Stopping Subluxations Before They Start
by Dr. Terry A. Rondberg
A patient arrives in your office and you adjust her spine and correct her subluxations.
By the time she walks out the door, her spine is on the way to being subluxated again because of her unbalanced gait. The fact is, regardless of your capabilities, you can’t effectively stabilize a patient’s spine and achieve long‑term results unless you discover and correct the cause of the subluxations.
But, the list of possible physical and emotional stress triggers which contribute to subluxations is so lengthy, discovering the cause is a challenge. The subluxations may have begun at birth, during childhood, or been caused by trauma from a fall or an accident. They may result from years of poor posture or unhealthy habits. Even if you successfully determine the causes, you may not be able to rectify the subluxations. But subluxations can also be caused, at least in part, by an unbalanced gait, and you CAN do something about that.
According to Mark Charrette, DC, a recognized expert in spinal and extremity adjusting, “There is a fine interplay between the movements of the lower extremities and the balancing of the spine. Normal gait causes repetitive motions to occur from the feet up to the head. Alignment and function of the pelvis, spine, shoulders, and head are strongly influenced by pedal balance or imbalance… Because a smooth and symmetrical gait is tied so closely to proper vertebral function, biomechanical problems in one or both feet can interfere with postural alignment patterns.”
In 1994, Terry Yocum, DC, reported in Practical Research Studies, that at least 75% of the population has some degree of leg length inequality, which can lead to excessive foot pronation, leading to gait imbalance and finally, leading to subluxations. If you correct subluxations but do not correct its cause, are you truly helping the patient, or are you merely trapping them inside the revolving door of adjustments and re‑subluxation?
It’s not an easy decision to direct attention away from the spine to the feet. As chiropractors, our primary concern is to detect and correct vertebral subluxations. Therefore, we concentrate our efforts on the spine. But to really provide complete subluxation corrective care, we need to examine the feet and determine the need for orthotics to correct the gait problems that can translate into subluxations.
Many DCs shy away from working with postural problems or orthotics. They may feel such care is not strictly in the realm of chiropractic, or they may feel offering orthotics is a time‑consuming and difficult service. Realistically, anything that prevents, corrects or addresses any component of the subluxation complex is rightfully within the sphere of chiropractic and in complete accordance with chiropractic principles. Just as a dental office should provide cleanings and dental care education as well as fill cavities, the chiropractic office should provide services that aid the prevention of subluxations, stabilize the spine and reinforce the power of the adjustment.
Chiropractors need to determine the necessity of orthotic support, specifically among patients who are less successful at holding their adjustments. Chiropractors also need to assist patients obtain high‑quality orthotics to help correct postural problems.
Fortunately, as a doctor of chiropractic, you have an excellent tool to determine quickly and easily, without expensive or complicated adjuncts to your practice. This isn’t a medical device but a truly chiropractic one, developed by one of the most respected leaders of the profession, Monte Greenawalt.
“Fifty years ago, as a chiropractor I had an idea,” he explains. “I wanted to create whole body support for my patients by effectively positioning their feet ‑‑ the foundation for the body ‑‑ with high quality, custom‑made flexible orthotics.” With this discovery, Dr. Greenawalt revolutionized chiropractic. He stopped the “revolving door” for thousands of patients, and gave their DCs a tool to address the cause of the subluxation and provide positive long‑term results.
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Another great article Terry