Technic and Practice of Chiropractic

by Joy Maxwell Loban

Trauma Affects Spinal Nerves

With the exception of the first pair of Cervical nerves and the Sacral and Coccygeal, all spinal nerves pass through foramina of exit which are composed each of two movable vertebrae. The Chiropractic hypothesis is based upon the discovery that in addition to the part these vertebrae may take in general movements of the spine it is possible that their relation to each other may be changed by the application of force from without, and that this change once produced tends to remain permanently. These permanent vertebral subluxations occur with great frequency, a fact clinically demonstrable by palpation and by the X-Ray.

The discovery of this fact led to the ascertaining of two more, namely,

No disease is ever found without accompanying subluxation.

Since each organ or tissue is connected with some definite and special vertebra, subluxations accompanying disease bear a relation to disease which is controlled by a general law, operative alike on all human organisms.

The latter fact required one other for its complete demonstration; namely, that the removal of the subluxation is always followed by the complete disappearance of the disease. Given more perfect methods of correcting subluxations it would follow that proof of the Chiropractic theory would be so complete and overwhelming as to meet at once with general acceptance. The difficulty lies in the fact that with our present methods much time is often required for complete correction of the vertebral displacement and much skill is needed even for successful investigation of the results obtainable. The theory is too often judged by unskilled or imperfect applications of it.

Every school of Chiropractic accepts the presence of the subluxation and has spent much thought and time in the effort to deduce the law governing its connection with disease. Diverse conclusions have been reached owing to the difficulty experienced in completely eradicating the subluxation. When it is accomplished the results are absolutely conclusive. When it is partially or relatively accomplished the results are so good in a great per cent of cases as to lead sometimes to the erroneous belief that the subluxation did not cause the disease since mere partial correction of the subluxation suffices to bring about the apparent total removal of the disease. In every case of thorough experiment the results warrant the recommendation of the subluxation theory as at least a proper working hypothesis.

Without attempting here to review all the various conclusions reached or the methods by which they have been attained, we would simply state our own conclusion, which we believe is the only one compatible with demonstrable facts. It is briefly this: Since every portion of the body is connected through the nervous system with the spinal nerves and since it has been proven that this connection is reasonably constant and anatomically demonstrable; since the removal or correction of a subluxation leads in all cases to the complete disappearance of disease from the organs or tissues innervated from the subluxated portion of the spinal column, we conclude that the subluxation is the primary cause of disease.

The final test of the correctness of any theory is the result of its application. Since Chiropractic secures a larger percentage of results than any other known system of healing it is safe to assume, at least, that it has discovered the way to remove the primary cause of disease.

That the Chiropractic theory, or more properly the subluxation theory, does not include all of the etiology of disease is evidenced by the facts of contagion and infection, by the effect upon the organism of the introduction of poison, by the consequences of worry, anger, and other abnormal mental states and conditions. These facts do not in the least invalidate the theory. They merely require explanation which will make clear their relation to the subluxation. That such explanation is abundantly at hand strengthens the position of Chiropractic more than would negation of all other causes save the one we concentrate upon.

The Mentalist who holds that all diseases exist in and are but figments of the mind is as far afield as the Physicist who holds that special nerve energy is nonexistent. The Chiropractor views Man as a complex psycho-physical unit, self-operating and internally self-healing until environmental forces disturb the nice adjustment of the machinery.

Disease is produced by, and is, a series of events, chief and most permanent of which is the subluxation. We may consider its etiology according to the order in which the events take place thus: