Chiropractic stems from the theory that the nervous system (comprised of the brain, spinal cord, cranial and spinal nerves, autonomic nervous system, eyes, and ears) controls all of the body’s other organs and structures; the nervous system relates the body to its external environment to help maintain balance.
The main focus of most chiropractic practices is the relationship between the function of joints, muscles and the nervous system (neuromusculoskeletal disorders) and the effects of these disorders on health.
Doctors of chiropractic have the primary goal of working with patients to optimize their health by restoring the highest level of function that can be attained. Chiropractors focus on the restoration of health, rather than the curing of disease – and concentrate on “how well you are” rather than “how sick you are.”
When there are impairments to the body’s framework, disturbances can occur in the nervous system that affect nerve energy; this disturbance is referred to as the subluxation complex. Subluxation is a disturbance in one or more of the joints of the body; in particular, a disturbance in the spine can interfere with the function of the nervous system.
The Subluxation
Subluxation may occur as the result of injury, compensation for injury, or as an effect of normal adaptation to physical and non-physical stressors and influences. Clinical indications for the diagnosis of subluxation may include:
- Pain
- Asymptomatic functional distortion
- Postural abnormalities
- Clinical conditions or end-organ manifestations of abnormal nerve function that are either mediated or affected by spinal segmental nerves
- Clinical conditions that are created by normal compensatory mechanisms in response to injury, trauma, or abnormal stresses
The Chiropractic Adjustment
Chiropractors are skilled in detecting and reducing the subluxation complex by careful, specifically directed corrective procedures known as chiropractic adjustments. Before performing the adjustment, the chiropractor completes a wide range of evaluation and diagnostic procedures, including: a thorough medical history, physical examination, postural and biomedical assessment, muscle testing, x-rays, chemical laboratory analysis, and other necessary specialized evaluations. Emphasis is also placed on exercise, lifestyle, nutrition, stress management, physical fitness, stretching, and occupational and sports-related concerns. In fact, chiropractors are becoming increasingly involved in workplace wellness programs and whole-person preventive care.
Chiropractic adjustments attempt to provide at least two things. First, they seek to restore or improve movement where normal joint mechanics do not exist. Second, they seek to provide or facilitate an improvement in the nerve supply to surrounding tissues and to the organs the nerves supply after they leave the spinal column. This goal can be thought of as seeking to improve the communication between the nervous system and the cells, tissues, and organs it supplies. This improvement can be direct, such as when a spinal or extremity joint movement is abnormal and causes painful irritation, friction disturbances, or direct pressure on a nerve; or indirect, such as when this improvement results in changes in surrounding tissues (decrease in muscle spasm, for example) or in organs inside the body (improvements in bowel function, for example, or for decreasing colic in children).
Sources: Joseph, J. Sweere, D.C., Golden Rules for Vibrant Health in Body, Mind and Spirit (2004), Basic Health Publications, Inc.; American Chiropractic Association, Council on Chiropractic Education