Definitions:
Meningeal (adjective): Refers to the covering of the brain and spinal cord, which protects and places the spinal cord within the bony spinal column.
Adhesion (noun): refers to two surfaces that adhere to each other and that should not be in optimal physiological conditions.
Liberation (noun): refers to the action of getting rid of an adhesion by manipulative force.
Adjustment (noun): The action the body takes to correct itself for proper spinal alignment during AND after a meningeal release.
Removing tension “from the inside” of the spine is probably the most important thing a chiropractor can do, and yet it is rarely done. Unfortunately, it is rarely taught and even more rarely practiced in regular chiropractic practice. First, a bit of the basic chiropractic principle that is vital to understanding what I will write about meningeal adhesions later.
When physical stress (whether sudden or prolonged) attacks the body’s structure, and has a force great enough that it cannot be efficiently absorbed by the body, then the effects take place. The main effect of this is something called subluxation. A subluxation is simply a bone in the spine that is out of regular alignment enough to affect the nerves that travel between them. These nerves communicate to and from the brain (master control) with functions throughout the body. So when the bones get misaligned enough, the nerves are affected in their communication and over time they can develop many dysfunctions in the body. These things include digestive problems, sinus irritation, and the more pervasive thought of “body pain.” Much of this dysfunction can come on slowly and therefore bypass our radar, until it suddenly becomes a bigger problem that we now need to see a specialist about. Unfortunately, conventional “wisdom” guides people to see a medical specialist first, who will undoubtedly prescribe some type of medication or surgery to mask the real problem: a body not in proper communication with itself.
Now let’s get back to meningeal adhesions. To obtain and MAINTAIN a fit, it must be complete. Traditional chiropractic, without addressing meningeal adhesions, will work for some, and not others for this exact reason: Meningeal adhesions must be released.
Let’s take a look at what a meningeal adhesion really is. Dr. Breig, a neurosurgeon who studied neurological diseases in cadavers in the 1950s and 1960s, discovered meningeal adhesion. What’s interesting is that he also found them in his non-neurological sick patients, the regular population. A meningeal adhesion is a stuck part of the outer meningeal layer of the spinal cord, inside the bony structure of the spinal column. It occurs over time, due to inflammation and contact of the two surfaces. This creates tension on the inside of the spine, which then makes traditional chiropractic adjustments out of place again, in a relatively much shorter period of time, if the tension was also removed at the same time.
So this is really an article on one of the few essential pieces of the puzzle to MAINTAIN a spine realignment procedure (see “Chiropractic Engineer for Hire” for another piece of the puzzle). The results are there to be obtained and the talk is true – ‘Help is possible’ – as traditional chiropractors say. It’s not so safe when you omit the VITAL pieces of the puzzle.
Dr. Dan Riesling, DC
Tarpon Springs / Palm Harbor, FL