What Causes Misalignments?

The 5 Ws

What, Where, When, Why, and Who...

What

An accident or injury can tear loose the connective tissue that holds your spine together.  This results in a body break down that locks your head, spine and pelvis into a stressed  and unstable position. If left untreated, the bones, discs, and joints of the spine break down.  Over time these misalignments will become progressive and degenerative. The longer your spine is misaligned, the worse things will get.

You might be thinking, "I have never had any accidents or injuries."  Even minor injuries can be enough to cause these problems.   For instance, you could fall, hit your head, get up, and think, "hey I am fine."  The truth is, these effects can be immediate, but can often take years before the effects are felt .

Below are a few common traumas people experience throughout their lives:

• Difficult birth
  • c-section
  • forceps
  • vacuum/suction
  • fast delivery
• Childhood/development
  • learning to walk
  • falls
  • bicycle/skating accidents
• Sports injuries
  • collisions
  • blows to the head
  • falls
• Car accidents
  • whiplash injury
  • direct impact traumas
• Blows to the head or body
  • Fall from horse
  • roughhousing with friends or sibling
  • ATV accidents
• dental work or surgery
  • manipulation during anesthesia
  • invasive dental procedures

Think for a moment.  How many injuries and traumas have you had throughout your life? How could all those events combine to be affecting you now?

Where

These injuries and traumas may take place at any point of your body frame.  Over time the long term effects of these injuries can accumulate causing problems throughout your whole body. Of all the ways you could sustain an injury, the most critical areas are listed below in order of importance.

1. Head
2. Neck
3. Hips
4. Spine
5. Shoulders

When

For some people, the process of injury and the resulting problems and degeneration begin during the birth process (as mentioned above).  For others, this process starts a bit later.  The timing and trauma may be different, but anyone who is misaligned has at some point in their lives encountered some form of trauma.  When did it all start for you?

Why or How

What happens?  What are these traumas doing that cause so much heartache, pain, and difficulties?

Well, it all starts with damage.  For every action there is a reaction, and your body's reaction is not always ideal.  When your body receives the force of trauma there is a chain reaction resulting in torn, stretched, and compromised ligaments/connective tissue.  This chain reaction often does the most damage to the weakest, yet most critical place in your spine; this extremely critical place is the junction between your head and neck.

When there is damage between your head and neck, a lot can go wrong:

• Your head will no longer be supported as it is intended to be
• Your eyes, ears, and whole head tilt abnormally
• To maintain balance and normal function, your body adapts
• Your body twists and contorts to accommodate your head
• Your head is now straight, but your whole body is twisted instead
• A twisted frame leads to muscle tension, pain, and mechanical dysfunction
• Mechanical dysfunction leads to arthritis, degeneration, and nerve damage
• Things go downhill quickly from here

It is best to do something about this before the damage is too severe.

Who

This is a tough question to answer.  Misalignments can happen to anyone, and do happen to most people at some point in their lives. So, the real answer to this question is to look back up a few lines to start thinking about When your misalignments may have begun.

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