Frank M. Painter

Is the Spinal Subluxation a Risk Factor?

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE:   Dynamic Chiropractic

By Meridel I. Gatterman, MA, DC, MEd

Risk factors come in a variety of distinctions, from those for cardiovascular disease and some forms of cancer to those less than life-threatening but nonetheless undesirable conditions affecting the quality of a person’s life. A risk factor causes a person to be particularly vulnerable to an unwanted, unpleasant or unhealthful event. Risk factors predispose individuals to developing specific conditions. It has been suggested spinal subluxation could be considered such a risk factor. [1]

Subluxation As a Risk Factor

The following questions should be examined if the concept of subluxation as a risk factor is considered:

1. Is subluxation of one region of the spine a risk factor for different signs and symptoms as opposed to a subluxation in another spinal area?
2. If so, does a subluxation in one area create a different syndrome than when it occurs in a different region?
3. Does clinical observation suggest there are different subluxation syndromes associated with different spinal areas? [2]
4. Does a subluxation in the upper cervical region cause a different syndrome than a subluxation in the lower cervical region, and does a subluxation of the sacroiliac joint cause a different syndrome than one at a costovertebral joint? Does a patient’s symptomatic complaints and observable signs lead you to suspect a subluxation of one spinal region as opposed to another?

Subluxation Syndromes (more…)

The Vertebral Subluxation Syndrome

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE:   Dynamic Chiropractic

By Meridel I. Gatterman, MA, DC, MEd

The term subluxation has been used to describe the lesion treated by chiropractors since its inception. D.D. Palmer [1] described it in 1910 as “a partial or incomplete separation, one in which the articulating surfaces remain in partial contact.” Because of confusion by other professions, some within the chiropractic profession would have us abandon the term.

Others have promoted a teaching paradigm: the vertebral subluxation complex (VSC), which has grouped various components in a model focused around the dynamic component of the subluxation. Based on the works of Homewood, [2] Janse, [3] and Faye, [4] this model began being taught at CMCC in the mid-1970s and was later popularizing through the Motion Palpation Institute. [5] Other authors have revised Faye’s early model. The vertebral subluxation complex forms a paradigm for teaching the basic principles of chiropractic theory. By taking the VSC model one step further, the vertebral subluxation syndrome can be used to describe the primary clinical entity treated by chiropractors. [6-9]

Syndrome has been traditionally used to describe the aggregate of signs and symptoms associated with any morbid process and constituting together the picture of disease. [10] The focus for chiropractors today should not remain the terminology used to describe the vertebral subluxation syndrome, but rather the specific mechanisms whereby this complex aggregate of signs and symptoms is produced by altered spinal joint motion.

Recently, the primary fibromyalgia syndrome has replaced the controversial term fibrositis used to describe a condition that has been written off as psychological at best, with the physiological manifestations either denied or ignored. [11] When the multiple complaints and varied systemic complaints of this condition were recognized as a syndrome, objective investigation was fostered to the benefit of the many patients suffering from the condition.

Viewing the classic chiropractic subluxation in a similar manner would allow us to develop and objectively test the diagnostic features of the vertebral subluxation syndrome.

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