My Back's Out'a Whack

Patients have many ways to describe what they think is wrong with their backs.  These include: "My back is out of place." "I've got a pinched nerve." "I have a slipped disc." "I have a 'cold' in my spine."  While these descriptions can be helpful for a chiropractor to grasp what a patient is feeling, none of terms are accurate regarding what actually happens in the spine.  Vertebra can become minutely misaligned, but if they really were out of place that would be a dislocation and the person wouldn't likely make it into a chiropractic office.  The same is true of a pinched nerve.  This is a very rare and extremely painful situation.  What we do commonly see are irritated nerves.  There is a big difference.  Discs don't slip.  They can degenerate, bulge or herniate.  As for the 'cold' in the back, there is the possibility that your back could ache due to a virus.  But then you should be aching all over.  Viruses don't specifically attack the spine.  The "back out'a whack" is probably more accurate than these other descriptions.

When a spine is "out'a whack" or not working properly, we have a very descriptive term for it.  It's call a Vertebral Subluxation or often just a Subluxation.  Don't let the Latin intimidate you.  It's easy to say and understand.  It implies that five abnormal things are happening in the spine.  First there is a loss of proper motion between the individual bones of the spine.  This may result in them appearing out of line with each other on an x-ray.  Secondly, swelling occurs due to the abnormal motion or injury.  This swelling results in irritation on the nerves which exit the spine and go to all parts of the body.  This is the third problem.  The fourth issue is that ligaments connecting the spinal bones are damaged.  And lastly the muscles which move the spine cannot work properly due to injury, swelling or nerve irritation.  All these things are occurring simultaneously and each component affects the others.  The result is a spine that isn't working properly.  People can experience pain, stiffness, numbness, headaches, digestive problems, and the list goes on.  Or they may have no symptoms at all.


Chiropractors are specifically trained to find and correct Vertebral Subluxations.  It's our specialty.   And now you have a better term for your back problem.