The Vertebral Lesion
The chiropractic profession's theory on disease and its relationship to spinal lesions and subluxations has been scoffed at in the past. But recently, after years of seeing patients whose back surgery has failed to help them, medical practitioners are becoming more and more receptive to different ideas about what causes functional disorders and disease. The following quote from a German medical school professor involves just such a patient:
"The situation, of course, is not always as clear-cut as in the case described above. Nevertheless, we have records of numerous cases similar to the one described here, in which a definite connection appears to exist between a functional disorder in an internal organ and a spinal lesion. Despite this, however, we would emphasize in conclusion that the diagnostic importance of spinal lesions must not be overestimated, as it so frequently is, and that, in particular, the origin of disorders of the internal organs should be sought in such lesions only when all other possible explanations have been examined and discarded. Nothing can discredit the inherent diagnostic value of the relationship between the spine and the internal organs more than to insist on finding such a connection where none exists, and to seek corroboration in threadbare hypotheses. We have no evidence that lesions of the spinal column can cause genuine organic diseases. They are, however, perfectly capable of simulating, accentuating, or making a major contribution of such disorders. There can, in fact, be no doubt that the state of the spinal column does have a bearing on the functional status of the internal organs."
When I graduated from chiropractic college in 1981 and started practice, I heard it all, and very little was positive. “You are a quack; you do not know what a subluxation is; you couldn’t get into a real health care program, so you chose the one that is slightly above a mail-order degree; you have no proof that chiropractic works; Are you really licensed?”, and so much more.
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A central challenge in creating our identity is that chiropractic is a method of care, not a technique or procedure. This is an important concept for us to promote. Our patients are treated with lifestyle modification, exercise, nutritional supplements, diet and a whole-body approach to accelerate the natural healing process. We are not simply CMT providers.
The results of a global survey released late last year (2023) unveiled some startling findings among medical and nursing students. The “Clinician of the Future: 2023 Education Edition” surveyed 2,212 students, of which 446 were in the United States, from 91 countries.
