Glossary of Chiropractic & Medical Terms

12

SPINE - The flexible bone column extending from the base of the skull to the tailbone. It is made up of 33 bones, known as vertebrae. The first 24 vertebrae are separated by discs known as intervertebral discs and bound together by ligaments and muscles. Five vertebrae are fused together to form the sacrum and four vertebrae are fused together to form the coccyx. The spine is also referred to as the vertebral column, spinal column, or backbone.

SPINOUS PROCESS - The portion of the vertebrae that protrudes posteriorly from the spinal column. The spinous processes create the "bumps" felt on the midline of thre back.

SPONDYLITIS - Inflammation of vertebrae.

SPONDYLOLISTHESIS - A "slippage" or listhesis of one vertebra over another. A defect in the arch of the vertebra bone (at the pedicle or at the pars interarticularis, between the supeior and inferior facets), causes varying degrees of forward displacement of the vertebra. It is usually due to either a developmental defect, the result of a fracture from being forcefully bent backwards as a child or adolescent, or from degenerative decay of the bony arch of the vertebrae.

SPONDYLOLYSIS – "lysis," or a breaking apart; "sponyl" or spine. The disintegration of bone at the posterior portion or arch of the vertebra. The lysis defect in the neural arch between the superior and inferior facets of vertebrae can cause a "listhesis" or can be evident without separation or displacement of the vertebrae.

STANDARDS: Standards of quality or standards of care are authoritative statements of minimal levels of acceptable performance or results, or excellent levels of performance or results, or the range of acceptable performance.

STRABISMUS - Deviation of eye movement which prevents the two eyes from moving in a parallel fashion.

Sub-acute: Describes a condition with onset between three and thirteen weeks prior to the patient seeking care.

SUBARACHNOID HEMORRHAGE - Blood in or bleeding into the space under the arachnoid membrane. Most commonly from trauma or from rupture of an aneurysm.

SUBDURAL HEMATOMA - A collection of blood (clot) trapped under the dura matter, the outermost membrane surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

SUBLUXATION – Literally: the partial dislocation of a joint, a condition visible on x-ray films, in which the bony surfaces of a joint no longer face each other exactly but remain partially aligned. Chiropractors cannot completely agree among themselves what defines subluxation or what all of its ramifications are. Chiropractors have used the term subluxation to describe what seems like a bone that is out of place. Joint dysfunction is a more appropriate term.

SUBLUXATION COMPLEX - A chiropractic concept to describe the five parts of a "subluxation": Kinesopathology (altered motion of the joint), Neuropathophysiology (the nerve signals become aberrant), Myopathology (muscles become tight, spasmed, and develop taught fibers "knots" or adhesions), Histopathology (tissues surrounding the subluxation become irritated, inflamed, or congested since blood and lymph flow becomes impaired), and Pathophysiology (the pathologic changes that occur following long-term alterations in function, the late effects of tissue breakdown, and the body’s attempt to contain or stabilize the area, e.g. bone spurs, or degenerated spinal discs).

SUBLUXATION COMPLEX: A theoretical model characterized by a complex interaction of kinesiopathological, neuropathophysiological, histopathological and biomechanical changes in the spinal and other joints and their associated structures.

SUPERIOR - Situated above or directed upward toward the head of an individual.

SUPPORTIVE CARE: Necessary treatment/care for patients who have reached maximum therapeutic benefit, and for whom periodic trials of therapeutic withdrawal have led to deterioration and failure to sustain previous therapeutic gains. This form of care is initiated when the clinical problem recurs.

SYMPTOMS – What a patient feels. Common symptoms are pain, tingling, numbness, dizziness. Symptoms vary from one person to another given the same condition. Symptoms are not always reflective of the severity of a disease, e.g. a common first symptom of a heart attack is sudden death, while a tumor can cause no symptoms at all. Joint subluxations often occur without any noticeable symptoms, until the subluxated joint starts to cascade into the subluxation complex (see above). Symptoms are also often a warning signal sent from the tissues, organs and muscles to the brain that something is wrong, or damage has occurred or still may be occurring. Providing medication simply to reduce a symptom is not always an effective way of solving health problems. Symptoms often do not correlate with signs. See "SIGNS" above.

SYRINGOMYELIA - A fluid filled cavity in the spinal cord.