Common Chiropractic Terms


Acute
Relatively severe and of short duration.

Adjustment
A specific thrust or pressure delivered at the right time, location and angle to add motion to a “stuck” spinal joint.

Anterior
Toward the front of the body.

Arthritis
Inflammation of a joint that is often accompanied by symptoms and changes in structure.

Atlas
The top and most freely moving bone of the spinal column.

Axis
The second cervical vertebra.

Bone Spur
A bony outgrowth. A calcium deposit that can be part of the body’s response to abnormal motion or position of bones in the spine or elsewhere.

Cervical
The vertebrae of the neck, usually seven bones.

Chronic
Persisting for a long period of time. A problem showing little change or of slow progression.

Coccyx
A series of small bones below the sacrum that are also known as the tailbone.

Compensation Reaction
A new problem that results from the body’s attempt to respond to a problem elsewhere.

Compressive Lesion
A malfunctioning spinal bone or soft tissue that puts direct pressure on a nerve, distorting its function. A relatively rear phenomenon that is commonly referred to as a pinched nerve. (See Facilitative Lesion.)

Disc
A cartilage (cushion/pad) that separates spinal vertebrae, absorbs shocks to the spine, protects the nervous system and assists in creating the four normal curves of the spine. Discs can bulge, herniated or rupture, but because of the way discs connect to the vertebrae above and below, they can’t “slip.”

Edema
A condition in which fluid fills a damaged joint area causing swelling; similar to the swelling of a sprained ankle or black eye.

Extremity
Lower or upper limb, such as a leg or arm.

Facet
The joint surface of spinal bone, facing the adjacent bone above or below.

Facilitative Lesion
A twisting, stretching, chafing, or irritation of nerve tissue from malfunctioning spinal structures.

Fixation
Being held in affixed position. ȁStuck.” A joint with restricted movement.

Foramen
An opening, a hole or passageway in a bone for blood vessels or nerves.

Health
A state of optimal physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity. When your body works the way it was designed to work.

Herniation
A protrusion of an organ or part of an organ through the wall that normally contains it.

Hypermobility
Too much movement.

Hypomobility
Restricted movement.

Ilium
One of the two large bones that form the pelvis; the hipbone.

Inflammation
A reaction of soft tissue due to injury that may include malfunction, discomfort, rise in temperature, swelling, and increased blood supply.

Intervertebral Foramina
The lateral opening through which spinal nerve roots exit on each side of the spinal column formed by each spinal joint.

Kyphosis
A backward displacement in the lateral curve of the spine.

Lateral
The side view of the body.

Ligament
A band or sheet of fibrous connective tissue that binds joints together.

Lordosis
The forward curve of the spine, normally found in the cervical and lumbar areas of the spine.

Lumbar
The vertebrae of the lower back, usually five bones.

Nucleus Pulposus
The gelatinous mass in the center of a spinal disc.

Occipital
Pertaining to the lower, posterior portion of the head or skull that rests on the spinal column.

Palpation
Examining the spine with your fingers; the art of feeling with the hands.

Pinched Nerve
(See Compressive Lesion.)

Posterior
Toward the back of the body.

Range of Motion
The range, measured in degrees of a circle, through which a joint can be moved.

Reflex
An involuntary action resulting from a stimulus.

Sacroiliac
The two joints where the hip bones connect to the sacrum.

Sacrum
The triangular bone at the base of the spine.

Sciatica
A pain that radiates from the lower back into buttocks and down the back of one or both legs caused by irritation of the sciatic nerves, the largest nerves of the body.

Scoliosis
Looking from the back, a sideways curvature of the spine.

Slipped Disc
An incorrect name given a situation in which a disc becomes wedge-shaped and bulges. In extreme cases, pressure can cause a disc to tear or rupture.

Spasm
A constant contraction or tightening of a muscle.

Spinous Process
The protruding part of the back of each spinal bone that can be seen or felt when examining the spine.

Subluxation
A misalignment or malfunction of the spine that is less than a total dislocation, which affects the nervous system and its ability to correctly control or monitor the organs and tissues of the body.

Tendon
Fibrous tissue that connects muscles with bones.

Thoracic
Pertaining to the twelve vertebrae of the middle back, from the base of the neck to about six inches above the waistline, to which the ribs attach.

Torticollis
A contracted state of the neck muscles that produces a twisting of the neck and unnatural position of the head.

Traction
The act of drawing or exerting a pulling force, as along the long axis of a structure.

Transverse Process
Lateral protrusions (wings) on the side of each vertebra to which powerful muscles and ligaments attach.

Trigger Point
An involuntarily tight band of muscle that is painful when pressed and can refer pain to other parts of the body.

Vertebra
Any of the individual bones of the spinal column.

Vertebral Subluxation Complex
Types of pathology resulting from a vertebral subluxation including kinesiopathology, neuropathophysiology, myopathology, histopathology, and pathophysiology.

Whiplash
An injury to the spine caused by an abrupt jerking motion, either backward, forward or from the side.