The Adjustment and the Patient 

The purpose of this brochure is to explain the chiropractic adjustment, how it works, what it does to the patient, what benefits the patient may receive from the adjustment, and other relevant facts that the patient should know.

The word "adjustment" is a rather loosely used term in chiropractic today. It denotes the application of a force to a spinal bone (vertebra) to move it from one position to another. The intention of the adjuster in moving a vertebra is to correct the patient's subluxation (a misaligned spinal bone causing harm to nervous structure). In order to do this, the adjuster must reduce the vertebra to or toward its normal position. (The term "manipulation" is frequently used for the same reason).

If spinal bones did not displace, there would be no reason to adjust them or to manipulate them; no objective would be gained in trying to reposition a vertebra that is in its proper location in the spine, causing no harm to nervous structure. When, however, a vertebra is displaced and is interfering with nervous structure, it should be restored to its normal position by an adjustment (correction). It should be re-set. Moving a displaced vertebra to another position that itself is not normal (as frequently occurs) is not an adjustment. The word "adjustment" means "to set right" and is, therefore, the preferred term in this office, because it accurately describes what we do here: re-set displaced vertebrae.

In order to know how to re-set displaced vertebrae, the doctor must first know how they are misaligned-the several directions in which they are misaligned. Vertebrae displace in more than one direction, and how far they have moved in degrees in each direction is required knowledge essential to their correction. Usually, more than one vertebra is involved. The doctor, therefore, must make an x-ray examination in three planes in order to obtain this information. The x-rays are then measured to ascertain the several misalignments, and an adjustment structured from the x-ray analysis. X-ray is the only means from which a precise adjustment can be figured, and each patient receives an adjustment tailored to his needs. For this reason, this office refuses to adjust without taking x-rays because x-rays insure the accuracy and individuality of the adjustment.

The practice conducted in this office is called Upper Cervical Technique. This means that the adjustment is given in the upper neck, applied to the first cervical bone called the atlas or C I (see Figure 1). The reason for correcting the atlas is that it affects the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) when it subluxates. Because all other nerve systems in the body join the central nervous system, an atlas subluxation affects the entire body. As a result of an atlas subluxation, the patient's entire spine and pelvis is distorted from its true axis by spastic contracture of the spinal extensor muscles because the atlas subluxation interferes with the essential inhibitory control to the muscles (see Figure 2). A very precise adjustment is, therefore, necessary to obtain an atlas subluxation correction sufficient to restore spinal balance and inhibitory control by regulating the neuro-mechanisms in the brain stem.

The atlas or C I subluxation is known as the Atlas Subluxation Complex (ASC) because it distorts the spine and pelvis. Vertebrae below the atlas are also misaligned in over 90 percent of the cases and must be realigned by a Cl adjustment. Thus it is a complex-composed of many parts. The complex is a biological stressor, a strain or interference affecting the entire body. If the spine and pelvis measure normal after an adjustment, the electro-chemical flow of the nervous system is balanced.

The atlas adjustment, therefore, must be accurate, timed, and coordinated. Further, it requires control and direction of force which must not be greater than the resistance of the subluxation being adjusted and performed in accordance with sound kinesiological and biomechanical principles. For this reason, an adjustment is not painful to the patient. Because no two adjustments are exactly alike, adjusting is a difficult art.

All healing in the body is self-healing. An example of self-healing is the repair of a broken bone. No treatment of any kind can heal bone tissue; only the healing forces within the body can heal bone tissue. Other bodily tissues are no different in this respect. Self-healing, however, requires a perfectly functioning nervous system free from subluxation stress and interference, one that can normally feed other bodily systems with a normal electro-chemical flow, creating an internal environment in which the body's immune system can function. Self-healing, then, is promoted by the adjustment.

Correction or adjustment of the subluxation, however, must precede relief from illness and discomfort. Getting well takes time just as it requires time to get sick. The need is for the patient to hold the correction-to stay in adjustment-until healing takes place. The patient who gives the doctor enough time to correct the misalignment-subluxation until the correction holds is most apt to obtain the maximum results. The patient who judges his/her progress by symptoms alone, regardless of whether he/she has been subluxation-corrected, compounds the problem and retards his/her progress.

Such things as the length of time the misalignment-subluxation has existed, the care the patient takes of his/her adjustment by avoiding stress factors, the possibility of stretched tendons and damaged ligaments, and lack of patient cooperation hinder recovery. A patient who asks a doctor to assume responsibility for his/her case should do that which is reasonably requested by the doctor. Furthermore, he/she should report all injuries to the doctor while under the doctor's care because injury can cause increased neurological problems which can retard recovery or even prevent it.

Sometimes reactions-unusual response by the patient to an adjustment-occur, usually after the first adjustment. These reactions are the result of the activation by the adjustment of the patient's sensory (input) nervous system. Impressions of the patient's condition are increased as the sensory system becomes more active and alerts the brain (sensorium) of the health problem, making the patient more aware of his condition. These reactions may be increased warmth of part of the body, increased pain, tingling of a limb, etc. They are of short duration but necessary to the patient's recovery.

The doctor, therefore, does not judge the patient's progress by his/her symptoms as symptoms are variables, being influenced by many outside factors. Instead, the doctor measures the distortion elements, caused by the Cl subluxation: thermographic readings to detect the presence of a subluxation, pelvic and spinal alignment recordings, and leg length equality, If these measurements are normalizing, the patient is making progress.