Subluxation

The picture demonstrates a sick spinal nerve. It is circled. This is the result of a subluxation. In this case, the nerves above and below are unaffected.

subluxation (sub”luk-sa’shun) – Any vertebrae which has lost its proper juxta-position with the bone above, below, or both, which impinges on a nerve and interferes with mental impulses. That is, a spinal misalignment or malfunction that doesn’t allow your body’s communication system to work properly.

For the technically inclined:
There are several components of a subluxation. They include:

• spinal kinesiopathology – (ki-ne”se-o-pah-thol’o-je) bone misalignment and joint malfunction such as in hyper or hypo-mobility.
• neuropathophysiology – (nu”ro-path”o-fiz”e-ol’o-je) nerve malfunction and nerve pathological changes resulting from the nerve being stretched, pinched, impinged upon, or irritated.
• myopathology – (mi-o-pah-thol’o-je) dis-ease of the muscles, seen as muscle spasms, contractures, atrophy, and/or weakness. This can cause a change in the makeup of the muscle by replacing healthy contractile tissue with fibrotic and less elastic tissue.
• histopathology – (his’to-pah-thol’o-je) changes of the involved soft tissues of the vertebral subluxation complex including discs, ligaments, blood supply and lymph supply.
• pathophysiology – (path”o-fiz”e-ol’o-je) cummulative degenerative arthritic changes that occur to the soft tissues and bones of the involved vertebrae.

These terms are used to describe the changes that take place with the involved tissues of the vertebral subluxation complex. Pathophysiology also occurs at the innervated tissue level. The malfunctioning nerves will result in less than normal function in the tissues they innervate. This means that a subluxation can cause an organ to work less than 100% and become sick. For a list of some of the effects of subluxations, please see the Chart.