Question
hello dr,
i would like to know if it is possible with weight training to build bigger bone density in the vertebral column/and Legs for an increase of 1/2 an inch to 1/4 of an inch in overall height? ive grown 2 inches with chiropractic due to me sleeping on a bad couch practically all of my teenage life i am a brand new fan of chiropractic.. thank you dr

Answer
Dear Ricky,

Thank you for your question.  Though not regularly asked, yours is a question similar to those I have heard from others who are investigating chiropractic.  Unfortunately, though, it is based on some misconceptions.  In order to answer it 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.  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 exercise routines, 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.  Of course, every part of the body must have connections to the nerve system so that vital information may be transmitted between the brain and the cells.  There are some who would attempt to review the possible nerve connections between a nerve root level and specific organs or tissues, but this ignores the multitude of variables that determine the expression of function, including one抯 growth.  The question of how your individual body carries out the myriad of activities just to maintain life is enormous and would require your Creator抯 (or creator抯, for the agnostic) knowledge, or at least far more than our educated knowledge of the complexities of life.  There is no way of knowing exactly how a vertebral subluxation will interfere with life expression or if it will result in some predictable change.  The negative effects of vertebral subluxations are immediate to the individual, even if they are not immediately apparent or even if they are never apparent in terms of height.

Therefore, 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 non-therapeutic straight chiropractic is not about your back, 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 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.  This would be true regardless of someone抯 measured height.  

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.  

At any given moment, there is an optimum state for us to carry out life to our best abilities.  That optimum state will vary depending upon the circumstances, both within us and of our environment.  It may very well be that someone will experience growth after having a vertebral subluxation corrected (or have their individual optimal growth hampered by vertebral subluxation).  The fact is, though, that it cannot be known when this will happen for the same reasons discussed above regarding any type of symptom or therapeutic outcome.  It is not part of the non-therapeutic straight chiropractic objective to add inches in height to a person.  So, in summary, no, there is no method within my field for the purpose of or intended for increasing height.  It may be that the office you are visiting is of the mixed therapeutic viewpoint and is attempting to address that for you.  I have no way of knowing from the limited information available.  

On the matter of whether weight training can cause the body to increase the density or even the dimensions of bones, consider that the 揺conomy of survival,?if you will, in other words, the fact that the intelligence with which the body is run means that it will not be wasteful of precious resources on unused or unneeded structures or functions nor will it ignore innate needs for them, means that bones ?or anything else in you ?will only develop in intelligent response to the need.  In short, 搖se it or lose it?also implies the converse, that getting it can only come from necessity.  Since bones have a major function of carrying the body抯 mass, weight-bearing activities can be seen as a reason for their maintenance and growth.  For an innate need, there will be an innate response.  Now, whether that will make you taller ?or just denser, bulkier or heavier boned, for instance - is still a matter beyond anyone抯 educated ability to predict.  I did not create you, so I have no way of knowing your unique potentials.  

With that said, it would certainly be wise to have your spine checked for subluxations by a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor, even if you still elect to have therapeutic attention for growth concerns.  Remember, the two objectives are not the same.  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].  

Ricky, I wish you the best in understanding the benefits of non-therapeutic straight chiropractic.  It has been my pleasure to provide you with some information.

Sincerely,
James W. Healey, D.C.