Have you ever tried driving with a dirty windscreen, or swimming with foggy goggles? You can still do the task — but everything feels harder, slower, and less precise.
This happened to me recently while swimming laps. My goggles fogged up and, suddenly, I couldn’t clearly see the clock at the end of the pool. That tiny bit of blur meant I mistimed my turns and my whole rhythm was thrown off. The swim felt harder, even though my body was working just fine.
And that’s exactly how I explain subluxation to patients.
A subluxation isn’t always painful. Often it’s simply a reduction in the clarity of information moving between the spine, nervous system and brain. The body still works — but not at its best.
You Don’t Always Feel a Subluxation — But It Still Affects Performance
One of the most misunderstood things in chiropractic is this:
👉 You can have a subluxation without feeling any back pain at all.
For children, this reduced clarity in the nervous system may show up as:
- Concentration issues
- Irritability
- Poor coordination
- Disturbed sleep
- Declining sports performance
- Low energy
For adults, it often appears as:
- Fatigue
- Slower recovery after exercise
- Headaches
- Digestive changes
- Stiffness or tension
- Feeling “not quite right”
Just like I could still swim with foggy goggles, you can still function with a subluxation — but you’re working harder than you should be.
How Subluxation Blurs the Body–Brain Connection
Your spine is not just a structural support; it’s a sensory organ. Every joint in your spine sends information to your brain about movement, balance and posture.
When one of those joints isn’t moving well, the messages become distorted — a bit like static on a radio.
Research from Haavik, Haavik-Taylor, Chestnut, Hilt and Niazi has repeatedly shown that spinal dysfunction affects:
- Sensory processing
- Motor control
- Coordination
- Muscle activation
- Cortical (brain) activity
In other words:
A subluxation reduces the accuracy of your body’s internal communication system.
And when your nervous system is working with “foggy” or unclear information, the body must work harder to perform even simple tasks.
Why This Matters for Kids and Adults
Think back to the foggy goggles analogy.
I didn’t lose the ability to swim — I lost the clarity of information that helps me swim well.
This is a perfect way to understand the impact of subluxation:
In Children
Their brains are developing rapidly. They rely on clear sensory input to grow, learn and coordinate. Reduced spinal function can quietly affect:
- Learning
- Behaviour
- Fine and gross motor skills
- Emotional regulation
- Sporting performance
In Adults
We notice it as:
- Being “off your game”
- Feeling tired more easily
- Losing strength or speed
- Slower reaction times
- Trouble focusing
- Recurrent tightness or headaches
Pain is usually the last thing to appear.
Performance changes come first.
What Chiropractic Care Does
At Family Chiropractic Chatswood, my goal is simple:
🧭 Help restore clarity to your nervous system so your body performs more efficiently.
That happens through:
- Specific chiropractic adjustments
- Corrective movement guidance
- Postural awareness
- Sleep, stress and lifestyle coaching
When the spine moves better, the nervous system works with clearer, cleaner information — like wiping the windscreen or clearing the goggles.
And when the information improves, the whole system performs better.
If You or Your Child Feel “Not Quite Right”…
Whether it’s your child struggling in sport or school, or you feeling slower, tighter or less sharp than usual, it may not be “just getting older” or “just stress.”
It may simply be foggy goggles.
A chiropractic assessment can help you understand what your nervous system is doing — and whether a subluxation is affecting your performance.
If you’d like to learn more or book an appointment, we’re always here to help.
Clear goggles. Clear windscreen. Clearer function.
