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| Vertebral subluxation | |
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 A chiropractor performing a precise vertebral adjustment of the lumbar spine on a patient | |
| Alternative therapy | |
| NCCIH Classification | Manipulative and body-based |
| Legality | differs from country to country |
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In chiropractic, a vertebral subluxation means pressure on nerves, abnormal functions creating a lesion in some portion of the body, either in its action or makeup (defined by D.D. Palmer and B.J. Palmer, founders of chiropractic). Chiropractors claim subluxations are not necessarily visible on X-rays.
Straight chiropractors continue to follow Palmer's tradition, claiming that vertebral subluxation has considerable health effects and also adding a visceral component to the definition. Mainstream medicine and some mixer chiropractors consider these ideas to be pseudoscientific and dispute these claims, as there is no scientific evidence for the existence of chiropractic subluxations or proof they or their treatment have any effects on health.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
The use of the word vertebral subluxation should not be confused with the term's precise usage in medicine, which considers only the anatomical relationships.[7]
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a chiropractic subluxation is a "dysfunction in a joint or motion segment in which alignment, movement integrity and/or physiological function are altered, although contact between joint surfaces remains intact". Chiropractic subluxation should not be confused with a medical subluxation, which is a "significant structural displacement" visible on static imaging studies such as X-rays.[8] Chiropractic is a field of alternative treatment outside scientific mainstream medicine, whose practitioners (chiropractors) are not medical doctors.
- ^ Joseph C. Keating Jr.; Cleveland CS III; Menke M (2005). "Chiropractic history: a primer" (PDF). Association for the History of Chiropractic. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2013. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
A significant and continuing barrier to scientific progress within chiropractic are the anti-scientific and pseudo-scientific ideas (Keating 1997b) which have sustained the profession throughout a century of intense struggle with political medicine. Chiropractors' tendency to assert the meaningfulness of various theories and methods as a counterpoint to allopathic charges of quackery has created a defensiveness which can make critical examination of chiropractic concepts difficult (Keating and Mootz 1989). One example of this conundrum is the continuing controversy about the presumptive target of DCs' adjustive interventions: subluxation (Gatterman 1995; Leach 1994).
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Keating-subluxationwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Joseph C. Keating Jr. (1997). "Chiropractic: science and antiscience and pseudoscience side by side". Skeptical Inquirer. 21 (4): 37–43.
- ^ Phillips RB (2005). "The evolution of vitalism and materialism and its impact on philosophy". In Haldeman S, Dagenais S, Budgell B, et al. (eds.). Principles and Practice of Chiropractic (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill. pp. 65–76. ISBN 978-0-07-137534-4.
- ^ Reggars JW (2011). "Chiropractic at the crossroads or are we just going around in circles?". Chiropractic & Manual Therapies. 19: 11. doi:10.1186/2045-709X-19-11. PMC 3119029. PMID 21599991.
- ^ Suter E, Vanderheyden LC, Trojan LS, Verhoef MJ, Armitage GD (February 2007). "How important is research-based practice to chiropractors and massage therapists?". Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. 30 (2): 109–15. doi:10.1016/j.jmpt.2006.12.013. PMID 17320731.
- ^ Haldeman, Chapman-Smith, Petersen. Guidelines for chiropractic quality assurance and practice parameters p. 103.
- ^ WHO guidelines on basic training and safety in chiropractic, p. 4, including footnote.