Chiropractic in Applied Kinesiology
Above down, inside out. Remove interference, restore function, support the body's innate healing intelligence.
The Chiropractic Philosophy
Chiropractic is founded on a simple principle: your body has innate intelligence capable of healing itself when structural interference is removed. The power that made the body heals the body.
B.J. Palmer called it "above down, inside out." Intelligence flows from the brain down the spinal cord and out to the body through the nervous system. When that flow is interrupted by subluxation (joint dysfunction creating nerve interference), the body loses its ability to coordinate healing, maintain balance, and adapt to stress.
The chiropractor's role is to identify and correct subluxations, removing interference so the nervous system can function optimally. We don't heal you. We remove the obstacles preventing your body from healing itself.
What Is Subluxation?
Subluxation is the term chiropractors use to describe joint dysfunction that creates nerve interference. It's not just a bone "out of place." It's a complex of joint restriction, muscle imbalance, inflammation, and altered neurological input affecting how your nervous system functions.
Think of your nervous system as a safety pin. When the pin is closed, nerve signals flow correctly between brain and body. Subluxation is like leaving the pin open: communication is interrupted, function decreases, compensation patterns develop.
Even slight pressure on a nerve root can decrease its function by up to 60% within minutes. That interference can increase or decrease nerve activity: muscle spasm (increased) or numbness (decreased), elevated heart rate (increased) or suppressed thyroid function (decreased).
Subluxations occur throughout the spine and in the extremities (shoulders, hips, knees, ankles). Left uncorrected, they create chronic compensation patterns and progressive degeneration.
Two Types of Subluxation
Acute subluxation: Sudden onset, short duration, sometimes self-correcting. You sleep wrong, your neck locks up, it resolves in a few days. The body adapted and corrected the interference on its own.
Chronic subluxation: Long duration, progressive compensation, creates degeneration if not corrected. Your body adapted around the dysfunction instead of correcting it. Years later, you have arthritis, disc degeneration, and pain that won't resolve because the original subluxation was never addressed.
Most patients who come to our office have chronic subluxation patterns. The acute injury happened years ago. The body compensated. Now the compensation has failed and symptoms have developed.
The Three Causes of Subluxation
George Goodheart identified the triad of health: structural, chemical, and emotional factors all affect nervous system function. Subluxations arise from imbalances in any of these three areas.
1. Structural (Physical Trauma)
Falls, accidents, poor posture, repetitive stress, old injuries that never healed correctly. The most obvious cause and the one chiropractic traditionally focuses on.
2. Chemical (Nutritional and Toxic Stress)
Poor diet, nutritional deficiencies, toxic exposure, medication side effects, inflammation. Chemical stress affects muscle tone, creates organ dysfunction, and maintains subluxation patterns even after structural corrections.
3. Emotional (Psychological Stress)
Chronic stress, unresolved trauma, anxiety, lifestyle pressure. Emotional stress creates muscle tension, alters breathing patterns, suppresses immune function, and prevents the body from healing even when structural and chemical factors are addressed.
All three must be evaluated. Adjusting the spine without addressing nutritional deficiencies or chronic stress patterns provides temporary relief but doesn't resolve the underlying cause maintaining the subluxation.
Warning Signs of Subluxation
Your body signals when subluxation is present:
- Headaches
- Neck or back stiffness
- Pain between the shoulders
- Low back pain
- Pain, numbness, or tingling in arms or legs
- Reduced range of motion
- Chronic muscle tension
- Nervousness or inability to relax
These aren't the problem. They're signals that subluxation is interfering with normal nervous system function. Suppressing the symptoms with medication doesn't correct the interference. Adjusting the subluxation removes the cause.
How Applied Kinesiology Changes Chiropractic
Traditional chiropractic identifies subluxation through palpation, postural analysis, and patient symptoms. Applied Kinesiology adds muscle testing to reveal the neurological patterns underlying subluxation.
When a muscle tests weak, something is interfering with the nerve controlling that muscle. Is it a subluxated joint? Nutritional deficiency? Organ stress? Meridian imbalance? Emotional holding pattern?
Muscle testing identifies which factor is primary. This allows precise treatment addressing the actual cause rather than guessing based on where it hurts.
Example: Chronic shoulder pain
Traditional approach: Adjust the shoulder, release muscle tension, recommend ice and rest.
Applied Kinesiology approach: Test the deltoid (weak). Check for shoulder subluxation (present but not primary). Test gallbladder meridian (reactive). Evaluate gallbladder function (sluggish bile flow, fatty acid malabsorption). Address gallbladder support through nutrition. Adjust the shoulder. Retest deltoid (now locks). The pattern is corrected because we addressed the chemical factor maintaining the structural subluxation.
The adjustment was necessary, but it wasn't sufficient without addressing the underlying cause.
Chiropractic Is More Than Adjustments
Doctors of Chiropractic are trained in physical diagnosis, nutritional assessment, and functional medicine. We're portal-of-entry providers: you don't need a referral to see a chiropractor, which means we're trained to identify when your problem requires medical referral instead of chiropractic care.
Our scope includes:
- Spinal and extremity adjustments
- Soft tissue therapy
- Postural rehabilitation
- Nutritional assessment and support
- Functional medicine evaluation
- Lifestyle and stress management guidance
Chiropractic isn't just "popping your back." It's comprehensive assessment and treatment of the structural, chemical, and emotional factors affecting your nervous system's ability to function and heal.
The Goal: Remove Interference
The chiropractor's goal is singular: reduce subluxation in all its forms (structural, chemical, emotional) so your nervous system can function optimally.
When the cause of dysfunction is identified and corrected, the body naturally heals itself without further intervention. That's the premise of natural healthcare and Applied Kinesiology-based chiropractic.
We're not treating disease. We're removing interference. Your innate intelligence does the healing.
Above down, inside out. The power that made the body heals the body.
What to Expect
Your first visit includes comprehensive examination identifying subluxation patterns and the structural, chemical, and emotional factors maintaining them. We address all three through adjustments, nutritional support, and lifestyle guidance.
Most patients see significant improvement in 4-6 visits. Chronic patterns take longer because we're unwinding years of compensation. If we're not making progress within a month, I'll refer you elsewhere.
The goal isn't keeping you as a patient forever. The goal is correcting the interference so your body can maintain health on its own.
Questions about how chiropractic applies to your case?
Call or text: (972) 989-4683