What is a Vertebral Subluxation? …And Why You Should Care

Are you new to Corrective Chiropractic Care?

Then you may have heard about the term SUBLUXATION and desperately wanted to ask a chiropractic patient what they were talking about, but couldn’t bring yourself to raise your hand.

I get it. In the healthcare world, we all want to understand the basis of treatments so we can make a decision based on what makes sense.

Today, you’re in luck because I’m going to show you everything you need to know about the key imbalance that Corrective Care Chiropractors address but were afraid to ask, including how to differentiate it from other commonly used terms like fixations.

You’ll be ready for your search for the best chiropractor to help you overcome your chronic pain and perform your best. 

What is a Subluxation?

I’m not here to confuse; in simple terms, a Subluxation means a spinal bone or vertebra is stuck out of proper position, is not moving freely, and most importantly causing stress and irritation to the nervous system. And this describes an imbalance that is present 100% of the time in people struggling with chronic pain conditions like headaches, neck pain, arm pain and numbness, back pain, shoulder pain, sciatica and much more.

Corrective Chiropractic aims to correct Subluxations, relieve nerve pressure and pain, and return the body to a place of greater balance.

It also serves as the foundation of adding other powerful strategies to greatly improve and strengthen structural balance..

Want to know how to use Corrective Chiropractic to your best advantage? Go here and schedule a complimentary consultation or schedule your initial History and Exam:  Schedule Here

Why is a Vertebral Subluxation Important?

You may come across people in conventional medical care who believe that spinal vertebra cannot get stuck out of place, or subluxated.

However, there are many scientific papers that document with x-rays and other tools that have proven that subluxations exist and proof of their correction. This means that researchers have documented how correcting subluxations has helped resolve a range of problems from headaches to asthma to back pain and sciatica and the sooner you get back in balance the less permanent arthritic damage.

When you get your subluxations corrected, you’ll be able to live with less pain and return to the activities you miss out on.

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On top of that, it’s amazing how much stress and tension leaves your body when balance is restored.

For example:

Just the other day an existing patient came in. She was in obvious pain and had difficulty walking the short distance from reception to the adjusting room. I asked her what happened. She was away for the weekend and got a massage. While lying face down the massage therapist lifted a leg rather high and she felt an immediate “crack” and experienced pain shortly after. 

I examined her and found a subluxation at L4 in her lower back. As soon as I adjusted that imbalance she let out a sigh and on standing up remarked how much better she felt immediately. 

Background of Subluxation

Don’t worry,  this is no technical science or anatomy class.

One of the best ways to understand a new concept is to travel back in time and understand where it comes from and the processes that led to its inception.

For Subluxation, we have to look at Iowa in 1895.  The founder of chiropractic had been studying the spine and nervous system. The janitor in his building was deaf and related that he lost his hearing when a box fell on his upper back. Dr. Palmer examined the gentleman and found what he felt was a vertebra out of place. He had the janitor lie on a bench and push the vertebra back into place. Shortly afterward his hearing returned the the chiropractic profession was born. 

Believe it or not, the invention of chiropractic allowed for people who were not getting well with medicine to heal, which in turn led to the grassroots growth of chiropractic despite strong opposition from medicine.

How Corrective Chiropractic Works

So far, we’ve stayed pretty theoretical in our exploration of a Vertebral Subluxation, and if you’re still a little fuzzy on how this relates to you, I don’t blame you.

In fact, when I first started studying corrective chiropractic and the subluxation, I felt frustrated as it completely reshaped my understanding of health and function. 

Luckily, Vertebral Subluxation is more complex in theory than in practice.

I’ve put together a few examples of patients’ experiences and balancing strategies below to help you better understand and decide for yourself

Example #1: Near Daily Headaches for Months

My client Molly first came to my office with a primary problem of headaches that were ruining her life..

She says,  “He is not only a chiropractor, but has helped me to understand how my nervous system works, and how to support and tone it through breath work and movement exercises”.

After her first gentle adjustment to her upper neck her headaches largely disappeared.

This means that she was able to be more present with her family and move through her day without the constant drain of a headache.

Want access to a comprehensive 4 strategy program to rebalance your system and transform your pain? You’re in luck because Life Chiropractic in Grass Valley has recently combined the most predictable, repeatable and measurable strategies to change the course of your pain.

Example #2: Balance the Autonomic Nervous System…especially the Vagus

This is the most high touch cutting edge strategy out there.

Medical Research confirms that over 90% of all illness and disease is stress related. The impact of stress is an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system with overactivity of the Sympathetic survival system and suppression of the Vagus Nerve responsible for well being.

An example of this is the use of conscious breathwork and correcting dysfunctional breathing patterns to raise what is called Heart Rate Variability and improve the function of the Vagus Nerve.

The best ways to implement this in your own personal life is:

  • Step 1: Close your mouth and breathe through your nose whenever you are not eating, drinking, or talking.
  • Step 2: Activate your Diaphragm. An easy way to start is lying on your back put your hands between your navel and your ribs. As you breathe in and out through your nose feel your hands rising and falling.
  • Step 3: Slow your breathing down. Spend 5 minutes breathing slowly and lightly in and out through your nose.

Here’s how you can apply it:

  • Put a post-it on your computer screen as a reminder on your phone.
  • Spend 5 minutes in the beginning and end of  your day with slow nasal breathing.
  • Any time you are experiencing stress or increased pain try this for 5 minutes.

Changing your breathing is a process. Most of us have been breathing in a dysfunctional way for years. While it will take a while most of the people I teach this and other techniques to quickly experience some of these benefits:

  • Better Sleep
  • Less Anxiety
  • Less Pain

Still not sure you get Vertebral Subluxation well enough to know what its impact is on you? The good news is you don’t have to. Does it make sense that anything that decreases how well your nervous system works might diminish how well you work and feel?

 

I first launched Life Chiropractic in Grass Valley because I wanted to help people understand and experience the power of their body to heal and stay healthy.

Do you still have questions? No shame in that! You can contact me here mailto:lifechiropracticgv@gmail.com or find me on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, where I’m always happy to answer any questions.

One thing you can do to get started with getting your subluxations corrected and returning to greater balance is to schedule your initial History and Exam. 

Click to Schedule Here