A reader questioned whether we are really completely correcting vertebral subluxations, that the subluxation may not be an on or off thing and that what we are doing is reducing the degree of interference in the nerve system. That is, that the individual is relatively more subluxation free after our care than before. He used the Vertebral Subluxation Complex (VSC) as an explanation of this phenomena, saying that the subluxation degeneration does not go away after an adjustment but the body is “moving toward correction of the subluxation instead of away from correction (or towards degeneration).” This comment demonstrates a fundamental difference between the VSC model and a non-therapeutic (OSC) model. The VSC is a description of the pathological effects of a vertebral subluxation. It is not descriptive of a subluxation. Subluxation degeneration is a medical condition. All the phases and descriptions are clearly medical entities. So the issue really is whether we are addressing a medical condition or not. A vertebral subluxation is a chiropractic entity. The medical community does not recognize its existence. Some in our profession have a problem with that fact. For some it is such a problem that they have abandoned the vertebral subluxation (or refused to embrace it). I have no problem with the medical profession not recognizing it. As I tell practice members, you have to be trained to recognize it, just as you have to be trained to recognize medical entities, diagnosis. Medical doctors are not trained to find the subluxation. If I do not find a cancer in someone it does not mean that it does not exist. That is why I do not choose to look for cancers. I am satisfied with that position and so are my practice members. It seems however, that some of our profession is not, so they ignore or deny the existence of the vertebral subluxation. Or, they try to make it into a condition that is medically demonstrative, a condition that has structural, kinesiopathological changes, muscular changes, among others.
The letter writer has failed to distinguish between the vertebral subluxation and the possible effects of the subluxation, the VSC. That is a dangerous position. It relegates the vertebral subluxation to a medical entity and medical entities can or should be demonstrated or determined by medical doctors. Therefore no VSC, no vertebral subluxation. There are millions of babies subluxated at birth that have no VSC changes. So the presence or absence of VSC has nothing to do with vertebral subluxation. We cannot say that its absence is an indication of a spine free of subluxations. On the other hand, I do not believe we can say that its presence is indicative of or caused by a subluxation. We in non-therapeutic chiropractic do not associate vertebral subluxation with medical conditions or pathological changes. They may or may not be the result of vertebral subluxation. We do not know.
We still need to answer the question. Is the vertebral subluxation an absolute? I would say it is. Either you are subluxated or you are not. If that vertebra is misaligned and meets the other requirements, there is a subluxation present. If that bone is restored to its proper position then the subluxation is corrected. There may still be interference due to other causes, like the VSC but that is not our area of expertise and there is really nothing we can do about it. We have already corrected the misaligned bone causing interference. Anything more would be of a therapeutic nature. Can something else be done? Perhaps. Perhaps it is limitations of matter and the individual must live with the interference and its effects. Should something else be done? Perhaps. That is an issue between the person and someone who is able to do that something else. V22n4