Question
I suffered a car accident in late 1998, since that time i have had problems with pain down my left arm, discomfort when i beathe deeply and general discomfort on the upper left side of my back, as well as stiffness and limited movment in my neck and a very painful lower back. I went to see a chiropractor who said they can fix all this for me, they took xrays and told me i had an unpronounced curve in my lower back and slight crvatutr from right to left, also that i had a dislodged rib, and it would take a course of at least 14 intensive treatments. since starting the treatment i hav ebeen in a lot of muscular discomfort although my range of movement has impronved i am now almost at the end of this treatment but my back just seems to be gatting worse ater initially seeming to get better, waht is the matter and what should i do.

Answer
Dear Jatinder Singh,

Thank you for your question.  Yours 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'll first need to give you some background on anatomy and physiology and how they relate to the chiropractic profession.  I'll then offer my thoughts on how this may relate to the situation you describe.  

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 specifically and solely 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, pillow 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, including whether there will be such symptoms as pain only on one side or the other, as you have noted.  For this reason alone, it is impossible for anyone to give you reliable answers as to a connection between vertebral subluxation and the various aches, pains and symptoms you describe in your question.  It is a guess at best.  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.  As you can imagine, the question is enormously complex 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 order to know if someone has a vertebral subluxation, it is necessary to have that person's 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 non-therpaeutic 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 many problems you list or whether any of them relate to the spine.  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.  A key question to ask for your purposes, then, would be, Is someone with your sensations 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 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 likely, from your description, that the chiropractor you visited is of the mixed viewpoint.  I say this because, most significantly, there was a full focus on and promise of 揻ixing?your problems, fully within the therapeutic model of addressing 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 at all ?whether in 14 搕reatments?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.  

That said, 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 other concerns.  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 or if you have any other questions, 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.

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

Sincerely,
James W. Healey, D.C.