Question
should a chiropractor xrayed my neck first because all the proding and pushing he done has left me with the worst pins and needles. my right arm every 5 minutes  feels like its blowing up and ready to explode  all the way down arm right into all fingers  leavind a dead feeling when it happens at the moment im very depressed with such pain i totally blame him for this

Answer
Dear Carolyn White,

I'm sorry to hear of your unsatisfactory experience.  

Thank you for your question.  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.  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.  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.  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 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.

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.

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 because there is a difference in the degree of risk involved in the procedures of each.  

It is not possible for me to know what type of chiropractor you visited from the information you provided.  From the non-therapeutic chiropractic standpoint, an analysis and an adjustment are both very safe procedures.  In fact, non-therapeutic straight chiropractors pay one of the lowest malpractice premiums of any group, including osteopaths.  Of course, any procedure if done shabbily or without proper expertise and diligence becomes less safe.  That would be true for any profession.  

As to your specific question regarding the advisability of x-ray procedures, again, with the limited information at hand, it is not possible to determine if it should have been done.  It is not a prerequisite to providing proper non-therapeutic straight chiropractic services ?radiation, particularly if unnecessary, should certainly be avoided - though you should keep in mind that we do not know what type of chiropractor you visited.

With that said, 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.  The non-therapeutic straight chiropractor will determine from the specifics of your situation whether x-rays are important or necessary to provide you the best service possible.  

If you have any further questions about this, please contact me at this site again or directly at [email protected].  

Carolyn, I wish you the best in sorting out the sometimes confusing world of chiropractic.  It has been my pleasure to provide you with some information.

Sincerely,
James W. Healey, D.C.