What Am I Doing to You?

According to “Chiropractic First” by Terry Rondberg, D.C., chiropractic has come a long way since its founding in 1895 when D.D. Palmer performed his first adjustment, on a janitor whose hearing ended up being restored after 17 years of deafness.

What exactly is a chiropractic adjustment? “Specifically, the chiropractor determines the presence of nerve interference and helps the body correct itself by introducing a force in a prescribed manner: Contrary to popular misinformation, the Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) doesn’t force the misaligned vertebrae back into place but he or she facilitates the body’s correction of nerve interference,” Rondberg writes.

“During the adjustment, the subluxated vertebrae are unlocked and released from their misaligned positions. The body’s inborn intelligence is called upon to shape the spine. When this happens, the vertebrae return to their proper alignment and the normal nerve supply is restored. This allows one to achieve maximum healing potential with a complete nerve supply.”

In an adjustment, a patient will often hear a noise and that is due to the release of gasses that have built up within the joint capsule itself. The reason this happens is because there is no blood supply to the joints; therefore we need proper motion in order to get good nutrients in and waste materials out. When a joint becomes fixated and stops moving in its normal pattern, waste material has nowhere to go, so it builds up within the joint capsule. When this happens, there is a physiologic change that occurs within that joint complex, which can lead to dysfunction and that ultimately creates interference within that system.

The change that occurs in the body’s physiology in the joint is with the way nerve flow goes from the body to the brain. The reason this happens is because the mechano receptors around the joints are responsible for gathering the information from the body and relaying it on to the brain. Mechano receptors require motion in order to be active. When motion stops and mechano receptors shut down, pain receptors begin firing and information from the body to the brain will cease from that segment.

Thus we can see where the interference begins in the pathways from the body to the brain and back to the body. It is important to restore motion to allow the body to be able to perform at its optimum. When the body is able to perform at its optimum, we move toward health and away from dis-ease.

This is a good reason why regular chiropractic adjustments should be part of everyone’s lifestyle -- an important piece to staying healthy and functioning at your highest possible level. Chiropractic has something to offer for everyone.