What's a "Pop" Got To Do
With Preventing Spinal Decay

Many times, with a patient next to the x-ray view-box, we hear the astonished exclamation, "How could I have that much bone decay in my spine?" "I eat right and I've exercised regularly for years! How could this have happened?." How it happened is called the vertebral subluxation complex.

PLEASE READ THIS: You can eat the best diet in the world, you can exercise regularly, but unless each spinal segment has healthy, proper joint play, you can still have locked spinal segments that won't allow movement between the two vertebrae (spinal bones). This loss of joint movement, one component of the vertebral subluxation, if left uncorrected, will allow decay to begin.

We all know the old saying, "What you don't use, you lose." Well, it's true. Try putting an arm in a sling for a few weeks. Watch the muscle size shrink. Similarly, if spinal bone segments cannot move because they are stuck out of proper alignment, they begin to slowly and surely undergo decay and degeneration. And, frequently, there is a great deal of pain involved.

ONE IMPORTANT POINT: Don't think that just because you have your back "popped" by somebody your spine will be in great shape. You can teach a child to walk up and down your back and make it "pop." Often, what you're really hearing is only the movement of the inflamed joints above and below the locked, misaligned vertebrae. The joints above and below are generally very hyper mobile, or "loose." That's because they have been forced to move too much to make up for the spinal segments that are locked. There is a huge difference between popping noises and chiropractic adjustments. You can "pop" you knuckles, but you haven't necessarily corrected any health problems.

That is why it is so important to have each individual spinal segment examined by a doctor of chiropractic who can discover if there is a misalignment present that is interfering with the nerve energy flow from the brain. If this condition is found, the chiropractor is then able to deliver a controlled, specific thrust, or adjustment, to the locked misaligned joints, and restore motion, relieve pain, and allow healthy function to return. So, to answer our original question, a "pop" has little, if anything, to do with spinal decay. But chiropractic has much to do with preventing spinal bone decay and degeneration. Find out what chiropractic has to do with preventing possible decay to your spine.