Why is Subluxation Overlooked?

1. A very small percentage of the nervous system is actually dedicated to your sensory ("feeling") experience.  This means that dysfunction of your nervous system occurs frequently without any conscious awareness of it because there is no conscious “feeling” associated with it. Pain and other conditions associated with vertebral subluxation, like other degenerative conditions, come much later in the process while the actual dysfunction occurs early on.  The point is classically illustrated by heart disease… Often the first sign or symptom of heart disease is a heart attack and/or death even though the disease process has been going on for many, many years. 
2. The scientific and healthcare community outside of chiropractic is grossly unaware or have never been trained to detect for subluxation.  While many are unaware and remain in the dark, others are unaware and spread misleading information and malignant criticism of the thing they are ill-prepared to offer any professional or scientific opinion on.  Much of this criticism still comes on the heels of an organized attempt by the American Medical Association (AMA) to destroy the chiropractic profession through the use of slanderous propaganda.  Those actions ultimately resulted in the AMA being found guilty of Anti-Trust violations by the Supreme Court, but not after serious damage was done to the credibility of the chiropractic profession. 
3. Despite a large body of positive chiropractic testimonies and scientific research, there still remains a lack of large-scale research demonstrating the improved quality of life and positive neurological, physiological and psychosocial changes that chiropractors have seen for over one hundred years.  While countless case studies and smaller studies are sufficient to demonstrate a clear benefit and association, we still need more.  At the very least, the current body of knowledge coupled with the awareness of the often severe impact on human life and economics warrants significant attention and funding to address this need.  However this is not the case for 2 primary reasons:

• For the most part, chiropractic research has to be internally funded.  We rarely receive federal or private funding to advance our research and profession.  The bulk of the world’s research dollars are going to fund new pharmaceuticals.  The truth is that chiropractic has done very well in cost-related studies when compared to other care options. There is no reason for those currently making money off of our sick care system to invest in a natural, cost-effective solution – because it would make them less money. 
• Internal conflict within the chiropractic community has sapped time, energy and resources from pursuing and advancing a research agenda centered around vertebral subluxation. There are chiropractors within the field and in academia who put forth that we should adopt different terminology such as “spinal lesion” or “joint dysfunction” because they believe it will be more readily accepted by the medical community and insurance companies.  The irony is, there is more evidence and scientific support of vertebral subluxation than there are for those other two concepts.  

Call your local Chiropractor today to start your journey to health! 
Serving Elkhorn, Delavan, East Troy, Burlington, Lake Geneva and Surrounding areas. 


Chad Schleiger, D.C.
Elkhorn Chiropractor
262.215.2292 or [email protected]