At a recent progress visit, one client asked why I seemed to be adjusting him in a similar way each time and adjusting his wife in a different way. He was no longer in pain and wanted to know if we would progress to another type of adjusting or a different approach.
Until recently, the client had measured his results by the level of discomfort that he was experiencing on a daily basis. I explained to him that to facilitate better healing, we needed to ensure the three aspects are covered:
The Three Aspects of Healing
1. The Pain Mechanism
Characterised by pain. This is inflammation, muscle spasm or nerve irritation.
2. Structural Faults
Characteristically painless and demonstrated by altered posture or movement. Structural faults can be joint restriction (or hypermobility) but will develop to include ligament thickening and bone spurring if left for long periods of time.
3. Software Faults
The body is controlled by a series of interconnecting nerves that make up the complex neurological network. In short, nerves travel in a ‘feedback loop’ from the body to the brain. The brain uses this ‘mental picture’ of the position of body structures and muscle tone, in conjunction with an intended movement, to create a ‘recipe of movement’.
This recipe of movement is a firing order of muscles to create good, smooth motion and completes the feedback loop. When nerves fail to accurately report position and muscle tone to the brain (‘inaccuracies going in’), the brain will miscalculate the response (inaccuracies going out) and two muscles will oppose each other until one fails or damage occurs to the joint. This is when people say, “My back just went!”
If we address only the pain mechanism, then pain will return, as the structure remains unchanged – it is ‘damaged’. As pain reduces, we need to address the structural and software faults to begin longer-term healing.
The Healing Process: Creating the Right Environment for Recovery
The healing mechanism in the body is cellular in nature. The body replaces tissue cell by cell and the rate of repair is determined by the type of tissue, age, nutrition, rest and the healing environment.
Why Repetition Is Key to Lasting Change
This healing environment is key to repair. Just as tissue repair for bodybuilders is determined by the exercises they undertake in the gym, joint repair is determined by the correct function of a joint. If a joint is repeatedly locked into a structural fault, then any new tissue that is laid down will reinforce the fault and prevent proper motion.
Just like a bodybuilder’s repeated visits to the gym to work a muscle and joint group, a chiropractor re-adjusts the spine to help the body break free from the pattern of structural faults. This is why the adjustments are similar each time, in the same way that a bodybuilder repeats similar workouts to challenge weak structures and to encourage the body to repair and lay down new tissue.
Once we determine a firmly fixed pattern in the body that modern lifestyles negatively reinforce, we must repeat adjustments and measure the results after a period of time.