Question
I have been diagnosed by two different chiropractic offices, with two different theories. About four years ago my pain started off as mild, I turned to the first Chiropractor, which got x-rays showing degeneration. He recommended a water pillow, rest, ice, and absolutely no heat. With little to no results after approximately 6 months I decided I would have to live with it, but still did maintenance visits. Last year I switched chiropractors because my pain had gotten worse. I proceeded to tell him my story and he very wisely took x-rays and prepared his own diagnoses. He then displayed, with a digital x-ray, that my pelvis was about three-quarters of an inch lower on the right side, caused by my right leg being shorter. He performed adjustments and gave me a heel lift, none of which seemed to help, my back hurts just as bad as the day I went in. I can not get into any position to ease the pain. I have bought a new mattress, shoes, I stretch, I'm in good shape, I'm twenty six years of age. I have a very hard time slipping my socks on, the pain is excruciating. I simply can not live with this problem any longer, there has got to be a solution. The only thing I have not tried, which was recommended by a friend, was to do a sole calibration type thing. My shoes seem to wear on the outside heel, and I have a hard thumb-sized bump, low on my right side. I will go to any doctor, anywhere, for a solution. Thank you for any input, Anthony

Answer
Dear Anthony,

Thank you for your question.  Yours is a question similar to those I have heard from others who are investigating chiropractic.  Unfortunately, though, it is based on desperation and some misconceptions.  In order to answer you properly, I抣l first need to give you some background on the chiropractic profession.

There are two branches or schools of thought in chiropractic.  Briefly, they are differentiated by whether they deal with the limited therapeutic approach for aches and pains (commonly termed "mixed" chiropractic because it represents a mixture of a chiropractor with a non-chiropractic matter) or a non-therapeutic approach to optimum body performance (termed "straight" chiropractic because there is no mixing of chiropractic with anything else).  My expertise is in non-therapeutic straight chiropractic.

Therapeutic "mixed" chiropractic is the older approach based on a split from the founding principles of chiropractic about a century ago.

Non-therapeutic "straight" chiropractic is the more modern of the two.  It deals with a particular, common situation called a vertebral subluxation. This is not at all the same as the various findings reported to you or the experiences of pain you have so far, but they may exist together.  The spine is made of many bone segments which house and protect the spinal cord and the smaller spinal nerve branches that come off the spinal cord and exit between the bones.  These nerve pathways carry information or messages between the brain and the cells of the body.  These messages are essential for the life of the cells.  Without vital brain messages, the cells immediately begin the process of dying; i.e., they can no longer function the way they should to maintain life.

Because the bones are moveable, they can misalign in such a way as to interfere with the messages and, ultimately, the ability of the person to function at their best or express their optimum potential.  People with vertebral subluxations are not able to get all they can out of life.

Vertebral subluxations can be caused by a wide variety of factors, what we'll generally call stresses.  These stresses can be physical (such as sports injuries, but also accidental trauma, sleeping posture and mattress condition, the birth process, sneezing, falling down, etc.), mental / emotional (in its many forms, probably the most familiar use of the word stress), or chemical (such as pollution, drugs, etc.), which are, unfortunately, regular parts of daily living for all age groups.  In short, a vertebral subluxation can occur for a multitude of reasons.

Tragically, vertebral subluxations are rarely obvious to the individual they affect.  They usually have no symptoms.  The reason is that most of what goes on inside you happens without your awareness.  As an example, try to "feel" your liver.  What's it doing right now?  You can't know, so you can't know if it's functioning at its best or something less.  To complicate things, nerve pathways that carry messages of control (termed "motor" nerves) have no way of transmitting ache or pain messages, so your body function may be far from perfect and you'd not have any alerting signal whatsoever.  The branching of the nerve pathways is complex and extensive, making it exceedingly difficult to predict or determine exactly how the person will be affected.  In order to know if someone has a vertebral subluxation, it is necessary to have that person抯 spine checked by a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor using a method of "analysis."  When a vertebral subluxation is detected this way, it is obviously important to correct it as soon as possible.

Since vertebral subluxations are caused by so many different things, people choose to go to a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor on a regular basis to enjoy the most time free of the life-robbing effects of vertebral subluxation. There's a saying that straight chiropractic is not about your back, it's not about your pain, it's about your life.  Each person has a unique potential in life.  With vertebral subluxation, it's impossible to realize that potential.

A key question to ask for your purposes, then, would be, Is someone with low back pain better off with vertebral subluxation / nerve interference or free of subluxation / with the nerve channels open?  It is easy to see that having all the available nerve messages getting through is better than only some of them getting through, regardless of the person's situation otherwise.  It抯 not that you should see a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor FOR back pain ?you should visit one in an effort to be free of vertebral subluxations, even WITH such complaints.  Non-therapeutic straight chiropractic is not about diagnosing and/or treating back pain or any therapeutic-model or medical condition.  It is entirely separate in its goal.  

As I mentioned earlier, not all chiropractors adhere to this and it is important that you be able to distinguish which ones do if you're going to seek this type of service.  Please understand very clearly that the practice objectives of therapeutic mixed chiropractic and non-therapeutic straight chiropractic are quite different, as described above.  What I can tell you must not be interpreted from the mixed viewpoint.  

From your description, the therapeutic mixed viewpoint is held by the chiropractors you have visited.  I say this because, most significantly, it抯 clear that they were addressing such things as your pain and its treatment and did not advise you of the non-chiropractic nature of your therapeutic concerns and did not attempt to check for vertebral subluxations.  The approach was within the therapeutic mixed model and is clearly different from what would be proper non-therapeutic straight chiropractic procedures or principles.  I cannot explain, then, how they arrived at their conclusions.  

That said, it would be wise to have your spine checked by a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor - even if you still elect to have therapeutic attention or advice for your reported back pain and other complaints.  That does not mean that this is one of the therapeutic options to consider, though.  You may have many therapeutic options ?in fact, you have already sampled of them, including therapeutic mixed chiropractic - but that is a very separate matter.  Visiting a non-therapeutic straight chiropractic office is for a different, much larger purpose.  It is the only way to know if vertebral subluxations are present and interfering with your potential.  To use non-therapeutic straight chiropractic that way would be like trying to eat soup with a fork ?you might get something out of it, but you抎 be missing almost all of the important 搒tuff.? As I said earlier, this is not about your pain, it抯 about your life ?about expressing your optimum potential, in whatever individual ways that may be.  

If you are interested in finding out how to locate a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor in your area, please contact me at this site again or at [email protected].  

Anthony, I wish you the best in understanding and using chiropractic.  It has been my pleasure to provide you with some information.

Sincerely,
James W. Healey, D.C.