Some patients might have heard the phrase “Your power is now turned on!” after an adjustment or have used the phrase yourself as a chiropractor. This usually coincides with a lightbulb and a switch going from the “off” to the “on” position. This statement can be somewhat misleading.

Was my power turned off in the first place?

The answer: No… and yes.

Off in the complete sense? No.

Off its full “on” potential? Yes.

Life as a quantity is an all or nothing principle. The same can be said about death. You are either alive or dead.

When determining whether a person is alive or dead in the hospital setting, doctors will measure the electrical output of the brain. If the brain is transmitting electricity, the person is considered alive. If there is no transmitting electricity for a given time, the person is declared dead.

So when using the “power off, power on” analogy with respects to electricity, it could be said that the person was dead before the adjustment, and now is alive after the adjustment. Some might argue that this analogy is a good representation of the person before and after an adjustment.

It might be a good analogy but I don’t think it’s a great analogy. Analogies are used to help explain complex topics to someone by using a simple comparison in an attempt to clarify a topic. Don’t get me wrong, I like the “power on” analogy but only if used in a more accurate way - a quantitative and qualitative way.

It seems a little dramatic to say that the power was turned off completely. It is more accurate to say that the “output of functional energy was interfered with en route to its destination." But this doesn't roll off the tongue as easily as “the power is off.”

The light bulb analogy is used so often because both light bulbs and human beings have something in common: Electricity. It is our Nerve System: the brain, spinal cord and nerve tracts that produce and conduct that electricity to every organ and tissue of our body. Both the light bulb and the organs of our body harness that electricity to perform a function.

The electricity in the bulb heats a wire to the point where it glows and light is the byproduct. If the full current of electricity is reaching the bulb without any interference, the bulb has the potential to glow at its brightest. It can function at its greatest.

The body is a little more complex than the light bulb in its parts and uses of electricity. Not only does it convert electricity into motion, it converts organized electricity into organized motion. That organized motion is used to help regulate all the functions of the body 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from the womb to the tomb.

Instead of using metal wires, the body uses our nerve tracts to conduct this electricity. The electricity is produced in the brain and harnessed by the brainstem region of the spinal cord. This harnessed, organized electricity is called a mental impulse.

Now let’s go and use an analogy. Let’s say that a light bulb represents an organ of the body, for this analogy, the heart. Both the bulb and the heart convert electricity, or energy, into motion. The bulb’s motion results in light, the heart’s motion results in muscle contractions.

Now let’s say that the light bulb is connected to a dimmer switch. A dimmer switch interferes with the full current of electricity en route to the bulb and prevents it from reaching the bulb at full potential. Visualize turning the dimmer switch from the full “on” position to a quarter of the way down.

What happens to the bulb? Not as bright, right? The dimmer interferes with the full potential of electricity or functional information that can reach the bulb.

What if we had a dimmer switch on the nerve tracts leading to the heart? The heart isn’t going to function at its greatest. The heart’s contractility ability is only going to be able to work at 75% of its potential.

With the heart only working at 75%, this decrease in function can lead to many different health concerns and issues over time. This dimmer switch that effects the body is a vertebral subluxation.

A vertebral subluxation interferes with the mental impulses of the brainstem region of the spinal cord. A vertebral subluxation can effect any and all functions of the body, not just the heart.

At OHIO Specific Chiropractic, I work with these vertebral subluxations and the correction of them. With a vertebral subluxation removed, the brainstem and nerve tracts can function at their greatest and the full potential of healing, or health, can be obtained within you. Contact me if you have any questions concerning the “brightness” of your body.

- Dr. Jarek Esarco

Jarek Esarco, DC, CACCP is a pediatric, family wellness and upper cervical specific Chiropractor. He is an active member of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA). Dr. Jarek has postgraduate certification in Pediatric Chiropractic through the ICPA. Dr. Jarek also has postgraduate certification in the HIO Specific Brain Stem technique through The TIC Institute. Dr. Jarek is happily married to his wife Regina. They live in Youngstown, Ohio with their daughter Ruby.