A subluxation is when the brain is not moving things properly in a portion of the spine given the task at hand.
For example, the spine may be moving when it should not (e.g. while lifting),
or not moving when it should (e.g. while running,) or not reflexively responding to help us maintain balance and prevent falls.
Because we cannot see our spine, the brain relies on the messages it gets from the small muscles close to the spine and skull to be able to 'see' what is
happening in the spine.
When parts of the spine are not moving properly, this affects the way the brain perceives what is going on in our bodies and the environment around us, making our brain's knowledge of what is going on less
accurate.
When we are subluxated--we may notice this as clumsiness. We may notice we keep hitting our head getting into our car, or knocking our elbow on door frames, or tripping over our own feet. This can also manifest as back pain, neck pain and headaches, as well as other
musculoskeletal pain.
Even more interesting, is that it can also manifest as other symptoms, such as colic in babies, bedwetting trouble in kids, hypertension in adults and/or altered emotional and/or immune responses.
Based on the research findings, when we adjust dysfunctional areas of the spine (chiropractic vertebral subluxations) we affect parts of the brain known as the control or command centers (such as the pre frontal cortex and the cerebellum.) (1,2)
When the brain does not get adequate or accurate information from the spine, it can make the brain confused and it can end up thinking (and therefore manifesting that it has a problem, even when it does not. Sometimes when we adjust the spinal subluxations and suddenly the brain realizes it actually does not have that problem, the symptoms
'miraculously' disappear.
