THE SCRAMBLED INNER MESSAGE
It does not take much scrambling to render
a message unintelligible. For instance, try to read the following: "Up
fwfsz uijoh uifsf jt b tfbtpo." This message has only undergone a slight
alteration. Each letter has been replaced by the next letter "to the right" in
the alphabet. For example, the first letter in the original message is
"T". This slight alteration, this "one-letter shift" made complete
nonsense out of: "To every thing there is a season."
In your body, coordinated activity
requires the accurate transmission of biological messages. For instance, you can generally
tell where your hand is located without looking at it. you can also tell how quickly it is
moving and whether the object it carries is heavy or light. This "joint and muscle
sense" (technical term: "kinesthesia") is made possible by a complex array
of nerve endings in the ligaments, tendons and muscles that surround every joint.
When a joint subluxates (goes into
abnormal alignment or movement), it shifts the pattern of forces acting on the surrounding
ligaments, tendons, muscles and nerves. As a result, kinesthetic messages may be
distorted.1
Imagine the havoc that can be produced by
slightly altered kinesthesia. Joints moving slowly may feel as if they are moving rapidly.
joints lifting light loads may feel as if they are moving heavy loads. As a result,
activities involving these joints may become clumsy for no apparent reason.
Even more importantly, false kinesthetic
messages can place false demands on vital bodily functions. For instance, if a joint at
rest feels as if it is working hard, reflex action will cause certain blood vessels to
enlarge to meet the apparently increased demand for oxygen. Reflexes of this sort are
called "somatovisceral reflexes".2
The spine supplies nerves to every region
of the body. As a result, vertebral subluxation can scramble vital kinesthetic messages.
Not only can this distorted kinesthesia cause postural distortion and loss of coordinated
movement, it may set up somatovisceral reflexes which place false demands on the heart,
lungs, stomach, and other internal organs. Over time, a person's over-all health and
wellness may suffer.
While we often refer to vertebral
subluxations as "pinched spinal nerves", this is a very limited image. Perhaps
"biological computer virus" is a better metaphor for the cascade of
misinformation potentially created by the vertebral subluxation.
1 Slosberg M. Effects of Altered
Afferent Articular Input On Sensation, Proprioception, Muscle Tone and Sympathetic Reflex
Response. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics,
1998; 11: 400.
2 Cleveland CS. "Neurobiologic
Relations". In: Redwood D. Contemporary Chiropractic. Churchill livingstone, New
York, 1997.
© 1998, All Rights
Reserved.
Marion Todres, M.A., D.C. and Charles Masarsky, D.C. |