Chiropractic is really a system of health care. This is a completely new idea to a lot of people unfortunately. But I hope you'll keep an open mind as you continue to read this article (and future posts). I'm not here to tell you you're wrong, you've just been misled. And you're not alone. Our society is not programmed to maintain health and prevent disease, instead we're taught to live in the now and take a pill when it hurts.
The first body system to develop is the nervous system. That's right, it is NOT the cardiovascular system. This makes sense because the nervous system - comprised of the brain, spinal cord and nerves - controls every aspect of our body, including the beating of our heart. Even days after conception, the nervous system is regulating the development of the rest of the body.
This makes the brain the central controller of our body. It sends its messages down through the spinal cord and out to every organ, tissue and cell in the body. Because of this vital role, mother nature made sure the brain and spinal cord were protected by bone - the skull and vertebra. There's are 24 individual vertebra surrounding the spinal cord. Some people refer to this as your back bone, but it is in fact 24 individual bones.
Occasionally, these vertebrae can become misaligned. Chiropractors call this a subluxation. Subluxations interfere with the nerves that exit the spinal cord and travel between each of the vertebrae. This interference has many manifestations. Commonly there's some stiffness of the back musculature, but much more sinister is the potential effect this interference has on the tissue it supplies. Digestive issues, asthma, depression, bed wetting, even angina can all be caused by spinal subluxations because there is a nervous system connection with the stomach, lungs, brain (obviously!), bladder and heart!
A lot of people think chiropractic primarily deals with back pain, but hopefully you've just realized how it can help with so much more. Pain is really just the tip of the iceberg. Underneath that pain is a much bigger problem. Most people reach for something like aspirin to "get rid of the pain," but does that aspirin do anything to fix the underlying problem - the subluxation? Of course not. It's like turning off the fire alarm so you can ignore the fire. Pain is present to tell you something is wrong, that your body needs to heal. Does it make sense to mask the pain so you can continue the tasks that will damage you further? Does the absence of pain make you less damaged? Pain is often the last symptoms to appear.
Your body has a self-healing intelligence, chiropractors call this innate. Again, this innate healing ability is carried out by the nervous system and without proper communication, the message gets distorted. This is where chiropractors come in. We adjust the vertebrae, to put them back into proper position and restore proper motion so that the nerves can once again carry their messages uninterrupted. This allows the digestive system to get the most nutrients from the foods we eat without experiencing unpleasant episodes of reflux, bloating and gas. By improving motion, exercise is made easier and muscles are less tight, helping us to sleep better at night. All these things help the immune system fight off invading viruses and bacteria. Chiropractic patients experience fewer colds each season and often don't get the flu, but these are hardly the best of the benefits provided by chiropractic care.
Chiropractic can open the door to a life full of potential. When teamed with good nutrition and exercise, a solid foundation is made on which true health can be achieved.
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