Adjusting in a Chemical World - The Demands Beyond the Table - Part B

Sally Robinson
Jan 18
3 min read

In Part A, we made the case for repetition — the need to adjust the same joint, in the same direction, multiple times to honour the S.A.I.D. principle and allow true adaptation.

But now we must ask a more complex question:

What happens if you’re delivering perfect adjustments, but the patient still isn’t getting better?

This is the part many chiropractors shy away from.

They hide in technique. They blame compliance. They second-guess themselves.

But often, it’s not the adjustment that’s failing.

It’s the context into which it’s being delivered.

We Are Not Just Mechanical Beings

We are biochemical, emotional, postural, social, and behavioural.

To ignore these layers is to play chess on a board with half the pieces missing.

In a modern chemical world, our patients live in a state of chronic internal dysfunction:

• Poor-quality food

• Artificial light exposure

• Chronic stress hormone secretion

• Poor interoceptive awareness

• Fragmented sleep and circadian rhythm dysregulation

• Constant sympathetic tone

No adjustment — however brilliant — can override a life lived entirely out of rhythm.

Why the Adjustment Still Matters

Let’s be clear:

The adjustment remains a critical input.

It is:

• A recalibration of afferent input

• A reintroduction of motion where it has been absent

• A tool for unlocking protective neural tone

• A way to reduce nociceptive noise and restore perceptive clarity

However, it must be supported by other clinical interventions and understood within its context.

Adjunctive Chiropractic Care Is Not Dilution — It’s Maturation

This is not about abandoning chiropractic.

It’s about evolving it.

Just as BJ evolved from DD, and the neurocentric pioneers evolved again in the late 20th century, we must now expand the paradigm.

A good chiropractor adjusts the spine.

A great chiropractor adjusts the lifestyle around the spine.

This means:

• Nutritional guidance (e.g. anti-inflammatory diets, blood sugar control)

• Breathwork and vagal stimulation techniques

• Simple movement hygiene practices

• Sleep regulation strategies

• Appropriate supplementation (guided by people like Simon Billings)

None of these replaces the adjustment. They support it.

The Art of the Conversation.

To deliver proper care, you must also provide accurate communication.

Not everyone wants to hear about sleep hygiene.

Not everyone is ready to give up sugar, or alcohol, or their Netflix binges.

But if you can gently shift their awareness — just a few degrees — you’re creating space for your adjustment to land more deeply.

Sometimes, the best adjustment isn’t with your hands.

It’s with your words.

A Holohomeopathic Approach

We’ve spoken about this before, and it bears repeating.

A holohomeopathic chiropractic model recognises:

• The whole person

• The whole environment

• The whole clinical interaction

It aims not to fight pathology, but to restore adaptability.

This model accepts that many modern dysfunctions are chronic, diffuse, and multifactorial. And it meets them with humility, precision, and a willingness to act across multiple domains.

Final Thoughts: Are You Demanding the Right Things?

If S.A.I.D. is true, then we must ask:

What are you asking your patient to adapt to?

Are you asking them to receive motion once, then return to dysfunction?

Or are you inviting them — repeatedly, rhythmically — into a new way of being?

The latter takes time.

It takes communication.

It takes the right kind of pressure, applied with consistency and clarity.

Just like the adjustment.

The chiropractor said: S.A.I.D.

And in a world drowning in demands, let ours be the one that sets them free.

Aidan - Enchiridion Chiropractic Training