Subluxation Definitions Flashcards
“dislocation or putting
out of joynt.”
Randle Holme - 1688
“Subluxation is a term that defies casual explanation and precise definition. Its use, therefore, is highly controversial and hotly debated, and probably will remain so.”
Ruth Jackson, M.D.
“..a subluxation is the condition of a vertebra that has lost its proper juxtaposition with the one above, or the one below, or both; to the extent less than a luxation; and which impinges nerves and interferes with the transmission of mental impulses.”
Stephenson Definition (MOPI)
“A subluxation in the chiropractic sense is not a partial dislocation (less than a luxation), but an alteration of the normal anatomical or physiological relationships, or dynamics, of contiguous structures.”
Homewood Definition (1962)
A subluxation is a misalignment, malposition or dyskinesia of any skeletal articulation within its active or passive range of motion.
PCC draft, 2003
A vertebral subluxation is a subluxation of any weightbearing spinal articulation that compromises neural integrity and may influence organ system function and general health.
PCC draft, 2003
“…a motion segment, in which alignment, movement integrity, and/or physiological functions are altered although contact between joint surfaces remains intact.”
Gatterman, (1995)
“Subluxation is an aberrant relationship between two adjacent articular structures that may have functional or pathological sequelae, causing an alteration in the biomechanical and/or physiological reflections of these articular structures, their proximal structures, and/or body systems that may be directly or indirectly affected by them.”
Haldeman (1992)
“..a misalignment of one or more articulations of the spinal column or its immediate weight-bearing articulations, to a degree less than a luxation, which by inference causes alteration of nerve function and interference to the transmission of mental impulses, resulting in a lessening of the body’s innate ability to express its maximum potential.”
WCA-Practice Guidelines for Straight Chiropractic (1993)
A vertebral subluxation is an alteration of the
intervertebral relationships of one or more
articulations of the spinal column or the
immediate weight bearing components of the
axial skeleton; accompanied by a change in
the morphology of the tissue occupying the
neural canal and/or intervertebral foramina;
as well as an alteration of neural function
sufficient to interfere with the transmission
of organizing information, considered to be
homologous with the mental impulse.”
IFCO, 2015
"A subluxation is a complex of functional and/or structural and/or pathological articular changes that compromise neural integrity and may influence organ system function and general health.”
ACC Position Paper, 1996
Most Widely Accepted
“A lesion or dysfunction in a joint or motion segment in which alignment, movement integrity and/or physiological functions are altered although contact between joint surfaces remains intact. It is essentially a functional entity, which may influence biomechanical and neural integrity.”
WHO, 2005 (expansion of Gatterman)
“It’s not a thing; it’s a complex process, a lesion of motion, not something you can section or biopsy or see on the autopsy table. It’s a functional disorder; it is a dysfunction.”
George Northrup, D.O. (1978)
“..a subluxation is the condition of a vertebra that has lost its proper juxtaposition with the one above, or the one below, or both; to the extent less than a luxation; and which impinges nerves and interferes with the transmission of mental impulses.”
BJ Palmer
a theoretic model of motion segment dysfunction (subluxation) that incorporates the complex interaction of pathologic changes in nerve, muscle, ligamentous, vascular, and connective tissues.
Subluxation Complex
Gatterman, 2005
