How the Diagnosis Is Made
A diagnosis may be purely biomechanical. It is not a matter of something being “out of place” — you cannot “snap something back into position” or “straighten” a joint. That is not physically possible.
From a chiropractic perspective, the issue involves reduced movement in one or more joints, which can range from slightly restricted to severely fixed.
In the optimal situation, a joint should have full range of motion, but in many cases, there will also be a neurological dysfunction — resulting in a functional neurological diagnosis.
The latter is crucial if the goal is to treat the actual cause rather than merely the symptom.