What is a Chi­ro­prac­tic Sub­lux­a­tion? A Per­spec­tive from Real Prac­tice Members

Chi­ro­prac­tic is equal parts sci­ence, art and phi­los­o­phy. Many patients who have had expe­ri­ence with more than one chi­ro­prac­tor are well aware that there is a vari­ety of prac­tice types and philoso­phies to choose from. Patients have always had a high sat­is­fac­tion rate with their care and it doesn’t sur­prise me as there is a prac­tice style for every per­son­al­ity. If you have tried a chi­ro­prac­tor and never went back because of a neg­a­tive expe­ri­ence, I encour­age you to search and find another doc­tor who bet­ter fits your per­son­al­ity and health needs.

Chi­ro­prac­tic 101

Chi­ro­prac­tic is a term that lit­er­ally means “prac­tice by hand”. Many chi­ro­prac­tors offer more than just adjust­ing. We are in an age where research, tech­nol­ogy and pol­i­tics have all changed how chi­ro­prac­tic is deliv­ered in the mar­ket­place today. The beauty of chi­ro­prac­tic though is that the adjust­ment is and always will be the key ele­ment of a chi­ro­prac­tic prac­tice. Chi­ro­prac­tic is based on the triad of phys­i­cal, emo­tional and chem­i­cal com­po­nents of health. Chi­ro­prac­tors use the term “sub­lux­a­tion” to describe the dis­con­nect or inter­fer­ence with the bal­ance within that triad of health. The “adjust­ment” helps to restore func­tion to the dynamic motions of the spine, which is impor­tant to stave off degen­er­a­tion, reduce pain and mus­cle spasm, and ensure healthy func­tion­ing of the ner­vous sys­tem. Chi­ro­prac­tors can offer nutri­tional advice in most states and main­tain a long­stand­ing tra­di­tion of being great edu­ca­tors and motivators.

What is “Well­ness Care”?

Although Chi­ro­prac­tic has been given a rep­u­ta­tion for mak­ing patients “always come back”, the truth is, patients come back because they choose to come back. The idea of “well­ness” or “main­te­nance” care has seemed to escape the rest of the Amer­i­can psy­che as the pre­dom­i­nant empha­sis has been on med­ical, symptom-oriented care. This is where the philo­soph­i­cal side of chi­ro­prac­tic brings so much value. Chi­ro­prac­tic patients value their abil­ity to remain active, main­tain activ­i­ties of daily liv­ing, and age more grace­fully in later years. This is not a new sci­ence, in fact many of us sched­ule and per­form almost daily main­te­nance to our cars, but some­how the same focus is not given to the main­te­nance of our bodies!

“Well­ness” is sim­ply a phi­los­o­phy. “Phi­los­o­phy” is seen as the oppo­site of “sci­ence”, but really is just a fancy way of describ­ing the lens through which we choose to see the world. Chi­ro­prac­tic offers a dif­fer­ent lens to the body. It trusts that inher­ent in the body is the knowl­edge of how to be well. Give the body what it requires to express health and it does. Inter­fere with its abil­ity to express health and it will not.

The good news is that patients really do under­stand the phys­i­cal, emo­tional, and chem­i­cal causes of “sub­lux­a­tion” and their role in well­ness. So while chi­ro­prac­tors argue and com­pete over who has the bet­ter under­stand­ing of “sub­lux­a­tion”, it’s the Chi­ro­prac­tic patients that have us beat. Here is how they defined phys­i­cal, emo­tional, and chem­i­cal subluxations: