The Vertebral Subluxation Complex Part 5: Pathophysiology
The final chapter of the Vertebral Subluxation Complex!
The final element of the Vertebral Subluxation Complex is called pathophysiology. Remember that our previous elements included kinesiopathology, neuropathophysiology, myopathophysiology, and histopathology. By now, you should recognize the word here that just says pathophysiology but doesn't have any other descriptors. Remember from our previous discussions that patho- represents disease or dysfunction in Greek and -physiology is the study of normal functioning of the body. That means that pathophysiology is the study of a malfunctioning body due to injury or disease.
So what does that really mean?
This is the largest concept in chiropractic, and unfortunately it is one of the hardest to prove. I can show you what happens with misaligned bones, and I can show you how they degenerate. This is a direct result of the loss of motion in the joint, a loss of nutrition to the disc, and general loss of function of that segment. We call it arthritis when it starts and degenerative disc disease when it starts to get bad. But the modern, Western medical community doesn't recognize that it starts with something as simple and yet devastating as a subluxation.
Here is a model made from molds of real bones. It goes from normal on the left to completely degenerated with bone fusion on the right.
This is an x-ray of the neck (top) and the low back (bottom) showing the same thing as the models.
This part is pretty easy to understand. If the bones stop moving, arthritis (joint inflammation) will set in. When this happens, the disc will become damaged. After a long time, you wind up with a deteriorated or destroyed disc and ultimately bone fusion. The part that is harder to understand and harder to grasp are the secondary consequences of this deterioration. When a bone is subluxated and the transmission of information from the brain to the the rest of the body is compromised, chiropractors believe that allows secondary organs to then become affected by subluxation. We believe that this can cause and be responsible for some diseases in the body.
You don't have to feel bad to have problems in your body.
How do we move forward from here?
I am going to take you back to one of the original images that I used to describe and explain subluxation. When your brain isn't able to easily communicate with the rest of your body, you get dis-ease. It doesn't really get simpler than this. If you want more information and want to see more research, and I can show you some really quality studies that will blow your mind. If it's sufficient to know that you feel so much better after a chiropractic adjustment that you accept what I'm telling you here, wonderful. If you feel that you are still not convinced in the Vertebral Subluxation Complex, but you have read and understand that chiropractic is effective at treating headaches, backaches and neck pain, then that's wonderful too. My ultimate goal for this blog and for my care is to make sure that people are living their best lives. I want your best life to be one where your health is at its optimum potential. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.
Yours in health,
Dr. William