Subluxation: Interference with Messages Between Brain and Body

We learned that the body is a self-healing organism. In the next component, we discovered that our nervous system is what is responsible for the function of every cell, tissue, and organ in our body. In the third component of the chiropractic paradigm, we found that subluxations damage the ability of our nervous system to communicate properly, resulting in loss of health. Subluxations are interferences or disturbances in our nervous system that interrupt the normal communication pathways in our body. There are two types of subluxations.

The first type is called the structural type. When a vertebrae misaligns, the distortion can either compress (pinch) a nerve or stretch and pull the nerve. Studies show that the weight of a dime is all the pressure it takes to decrease the function of a nerve by 60%. Studies also reveal that a 6% stretch of the nerve decreases its function by 70%. We learn it doesn’t take much pressure or pulling on the nerve to severely interfere with its function. These subluxations are usually caused by physical stresses or trauma.

The second type of subluxation occurs when the nervous system is interfered with by emotional stress or chemical toxins. When the nervous system becomes overwhelmed by these factors it creates imbalance in how our nerves perform. When the motor nerve (the nerve controlling the muscles) is imbalanced it causes the muscle on one side of the spine to contract harder than the other, misaligning the vertebrae. The misalignment further interferes with the nerve creating a repeating neurological pattern. These types of subluxations can exist for years and go unnoticed.

Studies tell us that both types of subluxations can exist without pain and yet still interfere and disturb nerve function. Do you know if you have subluxations?

If your Chiropractor knew what caused 96% of all diseases and how to prevent it, would you want to know more about it?

In some amazing research, Dr. Henry Winsor, MD of the University of Pennsylvania did autopsies to determine if there were any connection between minor distortions of the spinal bones and diseased organs, or whether the two were entirely independent of each other. His purpose was to disprove what was then known as the “chiropractic theory”. Dr. Winsor carefully examined any diseased organs, the nerves that supplied the organ, and the spinal bones that protected that nerve.

He discovered that 221 structures, other than the spine, were diseased. Of these, 212 were observed to belong to the same sympathetic nerve segments (autonomic nerves) as the spinal bone distortion.

This is a 96% correlation. 96% of the nerves that supplied the diseased organ came from a damaged spinal level.

The other 9 diseased organs were supplied by nerves from spinal bones that were not found to be out of alignment. Dr. Winsor explained that the autonomic nerves enter through a spinal nerve and leave the spinal cord through another spinal nerve after traveling up or down the cord serveral spinal levels. He felt this accounted for the remaining 4% of apparent discrepancies. His conclusion was that there was nearly a 100% correlation between minor distortions of the spinal bone, the irritation of the autonomic nerves, and the diseases of the internal organs. Nerve damage correlated with all 20 cases of heart disease, all 13 cases of liver disease, all 9 cases of stomach disease, all 26 cases of lung disease, and all 8 cases of prostates and bladder disease.

Dr. Winsor concluded that “irritation near the origin of the sympathetic nerve (autonomic nerve) will cause functional or organic changes in the organs supplied by the portion of the sympathetic nerve irritated”. Based on his research, it was found that nearly 100% of all diseased organs may be a result of irritation to the nerve supplying that organ. He further discovered that the irritation occurred where the spinal nerve exits from between the spinal bones. This research changed what was known as the “chiropractic theory” to fact.