Chiropractic Terms
The chiropractic
Please select the appropriate letter for the desired glossary term.
This glossary is available to help you familiarize yourself with these terms.
A B C
D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V
W X Y Z
- A
- adjustment
- Chiropractors are specially trained in restoring misaligned vertebrae to their proper position in the spinal column, thereby removing interference from the nervous system. The procedure known as the chiropractic adjustment is the method used to restore that misalignment and to restore proper motion to the spine. The adjustment is made by placing the hands on the spine and applying a specific force in a specific direction.
- articular
- Referring to the joint structures of the spine. When getting an adjustment often a cracking or popping noise is heard when the articular processes release from one another. See cavitation
- atlas
- The top vertebrae in the spine and the most nerve-rich portion of the spinal cord at this level.
B
C
- cavitation
- The 'pop' or 'click' heard from a chiropractic adjustment. The sound is merely a release of gas from the joints of the spine like cracking your knuckle.
- cerebellum
- The part of the brain that controls balance, posture and coordination of muscular movements.
- cerebral cortex
- The rest of your brain that coordinates all sensory and motor activities. Different areas of it are specifically associated with memory, learning and behavior.
- chiropractic
- "Chiropractic is a philosophy, science and art of things natural; a system of adjusting the segments of the spinal column by hand only, for the correction of the cause of dis-ease." - B.J. Palmer D.C.
- crack
- See cavitation
D
- Daniel David Palmer
- See Palmer, Daniel David
- death
- The end of life; the total and permanent cessation of all vital functions of an animal or plant.
- disease
- A condition of an organ, part, structure, or system of the body in which there is incorrect function.
- doctor
- meaning "to teach".
H
- health
- True health is a state of wholeness where all organ systems of the body function al optimun levels 100% of the time.
- homeostasis
-
The tendency of a system, especially the physiological system of higher animals,
to maintain internal stability, owing to the coordinated response of its parts
to any situation or stimulus tending to disturb its normal condition or
function. Capacity to adapt.
I
- inconsistent
- Acting at variance with professed principles – Lacking in harmony between the different parts or elements.
- innate intelligence
- There is an inborn intelligence within all living things. This inborn intelligence is called Innate. This intelligence tells our heart how many times to beat, our intestines how and what to digest, it heals a cut on our finger. This intelligence travels from our brain out to our spinal cord, to the rest of our nervous system, out to our organs and back constantly throughout our lives. This is not some mystical process. This is how our body works.
J
- joint fixation
- A change in the normal motion of a joint in your spine or limbs.
L
- life
- The condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction and the POWER OF ADAPTATION to environment through changes ORIGINATING INTERNALLY
- lumbar
- the lower back area
M
- major Premise
- A universal intelligence is in all matter and continually gives to it all its properties and actions, thus maintaining it in existence
- mechanism
- A natural process interpreted as machine-like or as explicable in terms of Newtonian
- physics
P
- Palmer, Bartlett Joshua
-
B.J. Palmer, Developer of Chiropractic, a brilliant man whose lifelong dedication
to the chiropractic profession is a major reason chiropractic has become the
largest drug-free healthcare professon in the world.
- Palmer, Daniel David
-
The inventor of chiropractic (1895).
- physical
-
Pertaining to the body of or pertaining to that which is material.
- pop
- See cavitation
R
- radiating
- Sometimes symptoms like pain, numbing or tingling or travel from one area of the body to another.
- receptor
- A nerve cell that receives specific sensory information in the nervous system.
- religion
- A specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices, generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects.
S
- science
- A branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws.
- Spirit
- The principal of conscious life; the vital principal in man, animating the body.
- subluxation
- A subluxation is a minor misalignment of bone, usually in the spine, that causes an interference with the transmission of messages in our nervous system. A subluxation therefore interferes with the communication of our innate intelligence throughout our body.
- sub/lux/ation
- Suffix:Ation = A condition of; Prefix: Sub = Less than or under; Lux = A unit of light or energy. Together it translates: A condition of less then the fullest amount of light or energy in the body.
- symptom
- The manisfestation of an abnormally functioning organ or organ system.
T
V
- vertebrae
- A spinal bone.
- vertigo
- Sensation of dizziness and the feeling that oneself or one's surroundings are whirling about.
- vital
- Being seat or source of life—Necessary for life—Necessary to the existence, continuance or well being of something.
- vitalistism
- The doctrine that ascribes the functions of a living organism to a vital principal distinct from chemical and physical forces.
- vital principle (also called vital force)
-
The force that animates and perpetuates living beings and organisms.
- vivification
- Restoration of life to the body.