He Said, She Said, The Chiropractor Said: S.A.I.D - Part A

We’re all familiar with the principle: 

S.A.I.D. — Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand. 

It underpins strength training, rehab, and biology itself. The body adapts specifically to the specific demands placed upon it. Nothing general about it. 

And yet… 

How often is this principle forgotten in chiropractic care? 

The Myth of the One-Off Adjustment 

In the early days of chiropractic, people were “cracked” once or twice and walked away transformed. They told stories of miracles. And sometimes, they were right. 

But that was then. 

They were farmers, builders, and factory workers. They moved. They slept when the sun went down. They ate from the ground, not from a packet. Their nervous systems were mechanical. 

Today, our patients sit. Scroll. Stress. They move poorly, eat worse, sleep less, and burn their adrenals dry. Their nervous systems are no longer primarily receiving mechanical input. They’re chemical, emotional, and inflammatory — internalised. 

You Can’t Decompress a Lifetime of Stress in One Thrust 

We must let go of the old story — the one that says: 

“If you do it right, it’ll only take one.” 

Wrong. 

That belief belongs to a mechanical model of care — a time when mechanical dysfunctions were the problem, and mechanical corrections were the solution. 

Today? 

We’re dealing with: 

      •     Dysregulated vagal tone 

      •     Chronic systemic inflammation 

      •     Altered proprioceptive feedback loops 

      •     Stress-induced somatic patterns 

      •     And tissues that haven’t moved properly in decades 

One-million-dollar roll won’t undo 15 years at a desk, four hours of sleep a night, and three decades of processed food. 

Repeat the Adjustment. Same Way. Same Direction. With Purpose. 

S.A.I.D. tells us: 

      •     The joint will only adapt to what is repeatedly done to it 

      •     Neural pathways will only rewire through repetition 

      •     Compensation will only release when the primary restriction has truly changed 

That’s not a flaw in the system. That is the system. 

So if you find a restriction — if you test it, adjust it, and it improves — you do it again. Same vector. Same direction. Until the joint no longer requires it. 

This Is Not Dogma — It’s Neurology 

You wouldn’t train a muscle once and expect hypertrophy. 

You wouldn’t stretch a tendon once and expect pliability. 

So why would you expect one thrust to remap the nervous system? 

The repetition of an accurate, vector-specific adjustment is what allows: 

      •     Neurological rewiring 

      •     Proprioceptive recalibration 

      •     Stabilisation of once-hypermobile segments 

      •     Dissolution of primary fixations for good 

But it requires confidence. And confidence comes from clarity. 

Clarity in your palpation. 

Clarity in your vector. 

Clarity in your explanation. 

Explaining It to the Patient 

This is where so many chiropractors fall short. Not in technique — but in communication. 

They overpromise, under-deliver, and under-educate. 

If you can explain S.A.I.D. to a patient — if you can say: 

“Your body will only change if we give it a consistent input, over time, in the right place, and in the right direction…” 

Then they get it. And they commit. 

We no longer live in a mechanical world. 

We live in a chemical world — and that world shapes our neurology more than we ever believed. 

The adjustment is still central. But it cannot exist in isolation. 

And that will be the focus of Part B. 

Blog 7B: Adjusting in a Chemical World — The Demands Beyond the Table 

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

Essential skills- Proficient clinicians

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