Question
Dear Dr. Healy,
Why would i want to have non-therapeutic treatment?  If there is no therapeutic value, then it seems like a complete waste of money.  Maybe this is why my medical doctor told me not to seek a straight chiropractor.  So i gather you are a straight chiro, do you know how to rehab injuries?  Can you explain  what a biophysic chiropractor would do to help me?

Thanks, Jeff
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
I have been told to see a chiropractor by my family doctor for neck pain issues, and he recommended a biophysics or rehab specilist, are straight chiros capable of rehabing the neck?
-----Answer-----
Dear Jeff C.,

Thank you for your question regarding your reported neck pain.  Yours question is 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 anatomy and physiology and how they relate to 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, whatever that may be.  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 routines, posture, sleeping position 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, perhaps even food additives, etc.), which are, unfortunately, typically uncontrollable and 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.  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.  For this reason alone, it is impossible for anyone to give you reliable answers as to a connection between the spine and specific symptoms of any kind, including the neck pain you mention.  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.

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 an explanation of why you may have neck pain or whether it may be related to vertebral subluxation.  Are there reasons for what you抮e experiencing?  Even though they may be beyond our ability to identify, yes, there are; but pinning them down is not relevant to the matter of whether you will benefit from being free of vertebral subluxations.  It is not valid or reliable to try to connect it to pain or any other organ or tissue conditions.  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.?br>
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 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 with neck pain 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 your neck pain ?you should visit one in an effort to be free of vertebral subluxations, even WITH such a complaint.  Non-therapeutic straight chiropractic is not about diagnosing and/or treating neck pain or any therapeutic-model or medical condition.  It is entirely separate in its goal.  Neck pain is not the reason for attending to the vertebral subluxations.  In fact, those who understand the effects of vertebral subluxations choose to have their spines checked regularly and on an ongoing basis independent of symptoms.  This is the best recommendation that anyone can give you regarding vertebral subluxations.  I have no reason to tell you otherwise.  

It is quite natural that this may all be new to you, particularly in that your source of information has been your family medical doctor.  Medicine is based on a therapeutic model, just as therapeutic mixed chiropractic.  Your family doctor has no connection to or knowledge of non-therapeutic straight chiropractic.  Consequently, he might presume that rehab is common to all chiropractors and not be aware that only the therapeutic mixed chiropractors practice within the limited therapeutic model.  

That said, it would, indeed, be wise to have your spine checked by a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor - even if you still elect to have therapeutic attention or advice for your reported symptoms.  Visiting a non-therapeutic straight chiropractic office is for a different, larger purpose.  It is the only way to know if vertebral subluxations are present and interfering with your potential.  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 I can tell you must not be interpreted from the mixed viewpoint.  

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.

Jeff, 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.  

Answer
Dear Jeff,

Thank you for your follow-up question.  

Though it seems your follow-up comments and questions specifically about non-therapeutic straight chiropractic were rhetorical, in case they were not, I抣l ask you to review my original message to you in response your question several days ago, giving particular attention to the distinction between therapeutic practitioners and non-therapeutic straight chiropractic and particularly about vertebral subluxation.  

I don抰 know why a medical doctor would tell you not to visit a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor.  I imagine it is possible for some to manage their lives from a strictly therapeutic viewpoint, completely focused on discomfort independent of its significance, measuring their physical existence solely by pain with no concept of getting the best out of their bodies, just as there are some who only give attention to their car when a dashboard light goes on and never change the oil or rotate the tires otherwise.  Using that reasoning, then, it may not make sense for someone to be a non-therapeutic straight chiropractic consumer, just as they would not exercise or try to eat quality foods, seeing all such things as a waste of money.  Naturally, there is no value in non-therapeutic pursuits for someone who does not place intrinsic value on their life.  I find that there is a minority of people who think this way.  I suspect, instead, that it is far more likely that advice against such practices reflects a lack of knowledge or understanding.  This seems to be a larger group of people.  I mentioned in my original reply that the therapeutic medical model is completely different from a non-therapeutic model and that someone in the therapeutic field would not have expertise in non-therapeutic matters.  Everyone is free to choose how he/she will use information, including the freedom to accept it, ignore it or misuse it.  

Frankly, a better question than a puerile challenge as to whether I know how to rehab a neck or if I can explain the benefits of the services of a 揵iophysic chiropractor?is why I choose not to offer such a service and do something else.  Obviously, I had the opportunity to choose therapeutic mixing chiropractic as a career and didn抰.  Your follow-up question is still asking of me a therapeutic conclusion and really has no relevance to my field, though I would still advise you to seek out and visit a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor ?again, not for your symptoms, but, instead, WITH them.  Remember, that抯 not to say that your symptoms are being treated with the methods used in my field nor that you don抰 need attention elsewhere for the symptoms.  Perhaps a 揵iophysic chiropractor?would be suitable for you.  What a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor抯 objective is and what he/she does are completely different from anything in your question.  

Jeff, good luck with your research and I hope you will seriously consider being checked for vertebral subluxations.  The importance of living free of vertebral subluxations cannot be overstated.  

Sincerely,
James W. Healey, D.C.