Working with people in a Chiropractic office using hands on skills to aid people in their life journey is a wonderful undertaking. Sometimes there are question that cannot be answered quickly during a persons appointment. Especially questions like “How does the Chiropractic adjustment work?” The answers are bound in years of study and application. However, let’s give it a quick go.
Before directly answering the main question, let’s frame the conversation correctly.
You are alive, you are not a machine! The old concepts formed as a result of and during the Industrial Revolution are not adequate. In fact it’s more relevant to state, the body is self-regulating and self-healing, full to the brim with non-linear systems that dynamically adjust to the internal and external environment.(1)
Now it also need to be clarified, humans have a such a richness of nerve system integration that it reaches through the whole body. The whole organism is intertwined and is able to simultaneously coordinate the sum of all sensory information and output.(2)
Chiropractors and other pioneering fields have long since held an integrative viewpoint. We focus on enhancement rather than solely problem solving, mixing precision-timing-dosage for optimal results.(1)
Integration depends on the connectivity
With an estimation of 28 to 36-trillion cells in the adult human body.(3) It is logical to reason that on the inside we aren’t carbon copies of Gray’s Anatomy book pictures and descriptions. Each persons body does have some minor and sometimes major variations on configuration.
As Verner states, people differ and may have vast differences it their nerve system roots-trunks-branches.(2)
The more or less complex each individual is wired, may equate to better or worse outcomes.(2) The internal environment and the external world create an abundance information or “stimulus” that demands our attention. The stimulus of inimical impulses as well as normal stimulation, is equally undertaken by the innate intelligence of the nerve system.(2)
The reflex arc
All the internal systems have been classified and compartmented for ease of understanding. The nerve system has been dissected just this way. The central nerve system: brain, cerebellum, brain stem, spinal cord. The peripheral nerve system: nerves fibres, which are cell bodies with long projections called axons.
Axons carry information in and out of the spinal cord and brainstem. This may be defined as a simple reflex arc can be described as below. Yet, truly you must understand there is no such thing as a “simple” reflex arc.
- Starting with the receptor end organ, located in periphery skin, sub-cutaneous tissues, hair follicles, muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, joint capsules, periosteum, and all viscera.(2)
- The afferent axon (neurone) is the fibre that conducts nerve signals into the spinal cord, the brain stem, brain.(2)
- The synapse of incoming signals terminates in the cerebrospinal-spinal axis, where they meet with other nerve cells fibres called dendrites.(2)
- The tracts run within the spinal cord and they have common functions or common destinations.(2)
- The outgoing effector axon (neurone), carries information back toward the periphery, in the case of aa muscle the nerve terminates at place known as the mayo-neural junction.(2)
The Chiropractic Adjustment
Primarily yet not limited to, your Chiropractic adjustment is intended to stimulate mechanoreceptors. Mechanoreceptors are receptor end organs The table below (1) show where they are found and what they respond to.
Receptor type | Preferred location | Responsive to | Known results of stimulation |
Golgi Type Ib | Myotendinous junctions. Attachment areas of aponeuroses. Ligaments of peripheral joints Joint capsules. | Muscular contraction in Golgi tendon organs. Probably to strong stretch only in other Golgi receptors. | Tonus decrease in related striated motor fibers. |
Pacini and Paciniform Type II | Myotendinous junctions. Deep capsular layers of spinal ligaments. Investing muscular tissues. | Rapid pressure changes and vibrations. | Proprioceptive feedback for movement control (sense of kinesthesia). |
Ruffini Туре II | Ligaments of peripheral joints and Dura mater. Outer capsular layers and other tissues associated with regular stretching. | Like Pacini, but also to sustained pressure. Especially responsive to tangential forces (lateral stretch). | Inhibition of sympathetic activity. |
Interstitial Types III and IV | Most abundant receptor type, found almost everywhere, even inside bones. Highest density in perosteum. | Rapid as well as sustained pressure changes. 50 percent are high-threshold units, and 50 percent are low-threshold units. | Changes in vasodilation. Plus, apparently in plasma extravasation. |
Mechanoreception runs the cerebellum and the cerebellum (Hindbrain) is the gate keeper of the Cerebrum (Left and Right Hemisphere) and the Chiropractic adjustment influences mechanoreception.(4)
The Chiropractic adjustment restores range of motion: allowing proper static and / or dynamic alignment of vertebra, restores proper muscle and joint biomechanics and restores proper afferent neurological influence by a barrage of mechanoreception and thus allowing nociceptive input to decrease.(5)
Final Thoughts
Functioning free from nerve interference allows the body to better see and regulate itself. Yet, for each person the effects of the Chiropractic adjustment may differ. Because as previously mentioned, we’re each embedded differently. Some of us are more sensitive, some less.
Secondly, due to the stresses of modern life, we are all burdened. The accumulation of poor lifestyle choices and environmental influences (internal and external). Meaning, that negative loads can outweigh the positive constructive influence of the body the natural response is poor or insufficient. Thus the effect of the adjustment must be considered against the overall health of each and every person and the dosage must be measured well.
Thirdly, timings of tissue healing are important. Remember, there are three stages of healing(5): Acute inflammatory stages – up to 72 hours, Repair – 72 hours to 6 weeks, Remodelling – 3 weeks to 52 weeks.
Therefore, I say to you, put in a good effort to be well. Go steady and you may be surprised to see what type of adjustment you are truly capable of!
References
1. Robert Schliemann, Ph. D., Fascia as a Sensory Organ – A Target of Myofascial Manipulation
2. Verner, R., 1953, The Science and Logic of Chiropractic, Printed by Theodore Gaus’ Sons, INC., Brooklyn, N. Y.
3. [ONLINE] 22.10.2024 https://www.newscientist.com/article/2392685-we-now-know-how-many-cells-there-are-in-the-human-body/
4. [ONLINE] 23.10.2024 https://doc.vortala.com/childsites/uploads/1493/files/chiropractic-research-revised.pdf
5. Chestnut, J, 1996, The 14 Foundational Premises for the Scientific and Philosophical Validation of the Chiropractic Wellness Paradigm.