Vertebral Subluxation
November 12, 2008
How is vertebral subluxation causing problems in your life?
A human body, from the cells to all major organs and appendages, is controlled entirely through the nervous system. In addition to other functions, the nervous system alerts the brain to something wrong inside or outside of the human body through the all too familiar message of pain. Pain can stem from a number of causes, but given the close relation of the spine and spinal cord to the nervous system, any problem, pressure, or misalignment in the spine will assuredly cause people pain in numerous regions of their body. The chiropractor term for spinal misalignment is vertebral subluxation, which essentially covers any of the related pain derived from disjointed or misaligned vertebrae in a person’s spinal cord.
Vertebral subluxation, which can occur at any point along the spine, negatively afflicts people’s health in various ways through the interruption of the nervous system communication between a human being’s spine, brain, and peripheral nerves in the body. When a spinal segment, known as a vertebra, is out of place, the communication of the nerves in this spinal cord is hindered, not to mention the pain messages the nerves send from the misalignment of the spine itself. Over time, this misalignment has been known to cause a whole host of problems in patients ranging from minor aches and pains to serious, life altering consequences that leave patients immobile if not attended to effectively by a chiropractor.
The blocked nerve communication from spinal subluxation can cause a litany of problems, given the far reaching influence of the nervous system in the human body, and virtually any body part can be afflicted. Some of the more common symptoms associated with vertebral subluxation in patients, however, include:
-Chronic fatigue
-Inability to focus, even ADHD
-Persistent lower, mid, and upper back pain
-Pain sitting, walking, standing, or exercising
-Chronic headaches, migraines, or cranial pressure
-Inordinate amounts of stress
-Trouble sleeping or staying asleep
-Pain in the legs and arms, especially the buttock area
-Sciatica pain in the lower back spreading into the legs
-Foot pain, associated with pain walking or standing
-Overall feelings of malaise or general physical unhealthiness
-Rapid weight loss or weight gain
-Pain or discomfort following a traumatic event, such as an accident, injury, or slip and fall
Only a certified chiropractor is qualified to assess a patient’s spine for the presence of vertebral subluxation, usually through visual assessment, x-rays, and other diagnosis methods. If the presence of vertebral subluxation is detected in your spine, a chiropractor will recommend you undergo a series of chiropractic adjustments, which will manually manipulate the spine back into proper place. Additionally, a chiropractor will assist patients in making lifestyle adjustment, such as posture, nutrition, and physical habits that may be influencing the presence of vertebral subluxation currently and potentially in the future. In some of the more serious cases, more intensive therapy may prove necessary, which will all be done by a chiropractor in order to alleviate the pain and discomfort patients are experiencing due to misalignment in their spinal columns.
Usual Treatments
November 12, 2008
What Type of Treatments Do Chiropractors Usually Use?
For patients wary about seeing a chiropractor, their fears and concerns are reasonable, albeit a little bit unfounded. For starters, individuals practicing as chiropractors typically have gone through undergraduate studies related to the medical field, followed by an intensive graduate and post-graduate study in the field of chiropractic. Additionally, to be practicing chiropractors, these individuals must also pass state and national level licensing and review boards before even seeing their first patient. With that being said, turning to a chiropractor for your health problems related to the spine and nervous system literally leaves you in the care of professional, competent hands.
In the course of treating patients, chiropractic doctors do not limit themselves in what they are willing to do for patients in helping keep them healthy and alleviating pre-existing medical problems. Chiropractors treat ailments and symptoms that stem from a misalignment in the spine, which compresses the nervous system, potentially causing a whole host of discomfort, pain, and medical problems in a patient. The most common form of treatment to alleviate these symptoms is through the manual manipulation of the spine with intention of realigning the spinal column and vertebrae. This is known in the chiropractic community as spinal adjustments, which is also the most common treatment technique utilized by chiropractors.
Through regular spinal adjustments from a chiropractor, patients will notice an immediate difference in the way they feel and physically function. Chiropractors also will use a whole host of other non-invasive medical treatments to deal with patients’ symptoms and issues. Each patient’s body is unique, and in keeping with this fact, chiropractors will tailor-fit treatment plans to suit the needs of each individual patient.
Some of the types of treatments that chiropractors regularly use when caring for their patients include:
-Spinal adjustments
-Acupuncture
-Massage therapy
-Rehabilitative exercises
-Electrical modalities
-Lifestyle, physical fitness, and nutritional counseling
-Hydrotherapy, or therapy techniques using water resistance
-Postural advice
-Assessment and use orthopedic braces or shoes
-Cryptotherapy, or therapy techniques using ice
Again, the reiteration of the fact that chiropractors will assess each patient for their unique concerns and needs must be made. A general assessment by a chiropractor will include visual assessments of the spine, x-rays, and requiring patients to perform various movements in order to ascertain the reaction of spine to everyday physical movements, such as bending, sitting, walking, or lying down. Following these assessments, which generally only require one visit to the chiropractor’s office, patients will consult with their chiropractor the best method of treatment, which could entail any number of aforementioned types of treatment that chiropractors usually use.
During treatment of patients, chiropractors will always stick to using the least invasive and painful methods as possible in all instances, which prevents chiropractic patients from ever having to undergo any form of surgery at all or take any prescription medication either. In instances where injuries or the progression of vertebral subluxation is too great, a chiropractor may recommend surgery as an alternative through an orthopedic surgeon; however, simply regularly visiting a chiropractor at the first signs of pain and discomfort could have alleviated symptoms well before they reached the state of requiring invasive, painful surgeries.
