Ask the Chiropractor: How Do People Get Subluxations?

by Oasis Wellness Partners on September 21, 2020      

In our 30 years of practice, we have treated subluxations caused by many different issues. But the first question we need to answer before we delve into what causes subluxations is “what is a subluxation”?

The simplest definition of a subluxation, or “vertebral subluxation” as it is more accurately called, is a spinal bone that is partially dislocated or out of alignment in relation to the spinal bone above or below it.

Chiropractors use the term subluxation differently than other medical practitioners. Not only do chiropractors recognize the many nuances of dislocation, they also acknowledge the neurological impact on the body’s health and well-being, as well as function, that is associated with the loss of normal motion or position of spinal bones. In other words, chiropractors are trained to help the body heal subluxations, and they understand how many health conditions can be caused by, or underlie, subluxations. In fact, chiropractors believe that subluxations can be the major contributor to pain and disease!

Subluxation: A Response to Stress

What causes spinal bones to become misaligned and lose their position, or move out of alignment? Chiropractors recognize three major general types of stress that cause subluxations to occur:

Physical stress is the first type of stress that causes subluxation. Whiplash injuries due to a car accident are common occurrences. Another is workplace injury or repeated-use issues. People who deliver packages can become subluxated from lifting heavy boxes. Truck drivers can become subluxated from long night driving. Office workers or writers can become subluxated from sitting at their desks and working, hunched over computers and not practicing careful posture or having an ergonomically efficient set-up. Teachers or retail workers can become subluxated from being on their feet all day. The list goes on and on!

Chemical stress in the form of drugs, alcohol, food preservatives and artificial ingredients can affect muscle tone and result in changes to proper spinal alignment.

Emotional stress such as anger, grief, fear and many others can cause supporting muscles to tighten, the spine to stiffen and postural changes to emerge. And these are just a few of the ways that different types of stresses can affect your body and create subluxation.

Muscles becoming tight or overworked, unevenness in the body’s use or posture, all these factors can throw the vertebrae out of alignment, which impacts the nervous system (all of the nerves that control the body originate in the spinal column) and can interfere with the proper functioning of the entire body!

Subluxations and Chiropractic Treatment

Chiropractic is different from western medicine in many ways. The most important way that chiropractic care is different from western medicine is that instead of opting for drugs or surgeries to correct pain and disease, chiropractic care, through the process of regular adjustments, works with your body’s natural systems to revive your self-healing ability. How? By locating and reducing vertebral subluxation through chiropractic adjustments. This unique approach to improved health has been helping millions of people for more than a century—125 years as of 2020, to be exact!

Let Us Help You Feel and Heal Better in Southern Maine

Give us a call at our Scarborough, Maine wellness center at (207) 883-5549 today to live your best, most subluxation-free life!

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