As chiropractic emerged as a new healing discipline, explaining how it worked became vital. Developers and thought leaders sought metaphors and analogies to help. One such communication tool that emerged was the chiropractic safety pin cycle. It has served as an effective patient communication tool for almost 100 years.

The historical record is unclear who developed the safety pin cycle analogy. Most believe it is based on the complete brain and body cycle pioneered by B. J. Palmer. There is evidence to suggest that it was Palmer's student R. W. Stephenson who penned the term "safety pin cycle." That was in his 1927 text entitled The Chiropractic Text Book. It captured many of Palmer's models, theories and practices.

The Safety Pin as a Metaphor

The safety pin seemed the perfect analogy. Since its invention in 1849 everyone is familiar with its simple operation. It has four elements. Each part representing an aspect of chiropractic model of health and healing:

The Clasp – This represents the brain.

The Spring – The coil at the opposite end represents tissue cells of the body.

The Efferent Side – One side represents nerve impulses leaving the brain.

The Afferent Side – The other side represents nerve impulses returning to the brain.

Health is possible when there is undistorted nerve communication between the brain and body. (In both directions). That's represented by the safety pin clasped. The body is best able to adapt to its environment. Tissue cells of the body function as they were designed. The brain can properly control and regulate the body. There is a sense of ease and well-being. Homeostasis.

Subluxation: The Unclasped Safety Pin

Ill health is represented by the unclasped safety pin. This represents a partial loss of nerve connection between the brain and the body. Impaired nerve messaging can be on the efferent side of the loop (leaving the brain). Or the afferent side (returning to the brain). In either case there's a loss of "ease." Chiropractors refer to this as dis-ease. If uncorrected disease may result. At this early stage the body has lost its ability to comprehend itself, its environment or both.

Consider the stomach. At first glance, acid reflux, indigestion or other stomach symptoms appear to be a stomach problem. More likely? It could be a brain-to-stomach or a stomach-to-brain nerve communication issue. It simply manifests as a stomach problem.

The moving bones of the spine are a common cause of nerve interference. The resulting nerve impairment is represented by the unclasped safety pin.

Chiropractors refer to this as vertebral subluxation.

Vertebral, meaning of the spine. Sub, meaning less than. And luxation, meaning a dislocation. Chiropractors use the term subluxation in a more nuanced way than medical practitioners. Even the slightest spinal misalignment can have neurological effects. Yet often disregarded as "normal" by an emergency room physician who doesn't see any fractures.

Three types of stress can produce the nerve interference of vertebral subluxation.

1. Physical stress. A whiplash injury from a car accident is an obvious source of physical stress. As is a slip or fall. Repetitive motions or improper lifting. A lack of sleep or over exertion can take its toll. Among children, the birth process, learning to walk, contact sports or heavy backpacks are common causes of physical stress.

More difficult to appreciate are the non-physical causes of subluxation.

2. Chemical burden. Common sources of chemical stress include poor nutrition, sugar, refined carbohydrates and unhealthy fats. Alcohol, drugs, preservatives, tobacco and a host of other substances can affect the nervous system. Which in turn influence muscle tone and thus spinal alignment.

3. Emotional load. Fear, grief, anger and other emotions can affect our entire body. Frustration, or a sense of powerlessness at work, is an all-too common form of emotional stress. Notice the posture of someone who is sad or depressed. Our mind affects our body. And our body affects our mind.

Stress exhausts our reserves. Chronic stress reduces our adaptive capacity. Then, something as trivial as tree pollen, cat dander or bending over to pick up the newspaper can put us over the edge. Chiropractic care helps restore your adaptive capacity.

The Adjustment: Reclasping the Safety Pin

What should be done when there is a loss of neurological integrity? Locate the source of interference. And reduce it.

This is achieved by adding energy at the right time and place along the spine to help the body "right itself." This is called a chiropractic adjustment. The chiropractor's hands, or a hand instrument, is used to direct the energy.

The term adjustment and spinal manipulation are often used interchangeably. But there is a difference. It's like the difference between murder and manslaughter. The result may be the same, but the intent is different.

The intent of the chiropractic adjustment is to reduce nervous system interference. The intent of the manipulation is to improve spinal joint biomechanics. The former attempts to permit a more normal whole-body expression. The latter attempts to bring about a preconceived idea of structural integrity.

Regardless of the intent, reclasping the safety pin is life-affirming. But that doesn't necessarily make the vertebral subluxation a bad thing. At least not at its initial onset.

The Chiropractic Vertebral Subluxation

It's helpful to think of vertebral subluxation as a defense mechanism. Consider another metaphor to compliment the chiropractic safety pin cycle. The electrical panel in your garage.

Attempt to draw too much current through an electrical circuit and the breaker trips, interrupting the flow. It's a creative survival strategy that helps avoid a greater calamity. In this way, vertebral subluxation has some similarities. But it's a symptom. That's why you would want to rethink the vision of living in a subluxation-free world.

Longstanding, uncorrected vertebral subluxations can prompt all manner of disease.

It usually takes a series of repeated chiropractic adjustments to produce spinal changes. Each visit builds in the ones before. By the time many people consult a chiropractor they have had their spinal misalignments for some time. This delay permits supporting muscles and soft tissues of the spine to atrophy or develop scar tissue. This makes correction more challenging.

The Safety Pin: A Communication Workhorse

The chiropractic safety pin cycle comes close to portraying the physiology of the nervous system. Metaphors and analogies such as this one are important. That's because we only learn something new in relation to what we already know. That means a safety pin should be in the communication arsenal of every chiropractor.