What is a subluxation?

Subluxation is one of those elusive words that not many people quite understand. And it's not surprising when we are given so many complicated and confusing definitions (see bottom of post for some examples).

So what exactly is going on when your body has a subluxation? Well, to put it simply, the nerves in your body are experiencing interference. That interference can affect how your body functions and your overall health. Because your Nervous System is connected to every aspect of your mind and body, when it is not working properly (due to interference), your body cannot function at its highest level.

Subluxations can be caused by physical, emotional, and chemical stressors, among other things. And the interference they create cannot always be physically felt. That is why pain is not a good gauge of a subluxation - our sensory nerves (those that relay pain) make up only a smaller part (roughly 10%) of the overall Nervous System. That's why it is so important to get regularly adjusted, even if you feel fine.

Chiropractic adjustments help the body adapt to correct subluxations. In our office, we use a series of scans to get a deeper look at nerve interference within the body, and use this information to help remove those interferences through chiropractic adjustments.

We want to keep you healthy for life, not just treat the symptoms that may have driven you to seek chiropractic care. So if you haven't already been scanned in our office, call us today to schedule an appointment!   704-899-5000

Some of the definitions out there:
"A lesion or dysfunction in a joint or motion segment in which alignment, movement integrity and/or physiological function are altered, although contact between joint surfaces remains intact. It is essentially a functional entity, which may influence biomechanical and neural integrity."
(World Health Organization) 

"A subluxation is a complex of functional and/or structural and/or pathological articular changes that compromise neural integrity and may influence organ system function and general health." 
(American Chiropractic Association)

Word of the Month - HOMEOSTASIS

Many of our patients hear the staff in the office always talking about the importance of homeostasis. But what is it?

"The tendency of a system, especially the physiological system of higher animals, to maintain internal stability, owing to the coordinated response of its parts to any situation or stimulus that would tend to disturb its normal condition or function."

(dictionary.com)

It is a "state of balance and harmony or a state of healthy cell function. If all of your cells are in a state of health they are not under any form of chronic stress and they are free to express their potential for health and vitality."

(Dr. James Chestnut, The Wellness and Prevention Paradigm)

"A stressor, most accurately defined, is a stimulus that elicits a state of adaptation, that elicits a move away from homeostasis and toward a state of adaptive physiology."

(Dr. James Chestnut, The Wellness and Prevention Paradigm)

Our bodies are naturally very intelligent. They are designed to thrive and survive, always trying to reestablish homeostasis from within. However, our bodies deal with an onslaught of various stressors. They can include poor nutrition, lack of exercise, environmental pollution, emotional stress, negative thoughts, and damaging habits (such as smoking). Every stressor pulls our bodies away from health and homeostasis, to a state of sickness or a lack of homeostasis. Sickness is a lack of optimum health. More specifically, sickness is when your body is adapting to the effects of a stressor (or many). Although you may not feel 'sick', your body is trying to restore itself to health and homeostasis through a series of complex and intelligent responses.

Unbeknownst to us, our bodies are constantly adapting to all of the external stressors we encounter or introduce. We may 'feel fine', but imagine what your body has dealt with since you were born. Do you think it has dealt with any kind of stress? What kind of stressors is it dealing with right now?

Because we can't feel or know exactly what is going on in inside our bodies, relying on our pain receptors to gauge our state of health is problematic. Health and homeostasis are more than just a lack of pain, or status quo. Homeostasis is our body's optimum potential. Wouldn't you like to feel what true health could really be? I assure you, it is not an unobtainable goal!

Three choices you can make will put you on a path towards health and homeostasis:

- eating well

- moving well

- thinking well

Your body can only do and take on so much before it becomes fatigued from adapting to the various stressors. Each and every decision you make in regards to eating better, exercising, and positive thinking will make a difference. 

EACH AND EVERY DECISION REALLY DOES MATTER!