Nerve Interference?

During our new pediatrics class on Monday, we watched a video about chiropractic pediatrics. The DC in the video spoke of nerve interference and how our adjustments alleviate it. I couldn't help but start wondering what that really meant.

When I adjust someone at the clinic the last thing I think about is nerve interference. The term is a bit confusing because it lacks a good definition to begin with. Are we talking about the garden hose analogy or proprioception or etc, etc. It becomes a confusing thought process.

In an attempt to discuss nerve interference, I thought I would just ramble on about it for a little while and see what words hit the keyboard.

An interesting bodily response that we all know well is pain. Pain alerts us to noxious stimuli that may harm or is harming our delicate tissues. Nerves pop out of the spinal cord and innervate all tissues of the body at a microscopic level. We've all seen those cool drawings showing where the nerves exit the spinal column and all their major branches. Those drawings represent a macroscopic view of the major nerves in the body. Like the cardiovascular system, nerves come in all sizes.

Interestingly, pain can mimic visceral disease but in reality it is a muscle issue and not a visceral issue. In a previous post, I spoke of an elderly patient that suffered a lower back injury and immediately became constipated. No history of constipation until the day after the injury. What is that about? After a treatment, the constipation goes away. Very cool stuff but how does this make sense? Somatovisceral reflex is a term used for that issue. Meaning, an insult to the soma (musculoskeletal system) inflicts an inhibitory visceral response via a neurological reflex. Maybe instead of a reflex, it is an inability to focus on two major things at once and due to the shared neurology in the region, the inhibition to the viscera comes from a draw of physiological attention to a more important matter - an injury.

The vitalists would call this neurological force the innate and the injury is a subluxation. Correct the subluxation and the innate intelligence is restored. To be clear, a subluxation is not a pinched nerve. If you have a pinched nerve, you are going to have symptoms such as, bowel and bladder problems, radiculopathy into an arm or a leg, loss of strength, decreased deep tendon reflexes etc, etc. Subluxation theory largely revolves around pinched nerves and decreased nerve flow to the body. This theory doesn't make sense in a macroscopic way. A better explanation of nerve interference should be developed so that our patients understand what chiropractic adjustments do.

My interpretation up to this point is that joint restrictions scramble neurological feedback from mechanoreceptors located in joint capsules and muscles. Altered movement sends forces that usually naturally disperse throughout the musculoskeletal system into ligaments, tendons and muscles, creating an inflammatory state. Joints that usually slip upon each other remain stuck in place and the tissues surrounding them adapt to this state and further restrict segmental motion. Feedback from the altered biomechanics and inflammation sends a pain response which makes the person aware of the condition. If the problem progresses, the patient may guard the area, further recruiting larger and larger muscles. Eventually, a full blown orthopedic problem grows out of a small joint restriction. The entire kinetic chain can be affected and problems can begin occurring elsewhere.

A case was presented to us in lab today about a patient that had a sacroiliac joint restriction. The altered pelvic movement lead to spinal pain between the shoulder blades. Once the patients SI joint was adjusted, the shoulder blade pain resolved. Thinking back to the somatovisceral reflex theory, think about how this could have affected the viscera. Interesting stuff.

For now, this explanation will have to do. Knowing adjustments help regain neuromuscular control helps explain how nerve interference could be interpreted. Add in the cardiovascular effects of ischemia in tissues which have absorbed unnatural amounts of force and adjustments get a bit more complex. Sprinkle in the neurological control of blood vessels and the hormonal changes during a pain response and things get even more interesting. Then look at the dietary influences on inflammation and you'll see some folks are more prone to extreme inflammatory responses to joint restrictions. Add in immunity and the demand these insults place on our system-wide defenses and adjustments become even more justified. The list goes on and on. We mustn't compartmentalize the systems of the body.

All for now