Blog

My back is out. I am in pain. So, I go to see a chiropractor. I just want relief from the pain or restricted mobility. During the examination or after the exam and x-rays, the doctor (chiropractor) may discuss a misalignment of bones in the spine. He could use the word “subluxation”. Not your everyday word, so what is the definition of subluxation? It depends on who you ask. By the way, there’s lots of controversy on this.

Different Professions Define Subluxation Differently

Chiropractic

Chiropractors have settled on this definition since 1996.

American Chiropractic Association (ACA) Subluxation Definition:

“Chiropractic is concerned with the preservation and restoration of health, and focuses particular attention on the subluxation. A subluxation is a complex of functional and/or structural and/or pathological articular changes that compromise neural integrity and may influence organ system function and general health. A subluxation is evaluated, diagnosed, and managed through the use of chiropractic procedures based on the best available rational and empirical evidence.”

http://www.chiro.org/LINKS/ABSTRACTS/ACA_subluxation.shtml

World Health Organization

“A lesion or dysfunction in a joint or motion segment in which alignment, movement integrity and/or physiological function are altered, although contact between joint surfaces remains intact. It is essentially a functional entity, which may influence biomechanical and neural integrity.”

Health Insurance Companies

Health insurance companies generally require the documentation of a subluxation diagnosis by a chiropractor through x-ray results and through a physical exam. Spinal misalignments (subluxations) identified must meet two of four conditions for medical insurance reimbursement:

• Pain and tenderness
• Asymmetry/misalignment
• Range of motion abnormality
• Tissue/tone changes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertebral_subluxation

Medical definition

“Subluxation: Partial dislocation of a joint. A complete dislocation is a luxation.”

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=5581

Orthopedic (medical doctor specializing in the skeletal system or bones) definition

A significant structural displacement visible on static imaging studies. An orthopedic subluxation of any joint will usually need medical attention to help relocate or reduce the joint.

Even orthopedists admit: A spinal subluxation is relatively rare, but can sometimes impinge on spinal nerve roots, causing symptoms in the areas served by those roots. Now this seems to agree with the chiropractic definition again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subluxation

Another medical definition

A person with a spinal subluxation has one vertebra in the spine that is out of alignment with the rest of the vertebrae. The vertebrae are bones that makeup the spine. Spinal subluxation is usually caused by an injury to the ligaments that hold the vertebrae together.

http://www.freemd.com/spinal-subluxation/overview.htm

Conclusions?

The definition usually suits the purpose of the defining organization. Chiropractors have been vilified by the medical profession over outdated principles chiropractors went by a century ago. Admission that there may be some validity to the chiropractic definition would be a risk to the medical community of legitimizing chiropractic care. Orthopedists have an interest in surgical correction of skeletal issues. The WHO has to straddle the line to avoid offending either profession. They know that both the medical and chiropractic communities serve to improve the health of people in the world.

So the controversy continues. Where do you stand?