Question
I have a headache and lower back pain only when awakening in the morning.  Both pains go away in about 20-30 minutes and do not happen again until awakening the next morning.  What is the best way of correcting a subluxation?   Is the best adjustment done by hands or instrumentation?

Answer
Dear Ed Bovard,

Thank you for your question.  Yours is similar to those I have heard from others who are investigating chiropractic.  In order to answer you 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 is not specifically the same as the findings referenced in your question, but they may exist together.  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 vital 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.  In addition, and quite relevant to whether any symptomatology ?including headaches or back pain, as you have reported - is related to vertebral subluxation, 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 what may cause the headaches you mention in your question or if they may be related to a vertebral subluxation.  At best, such a conclusion would be no more than a guess.  This means the report that you make of a headache is a very poor indicator of whether a vertebral subluxation is involved or even present.  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.  The term for this, and apparently you have heard it before, 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.

A key question to ask for your purposes, then, would be, Is someone with morning headache and back 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.

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.  Please understand very clearly, though, that the practice objectives of therapeutic mixed chiropractic and non-therapeutic straight chiropractic are quite different, as described above, and are not determined by the methods used.  What I can tell you must not be interpreted from the mixed viewpoint.  

I will not comment, then, on the therapeutic goal of relieving your headaches or back pain or even whether it will be possible to do so.  

There are many different technical adjusting styles.  Adjustment is a term used to describe a method for the correction of vertebral subluxations.  Rather than tell you what I think of a technique, consider this: it is more important what you think about it.  If you wish to receive non-therapeutic straight chiropractic services and believe that a particular technique package is best suited to helping your body be free of vertebral subluxations, then so be it!  The actual technical considerations inherent in its use are of less importance than whether it is being used in the correction of vertebral subluxations.  Methods will vary in whether they will require the use of hands or instruments, more or less force, or whatever other variable you wish to name.  I would ask a chiropractor, then, more questions about why he/she uses a particular style rather than questions about how it is done, unless for some reason that is a major concern for you as well.  If the service you seek is to be checked for vertebral subluxations and have them corrected, ultimately, you will have to weigh your confidence in the chiropractor's ability to effectively and safely effect the correction of those vertebral subluxations that are identified.  I do not know enough about you to tell you that a particular technique is suitable to you and your particular vertebral subluxation on any given day.

From the non-therapeutic standpoint, then, an adjustment is effected by any of a number of techniques, but is solely and uniquely for the correction of vertebral subluxations because they, in and of themselves, are detrimental to the expression of life.  The exact technique used is not the determining factor in whether someone is providing straight or mixed chiropractic services.  In fact, because no two people are the same, many who are practicing non-therapeutic straight chiropractic and focusing solely on the correction of vertebral subluxations will rely on a variety of adjusting techniques.  They will employ the one best suited to the particular individual in the office at that particular moment.  

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 headache and back pain complaints.  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, please contact me at this site again or at [email protected].  

Ed, 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.