I usually perceive this big misconception in many folks. "If I have pain, I must be out of alignment. " "If I don't have pain, everything must be good." This is a MAJOR MISCONCEPTION. Here's the truth: ******Pain does not always = subluxation (mis-alinged spinal bone that is squeezing a spinal nerve causing nerve interference). Many things can cause a pain in the back. It could be anything from a strained muscle, to a bladder infection, to a uterine fibroid, to an aortic aneurysm. Any one of over a hundred other things may cause pain in the back. Diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition is not within the scope of chiropractic. This falls under the practice of medicine. We can only address the structure of the spine as it relates to nerve system function. When nerve interference is corrected, the integrity of the nervous system is restored and innate potential is better expressed. This is our objective. Sometimes pain can be related to a subluxation, but many times can be related to something else.
*****No pain does not always = no subluxation. Everything is not always fine when there is no pain. Usually most subluxations detected are not pain causing. How reliable is using how you feel to determine if you are subluxated? If I was a driver who only reached my destination 10-15% of the time because I always ended up in an accident, would you take a chance and get in the car with me? Would you take a chance on using something that has a 10-15% reliability to know if your nervous system has interference? The nervous system only has about 10-15% of its nerves that have the job of sensation. All the other nerves do things like make food taste better, make muscles stronger, balance chemistry in organs, digest and absorb nutrients, supply life to immune cells, and perform every other coordinated function that your body has to deal with on a moment to moment basis every day of your life. Those nerves will surely be affected by the subluxation, and no pain will be experienced. Why would you take a 85% chance of not knowing if any of those other nerves are possibly being interfered with? Why take a chance on having things on the inside not work as good as they should all the time? This is the reason why one's spine should be checked regularly even if there is no pain.
The bottom line here is that the spine should be adjusted only where the chiropractor objectively locates a subluxation, not where it hurts. This will give the body its best potential for the best possible structure and balance, thus making the body healthier in the long run. If we treated an area just because there was pain, we would be practicing medicine, not chiropractic.
Michael Caruso, DC - 919 Main Street - Belmar, NJ 07719 732-749-3098
www.mjcarusochiro.com