Vertebral subluxation

Vertebral subluxation
Pseudomedical diagnosis
Risks	Nocebo

In chiropractic, vertebral subluxation is a supposed misalignment of the spinal column leading to a set of signs and symptoms sometimes termed vertebral subluxation complex. It has no biomedical basis and is categorized as pseudoscientific by leading authorities. Traditionally, the "specific focus of chiropractic practice" is the chiropractic subluxation and historical chiropractic practice assumes that a vertebral subluxation or spinal joint dysfunction interferes with the body's function and its innate intelligence, as promulgated by D. D. Palmer, the inventor of chiropractic.

The chiropractic subluxation is the heart of the split between "straight" and "mixer" chiropractors. Straight chiropractors continue to follow Palmer's vitalistic tradition, claiming that subluxation has considerable health effects and also adding a visceral component to the definition, while mixers, as exemplified by the United Kingdom's General Chiropractic Council, consider it a historical concept with no evidence identifying it as the cause of disease.

Within the chiropractic tradition, a vertebral subluxation complex is believed to be a dysfunctional biomechanical spinal segment which actively alters neurological function, which in turn, is believed to lead to neuromusculoskeletal and visceral disorders. The WHO acknowledges this difference between the medical and chiropractic definitions of a subluxation: medical doctors only refer to "significant structural displacements" as subluxations, whereas chiropractors suggest that a dysfunctional segment, whether displaced significantly or not, should be referred to as a subluxation. This difference has been noted in the proceedings of the chiropractic profession's Mercy Center Consensus Conference: "The chiropractic profession refers to this concept as a 'subluxation'. This use of the word subluxation should not be confused with the term's precise anatomic usage, which considers only the anatomical relationships."

The chiropractic vertebral subluxation complex has been a source of controversy since its inception in 1895 due to the lack of empirical evidence for its existence, its metaphysical origins, and claims of its far reaching effects on health and disease. Although some chiropractic associations and colleges support the concept of subluxation, many in the chiropractic profession reject it and shun the use of this term as a diagnosis. In the United States and in Canada the term nonallopathic lesion may be used in place of subluxation.

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