address is that of a specific segment of the spine. Technically speaking, we have to get even a bit more advanced in what is meant by misalignment to make this clear. The question is, Misaligned with respect to what? It is possible to describe the body geometrically, reasoning that we are bilaterally symmetrical and concluding that there is a measurable 搈idline?or that our hips and shoulders should be 揵alanced?on a perpendicular line to this proposed 搈idline?or that the body can be presumed to take on a certain geometry in other planes as well. The problem with this thinking is that it assumes we are simply machines and ignores that we are alive, capable of movement, adaptation, growth, etc. At any given moment, there is an optimum state for us to carry out life to our best abilities. That optimum state will vary depending upon the circumstances, both within us and of our environment. There are many examples to illustrate this. If you carry something heavy with one hand, you must lean away from it, putting something of a curve into the spine, to keep yourself balanced. Does that mean the body is failing because there is imbalance or a curve, or is it instead being quite successful in adapting you to the situation? In another example, consider that those who argue for geometric balance or symmetry would be hard-pressed to explain why the carpenter who swings a 28-ounce hammer all day with his right arm only would have certain physical adaptations that favor his right side. Should the carpenter have some of the tissue removed from his arm, hand and back so that it is equal to that on the left? Or is he merely adapted to his circumstances? The point I抦 getting at is that there is an individually determined, innately normal position for the body that cannot be described by geometry. From the non-therapeutic standpoint, then, the method of the non-therapeutic straight chiropractor is not for the goal of altering curves. Adjustments are made if and when a subluxation is detected ?and only then. Geometric positioning is not within the realm of non-therapeutic straight chiropractic.
Non-therapeutic straight chiropractic is not about the treatment of tension or forcing curves into the neck ?whether in 90 visits or any other proposed regimen. The theories that are proposed to demonstrate the validity of spinal manipulation for ailment treatment certainly are topics of great debate and are clearly different from what would be proper non-therapeutic straight chiropractic procedures or principles.
There is a two-question interview process that may be quite helpful in this. The first question is the very direct inquiry, Are you a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor? If the answer is no and you are seeking to have non-therapeutic straight chiropractic services, go on to interview another. If the answer is yes, continue. Non-therapeutic straight chiropractors are quite glad to identify themselves as such. But there also exists some confusion bordering on obfuscation because the term 搒traight?is often misused and was originally used by the founder of chiropractic in a positive way, so it is not uncommon for mixers to misidentify themselves that way. For that reason, it is important to ask the second question, What condition do you deal with in your office? Obviously, here, you are looking for the answer to be vertebral subluxation or an accurate description of such. Anything else (such as treatment of tension or a lost curve, as you described) would mean that they are treating that problem or providing therapeutic mixing chiropractic in disguise. A third question that can be added is, Why? The non-therapeutic straight chiropractor will explain their reason for addressing vertebral subluxation in a manner similar to what I have stated above; i.e., in and of itself, vertebral subluxation is a detriment to the expression of life!
In your question, you use the term 揳djustment,?but it is necessary to point out that it is not being used correctly. In your question, they are akin to a scheduled treatment for your tension or the curve issue in the neck. This is inconsistent with proper non-therapeutic straight chiropractic practices. From the non-therapeutic standpoint, an adjustment is not a process that requires a series of visits; it is a procedure that is accomplished immediately. Repeat adjustments are made if and when a subluxation is detected ?and only then. You ask how someone could know how many adjustments you will need. The truth is, nobody can! It would require prophetic powers to know with any certainty when and where someone would be subluxated in the future, even though the causes are very common and, therefore, being subluxated is certainly a likely event. In fact, when a vertebral subluxation has existed for a period of time, certain changes occur in the body, perhaps both structurally and physiologically, that make it even more likely. Understandably, then, it is not uncommon for a chiropractor to help in planning with you a schedule of visits so that you will be checked for vertebral subluxation often enough for them to be corrected when they occur without letting them exist for long periods again. This is why at first the visits may be typically closer together than they are later on. Ultimately, the goal is to 損romote?you to the point where you are being checked regularly, but perhaps only once per week - the typical seven-day cycle of stress-events that are opportunities for vertebral subluxation! Naturally, it would certainly be wise to have your spine checked for subluxations by a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor on an ongoing basis if it is your desire to have an opportunity to realize your full potential. In a sense, it is impossible to over-utilize non-therapeutic straight chiropractic when done properly because when no vertebral subluxations are detected no adjustment procedures are done! It抯 as simple as that! However, if bones were moved regardless of the presence of vertebral subluxations, then that is not an adjustment. In such a case, the service was not proper non-therapeutic straight chiropractic. In a non-therapeutic straight chiropractic office, it would make perfect sense that the chiropractor would recommend that you be checked regularly. It would only make sense, though, that you be adjusted when a vertebral subluxation was found. You may not need to receive an adjustment on each occasion of being checked. Celebrate those visits, because it means you are functioning with all the nerve channels open!
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. Certainly, as I said earlier, it would be wise to have your spine checked for vertebral subluxations by a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor, even if you still elect to have therapeutic attention for neck and shoulder tension. The two objectives are not the same.
This is not a comment on the cost at the office you visited, for there are possibly as many ways of exchange for services as there are different offices. Most non-therapeutic straight chiropractors, though, typically have fee systems that make regular lifetime visits ?not a scheduled regimen - possible for all people of many different financial circumstances. If such is not the case, then one might question the chiropractor抯 commitment to and belief in the value of all individuals living free of subluxation! In a therapeutic mixed chiropractic office, though, affordability is not critical since the person would be foolish to consider a treatment for a symptom that took a lifetime to work!
I cannot tell you whether this chiropractor is right for you, but hopefully you now have enough information at hand to make that decision with greater confidence.
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]. You may also visit www.gschiro.com, a site that represents non-therapeutic straight chiropractic organizations on a state level.
Cindy, I wish you the best in understanding and using chiropractic to your greatest benefit. It has been my pleasure to provide you with some information.
Sincerely,
James W. Healey, D.C.
