DOC HARRIS
Well-known member
FH - The answer to this question is similar to the one that kids eagerly ask parents - "What is the meaning of LIFE??" and "How did you and Mommy 'get'me?" The final answer is dependent, step by step, on convoluted and complicated Anatomical, Physiological and Neurological facts which are interrelated with each other. You asked "What time is it?" and I am starting to explain, in detail, how to build an electronic clock which keeps time to within one-billionth of a second in Two Hundred years!! But I shall attempt to make it less complicated than that!
Now! The "Rib Deal" as you stated.
Every animal on Earth which is a "Vertebrate" (One which is Endoskeletal) has it's Central Nervous System 'enclosed' in bony structures - the Skull protecting the Brain and the Spinal Column enclosing the Spinal Cord ( the heavy cord of Nerve Tissue extending from the Brain down the Spinal Canal to the Sacrum - or 'tail bone' area). The Spinal Column is comprised of Vertebral Segments (Vertebra) stacked one on top of the other and separated by discs, or very hard cartilage, which keeps a 'space' between the vertebra through which nerves pass to perform motor actions to enable the animal (and humans) to move and perform actions that all animals and humans do - walking, running, eating, drinking, working etc., etc.
Now to the ribs! There are Cervical (Neck) vertebra which support the head and neck and allow movement in those parts. They have NO ribs attached to them.
There are Thoracic (Dorsal) Vertebra which extend (in humans) down, toward the feet, 12 Vertebra (13 in the bovine animal) TO WHICH ARE ATTACHED 12 PAIRS OF RIBS. They commence at the base of the neck. At this point in anatomy, things get a little complicated in form AND function.
The purpose if the Rib Cage is to provide a protective Housing for the Lungs, Heart and Upper Circulatory System, Esophagus, Trachea, Liver, Spleen, Gall Bladder, Pancreas, and part of the digestive organs - Stomach, Small Intestines, Kidneys and connective tissue which binds them all together.
Because our animal(s) move about, the protective ribs must also be capable of movement - WITHIN CERTAIN LIMITATIONS - and therin lies the focal point of our question regarding "Subluxated Ribs and Vertebra"!
The ribs are attached to the vertebra - on EACH side of the body - by VERY STRONG cartilagenous connections - known to cooks as "Gristle", which binds the rib to a 'facet' or a small, smooth, slick, surface joint which allows a certain amount of rotating movement, such as in breathing, turning, bending, twisting etc., in humans AND horses et al. Lying BETWEEN each rib and attached along it's entire length to the rib adjacent to it is strong musculature (picture a 'standing rib roast") which assists in the rib cage movements. Nerve impulses from the brain and down the spinal cord and out between the segments of vertebra to those muscles (and EVERY OTHER PHYSICAL STRUCTURE IN THE AREA ) dictate how, what, why, where, and when the movements will occur. IF and WHEN some accident or stress or trauma interrupts the optimal Nerve impulses by virtue of a subluxation ( by creating a partial dislocation or mal positioning of the vertebral segment to which the rib is attached )
OR a subluxation of the rib ITSELF, then an abnormal and insufficient nerve supply disturbes the normal function of THAT part of the body and DIS-ease, DIScomfort, pain, incorrect body function occurs at whatever level or area those nerves innervate. In a human, the subluxated rib(s) can be adjusted to approximate their normal position in relationship to the vetebrae to which they are attached - and therein lies the difficulty! The ribs are attached to TWO vertebrae at the same time - to the BOTTOM of the VERTEBRA ABOVE the rib - and to the TOP of the VERTEBRA BELOW the rib. They move and partially rotate similar to the planetary or epicyclic gear set in a transmission or differential. The movement is very slight, and the pressure imposed on tissues results in pain as if an ice pick were sticking in one's back! I KNOW from first hand experience! In 90% of the time the rib will rotate (in humans AND horses) upward or headward and press on the peripheral nerves coming from the vertebra ABOVE the rib. The malfunction of parts distal to the spine at THAT level is one way to diagnose which segment is the causative factor - and therefore which vertebra or rib or both to adjust. That is why the Dr. who adjusted the horse examined his leg and worked on the muscles of the leg, but by correcting the interrupted nerve supply TO the leg by adjusting the vertebra and the rib subluxation(s), that restored the proper function to the leg and therefore -Voila - the horse started getting better - pain was relieved - and he stopped crow-hopping.
The exact same thing works on other parts of the body when Nerve impulses are interrupted or disturbed. Pain results - - OR improper organ function results. The strains resulting from roping and the sudden jolting and twisting stresses on the horses upper body eventually causes malfunction - and the horse can't do his job correctly. Same thing apply's to bucking bulls, or any other traumatic action to man or beast!
THAT, my friends, is Chiropractic Principles in a very tiny nut shell! I hope I didn't bore you, and helped you to understand Chiropractic a little better. The "cracking sound" that you hear when an adjustment occurs is NOT - I SAY IS NOT the bones cracking! There are NO empty spaces in the body, and that sound is tissue fluid moving into the articular spaces that are created when the bones are moved slightly - like popping your knuckles. Same thing!
DOC HARRIS
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