What exactly are vertebral subluxations?

And why are so important?

Simply put, vertebral subluxations are the consequence of irregular movement of position of your spine’s bones.

Usually a response to stress, subluxations have a wide range of implications for your health, reaching far beyond the discomfort and/or pain you presently feel.

As the nerves in the region are affected, the ramifications of this can be very often unexpected and unforeseen, with serious implications for your health and lifestyle

The Physical factors

The causes of vertebral subluxation are manifold and often combined so that in most cases the subluxation is a product of two or more factors, rather than having a single cause.

The single, most evident factor is of course that of undue physical force applied to the spine. This is frequently the case with subluxations caused by accidents. An automotive collision, a fall, or a sports-related incident are some of the situations that come to mind immediately.

The same is true of repetitive activities that favor a side of the body. For example, consistently carrying loads in one hand, as a waiter would do, or using a hammer all day long without switching hands as in the case of a roofer or a carpenter could decompensate the body to the point of triggering a subluxation.

But the same can be said from other, more passive forms of physical stress, such as in the case of workers whose jobs keep them in fixed positions for long periods of time: typists are a good example of these.

In this last category, we have to consider things we all take for granted such as sitting and sleeping. If these are consistently performed with poor posture maintained over long periods of time, the risk is always there.

In some cases, we need to look no further than to the initial trauma the enormous pressures of normal childbirth can exert on a child’s body – or to the adventure of growing, learning how to walk and stand up – and in the process falling down over and over…

But, substantial as they are, physical causes are only a small part of the picture. The other two factors, chemical imbalances, and emotional stress are while not as self-evident more predominant.

We will refer to them in our next blogs – stay tuned!