The answer has 2 parts:

1. A subluxation is a misaligned vertebra that causes pressure on the nervous system.  It affects the chemistry and degree of inflammation and muscular guarding in the area and its movement is restricted.  A subluxation mechanically alters other parts of the spine.

1. A compensation is a vertebral misalignment that results from a subluxation elsewhere.  It is an effect, and every subluxation causes at least one.  Compensations on x-ray often look much more obvious than true subluxations in their degree of misalignment.

A considerable number of misalignments in the spine are compensations instead of subluxations.

If one does not understand compensations with the spine, he/she will inadvertently be adjusting the wrong vertebra and the true subluxations will remain uncorrected and the patient will be left in the same place with spinal misalignments and nerve pressure.

So, that’s why we adjust less.  We work diligently to find the subluxations and correct those, which allows the compensations to align as well!