What is a “subluxation”?
A Chiropractic Subluxation is different than a medical described subluxation. A medical described subluxation is an incomplete or partial dislocation of a joint.
A Chiropractic Subluxation is a loss of juxtaposition, of a vertebra with the one above, the one below, or both, resulting in pressure on a spinal nerve root or the spinal cord itself causing alteration or interference to the transmission of nerve impulses from the brain to the rest of the body result in Dis-ease.”
A Subluxation can be silent and asymptomatic, which means you cannot feel it and see it. It can also be symptomatic, it can be present to you as little as an ache in your spine, feels stiff and tight in the neck and back, fatigue, mood changes, brain fog, difficult to concentrate on things, to as severe as dizziness, vertigo, headaches, sciatica, or even symptoms such as acid reflux, heart burn, gassy, bloating, constipation, chest pain, diarrhea ….etc.
The longer the subluxation stays in our body, the longer we suffer. Our quality of life starts to decrease, we are finding difficulties to do things we used to like to. Besides, that can lead to faster wear and tear in the body.
Our job as a chiropractor is not to treat or diagnose diseases, instead we specialize in located and correct subluxations to release the pressure from the spinal nerves, the nervous system and wherever the nerves connect to. Because we know our innate healing ability and function the best when we are not subluxated.
How do we know whether we have Chiropractic subluxations?
A Chiropractor is who you need to see so they can assess your spine to identify if there are any subluxations.
How can you correct subluxations?
A Chiropractor is trained to correct subluxations through specific chiropractic “adjustments” with either their hands or instruments.
Are all Chiropractors the same? Is the assessment/treatment the same between chiropractors?
Majority of the chiropractors focus on locate and correct subluxations. However, there is a small group of chiropractors do not agree with the model of chiropractic subluxations and decide to practice similar to a physiotherapist. The best way to identify is to ask the chiropractor whether you locate and correct subluxations, if they say no, then you may have to decide whether to continue with this chiropractor or find someone else.
More in depth about Chiropractic Subluxations with Dr. Jerry Lam
In order to have a better understanding of your spine and nervous system, I am a certified Chiropractic Biophysics practitioner. This technique is the most evidence-based chiropractic technique with more researches far beyond than any other chiropractic techniques.
We are trained to identify 6 Subluxation Types:
Coupled spinal motions: Posture imbalance from a neutral standing position.
Snap-through buckling: Sudden change of a spinal curvature within a region of the spine. Examples are: A cervical spine with a curvature bending backwards in the lower neck but suddenly bending forwards in the upper back of the neck, this can also occur in lower back as well. (Junctional Kyphosis)
Euler buckling: A sudden load shift (such as Disc herniation)
Slow-loading buckling: Scoliosis, Degenerative Scoliosis, Adult Spinal deformity, Adult idiopathic Scoliosis, Long term congenital leg length inequality or sacral obliquity (tilting of the sacrum) that is not addressed, which are not a result of an impact, injury or accident
Segmental instability: When we are performing dynamic movements such as looking up and down, there is an excessive movement beyond it’s joint integrity. It’s commonly seen in either Motor Vehicle Accident, Head Trauma and chronic segmental subluxation.
Segmental subluxation: Which is most chiropractors trained to locate and address. This can be located through hands on palpation, assessment or sometimes utilizing specific tests and instruments.
Message from Dr. Lam
“A subluxation needs to be corrected regardless whether it is symptomatic or not. Because you will not rather have a sub-optimal functioned nervous system than a optimal functioned one. The utilization rate of chiropractic in the world is around 8%, which means 9 out of 10 of people around you such as friends, co-workers, family members live with subluxations. If you have found the success with chiropractic, you should recommend people you love and care to get assessed by a Chiropractor who locate and correct subluxations. “
