QuestionOkay, about three years ago, I was in a automobile accident and I began to have severe back pain. My doctor told me for about three and a half years that there was nothing wrong with me, I just needed to stretch. Now I'm only 18 and my pain started when I was 16. So I did what he said and just took 500mg Naproxen. To make a very long, painful story short, about seven months ago I finally went to a chiropractor and found out that I had subluxation. I decided to go because my back got to the point where I could barely even walk anymore. I couldn't run, jump, cough, sneeze, or even bend without pain. Anyways, I found out that two of my vertebrae twist to the right and one twist to the left. Although I feel a lot better now, I still can't run, jump, cough, or sneeze without pain. I still have to a have a adjustment about once a week. I just want to know if I'll ever heal and not have to go to the chiropractor so often, because it's getting very expensive. Please respond to me, I feel like my problem has been ignored and disregarded one to many times. I just want to be a normal 18 year old. Thank you for your time.
AnswerDear Kathy,
First, please accept my apology for not responding sooner. I experienced a cooling fan failure in my computer which put it out of commission over the holiday weekend until I could get a replacement this morning.
Thank you for your question. Yours is a question similar to those I have heard from others who are investigating chiropractic and scheduling and fees are often critical in whether someone will choose to accept a recommendation. Unfortunately, though, your question is based on some misconceptions. In order to answer it properly, I'll 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 may or may not be the same as the findings mentioned in your question. Even though you use the word in your description of what you were told, it is not clear that it is defined in the same way. I'll explain more fully. 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's 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. In addition, and quite relevant to whether any complaints are related to vertebral subluxation ?including 搕wists?or pain, 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 the findings you mention may be related to a vertebral subluxation. At best, such a conclusion would be no more than a guess. In a very real sense, the 搕wists?you reported are not valid or reliable indicators of the presence of vertebral subluxation or whether a vertebral subluxation is involved. 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's (or creator's, for the agnostic) knowledge, or at least far more than our educated knowledge of the complexities of life.
In discussing vertebral subluxation earlier in this message, I used the word misalignment. I am not talking here about a 搕wist,?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'm 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 straightening 搕wists.? 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. Unfortunately, when it comes to determining if there is a vertebral subluxation present, a finding of a 搕wist?is not a valid or reliable measuring stick. The only way to know if someone has a vertebral subluxation is to have that person's 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,?and 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 this is not an explanation of why you have the problems you list or whether any of them relate to vertebral subluxation. Are there reasons for what you're experiencing? Even though they may be beyond our ability to identify, yes, there are; but it is not relevant to the matter of whether you will benefit from being free of vertebral subluxations. Vertebral subluxation is, in and of itself, detrimental to your life. It is not valid or reliable to try to connect it to any organ or tissue conditions, such as pain. A key question to ask for your purposes, then, would be, Is someone 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's not that you should see a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor FOR your back pain ?you should visit one in an effort to be free of vertebral subluxations, even WITH that complaint. 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 clear whether the chiropractor you visited was offering therapeutic mixed chiropractic. There is not enough information for me to determine if the focus was on treating your pain. 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.
Non-therapeutic straight chiropractic is not about the treatment of pain or geometric 搕wists?at all ?whether in multiple 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.
In your question, it sounds as if visits to your current chiropractor are akin to a scheduled treatment. 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. 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. It's really not a matter of when you will 揾eal,?in that the causes of new subluxations are possible for as long as you're still alive!
It is impossible for me to answer the question of exactly what your schedule should be. We've never even met! It is the responsibility of the non-therapeutic straight chiropractor to make such a determination based on your individual needs. 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's as simple as that! However, if bones were moved regardless of the presence of vertebral subluxations or for the therapeutic goal of treatment of pain, 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!
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 your other concerns or wish to consult with a therapeutic mixing chiropractor to do so. Remember, 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 possible for all people of many different financial circumstances. If such is not the case, then one might question the chiropractor's commitment to and belief in the value of all individuals living free of subluxation! I can not 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.
Kathy, 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.
