WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE A SUBLUXATION?

These subluxations have 5 components which can adversely affect your health:

1. Kinesiopathology – abnormal motion or position of spinal bones. Like the tires on your car, your spine can experience uneven wear and tear without proper alignment.
2. Neuropathosphysiology – abnormal nervous system function. Nerves can be choked or compressed like traffic congestion at the site of an accident.
3. Myopathology – abnormal muscle function. Like the stronger team in tug-of-war, muscle imbalance can cause the spine to twist & lose proper function.
4. Histopathology – abnormal soft tissue function. Inflammation and rise in temperature from soft tissue damage is a lot like a bad sunburn.
5. Pathophysiology – abnormal function of the spine and body. Like mineral deposits in a cave, lack of spinal motion can eventually lead to spinal fusion.

You may not even know you have a subluxation(s) as they are often asymptomatic. Most people seek out chiropractic or medical care when symptoms surface, but most of the time, the problem has gone undetected for months or even years. The pie chart shows just how this is possible. The sensory part of your nervous system accounts for just 10%, so if you wait for symptoms to occur, you are missing 90% of your nervous system. Plus your body is constantly adapting to its environment so symptoms can come and go. The only way to know is to have your spine checked by a chiropractor.

In order to remove these subluxations, we must consider more than just adjusting them. We need to know what causes them. In chiropractic, we call these causers the 3 T’s. They stand for Thoughts, Traumas, and Toxins. Thoughts are the negative emotions we carry that tighten our muscles like stress, depression, anger, and sadness. Traumas are more than just those “injuries” we are involved in on occasion, they also include those repetitive stressors to our bodies like our jobs, sleep and our hobbies. Toxins can get into our muscles and form “trigger points”. When you think of toxins you may be thinking of chemicals, but what about tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and refined foods and preservatives?

If you have x-rays taken, you may be able to see these subluxations and their effects firsthand. On x-ray you can see how the vertebrae are out of alignment in relation to the segments above and below. You may see vertebral rotation and wedging or more seriously, changes to your spinal curvatures and most seriously degenerative changes, called osteoarthritis.