Health is all about feeling good, right? As long as you feel no pain, you're healthy. That's the message that Big Pharma and much of conventional medicine sell: symptom-free equals health. It's why over-the-counter pain killers are so popular. But it's a lie.
I have a question: What if feeling worse actually means you're getting better? Is it possible to be better and worse at the same time? "Feel" can be a dangerous 4-letter word.
Better and Worse — Can Both Be True?
Symptoms can be indicators of loss or improvement of function. We have been conditioned to think all symptoms are bad. How many times have you been told to fear fevers? Fevers are your body's way of fighting infection. Uncontrolled fevers can be dangerous — but those don't happen as frequently as modern medicine would have you believe.
Your subjective perception of symptoms needs to be balanced with an objective understanding of what those symptoms mean, in order to understand the proper perspective on function. In chiropractic, we see this constantly: people getting functionally better while their symptoms temporarily increase. If all we do is focus on symptom relief, we miss the deeper benefits of functional improvement. That is the medical model — and it will leave you sick and weak.
Structure Dictates Function
Remember Anatomy & Physiology? A&P is another way of saying structure (anatomy) and function (physiology). Our skeletal structure is the foundation of our bodies. The spine is especially important because our nervous system connects to the entire body through it — every tissue and organ is connected to it for organization and stability.
When the spine is not in proper alignment, it begins to degenerate, negatively affecting everything else. Usually there is a direct connection between structure and function. But sometimes, structure moves in the opposite direction to the improvement in function. What happens when your function is improving yet your X-rays look worse?
The Theory of Regression
The theory of regression in chiropractic states that healing must pass through each point of adaptation — it cannot skip them. If you started life at Point A, and we began adjusting you at Point E, regression requires you to pass back through Points B, C, and D on your way to A. Your innate intelligence will and must pass through each point of adaptation in order to produce health.
In This Case…
A 27-year-old male suffered a gym injury to his neck, presenting with headaches, double vision from a newly developed lazy left eye, facial pain and paresthesias, and paresthesias radiating into his arms. After 3 months of care, all symptoms had resolved — including the lazy eye. He was even showing signs of holding his adjustments.
And then a series of high-stress life events occurred. He began having low back pain (which he had never complained of before), his upper back posture appeared to be worsening, and he started experiencing ankle pain and discomfort.
Initial Presentation
After 3 Months of Care
Lateral View — Initial
Lateral View — After Care
AP View — Initial
AP View — After Care
All of these new issues are related. We are kinetic chains — everything connected through motion. As his spine changed, specifically his pelvis, other areas appeared worse on film — even though functionally he was improving.
Structural correction is important. We expect to see spinal change in the proper direction over time. But the most important thing is that functional improvement occurs. By the grace of God, and the innate intelligence of the body, whenever we correct subluxations, function will be restored and improved. We will always move in the right direction. It is possible — and normal — to be better and worse at the same time.