August 2009

Why subluxations become chronic

by Dr. Howard F. Loomis

Chiropractic is the only profession that simultaneously considers both structure (anatomy) and function (physiology) when determining a diagnosis and treatment plan for treating patients. In 1895, D.D. Palmer founded our profession based on such a premise. Another basic scientific tenet is that the cause of the patient's symptoms is stress to one of those systems; maintaining an upright posture against gravity, and maintaining homeostasis within the extracellular fluid that delivers nutrients to the cells and removes their metabolic waste. In other words, once you have determined the source and cause of the symptoms, the treatment becomes obvious.

Last month I discussed the possibility that visceral dysfunctions can, and do, perpetuate structural problems that often prove resistant to chiropractic care. That is, when the same subluxations continually reoccur in the same patients, the secret for helping these people is not found in our technique but rather by determining the cause (source) of the symptoms, which may or may not be musculoskeletal in origin.

Possible causes of chronic subluxation

For the purpose of writing these columns and determining why subluxations resist correction and become chronic, the following need to be considered as potential sources of stress:

1. Structural imbalance -- location of the involved subluxation(s) and related muscle contractions and loss of joint range of motion.

2. Visceral organs that share spinal innervation with the related spinal subluxations -- the nature of their dysfunction, pertinent life style stress and nutrient deficiency. This, of necessity, will involve evaluating mineral deficiencies since they are related to autonomic balance and vitamin (substrate) deficiencies because of their relationship to endocrine imbalances.

3. If none of the above are relevant to the case you are evaluating then you should consider chronic states of inflammation and compromised immunity. Such cases may require referral. However, I believe the benefits of a comprehensive chiropractic examination that accurately determines the source of stress broadens the benefits that can be derived from chiropractic adjustments. Again, once the cause is determined the treatment becomes obvious.

Obviously, I'm writing to an audience skilled in determining structural deficits, so for the purposes of this column my emphasis will be on related visceral problems involved with symptom patterns and obvious structural possibilities. But, I will be including the muscle contraction patterns related to individual spinal subluxations developed at the Palmer Clinic in the early 20th century. They are as relevant today as they were then.

For organization of future columns on this subject, I will group the four primary spinal areas, and in particular their normal A-P lordosis or kyphosis curvature and loss thereof. I will then discuss possible causes of structural derangement and related symptoms for each visceral organ involved.

At this point I need to reiterate a very important point concerning muscle contractions that I made in last month's column. Three years after D.D. Palmer announced his discovery in 1895, Henry Head, a noted English neurologist proved that visceral dysfunction (the inability of a visceral organ to perform its responsibilities in maintaining homeostasis) was accompanied by changes in cutaneous (skin) areas supplied through the same spinal segment.

Then, in 1917, Sir James Mackenzie, a world renowned Scottish cardiologist, found that changes in muscle tone (in groups of muscles) were associated with pathologically affected viscera sharing the same spinal nerve supply. It then should come as no surprise that pain and visceral dysfunction are always accompanied by muscle contraction. Therefore, the clinician may use muscle contraction as a reliable indicator for deviations in normal homeostasis. It remains only to determine whether the cause of muscle contraction comes from either a structural or visceral cause.

Of course, each muscle attaches to at least two different bones and therefore, any obvious postural distortion should be examined. EMG studies indicate that the body attempts to correct postural misalignments by "pulling" its two attachments into proper alignment. For example, increased electromyographic activity is found:

***  on the convex side of a scoliosis, not the concave side...

***  in the sternocleidomastoid muscle, on the side opposite the torticollis...

***  in the soleus muscles, when the standing patient leans forward...

***  in the multifidus muscle, on the side of transverse process posteriority.

In the coming months, I will be discussing the upper cervical spine beginning with the Vagus nerve and its counterpart, the sympathetic chain, especially the superior, middle, and inferior cervical ganglion. I will begin with the general effects of those systems concerning control of blood vessels as well as secretions, both endocrine and exocrine. Then I will move onto the eyes, mucous membranes of the head and neck, salivary glands, heart and lungs. The possibilities that problems in these systems can have on the upper cervical spine are profound and far-reaching.

(Dr. Loomis can be reached by mail at 6421 Enterprise Lane, Madison, WI 53719-1116 or by phone at 800-662-2630. Visit his website at http://www.loomisenzymes.com .)