Chiropractic focuses on the relationship between the spine and the nervous system. When your nervous system is functioning properly, your body knows how to heal, regulate, and adapt appropriately to the many stressors of everyday life, while allowing you to liver your life to the fullest. It is important to understand why everyone who wishes to be truly healthy needs to be checked by a chiropractor regularly to ensure optimal nerve function.
Chiropractors correct subluxation allowing for proper nerve supply once again. Freely flowing information across your nerve system is an essential element for health. While medicine is treating the disease of a sick person, the patients of chiropractors are focused on getting well and staying that way.
The spine is made up of 24 vertebrae, or spinal bones. Each one of these is stacked on top of each other attached by a joint. In this way, your spine forms a hollow column in which your spinal cord sits. The role of a healthy spine is to protect the nerve system from stress, allowing it to transmit information. These messages travel at 325 mph through 45 miles of nerves. When each vertebrae is in a healthy position and allowed to move properly, there is no stress on the nerve system. At its core, literally inside your spine, your spinal cord and nerve roots transmit information, connecting your brain to every organ in your body.
In a 24 hour span, this communication will result in:
- Your heart will beat 103,680 times
- You will breath 23,040 times
- 2,100 gallons of blood will pump through nearly 62,000 miles of blood vessels
- 69 trillion red blood cells will be produced
- You will exercise about 7 million brain cells
A chiropractor’s purpose is ensuring that the flow of vital information from your brain to your body occurs without interference. If not properly cared for, trauma or repetitive stress to the spine will interfere with this flow of information. An unhealthy spine will create stress on the nerve system. This is why chiropractors have had such success with conditions as diverse as high blood pressure, headaches, asthma, fertility issues, ear infections.
The changes associated with an fixated joint or subluxation cause a decrease in normal joint motion, which results in decreased information being sent to the brain. This happens via receptors called proprioceptors. Proprioceptors send positive body signals. A decrease in information being sent to the brain (proprioception) is interpreted as stress by the nerve system. Stress, whether emotional, chemical or physical (in the form of misalignments of the spine or other trauma) is responsible for lifestyle disease which kills 75% of all Americans. Through chiropractic adjustments, chiropractors are able to correct subluxations, restoring function and increasing positive body signals, therefore decreasing stress.
References: Time Life Magazine; “Fantastic Voyage; The Human Body” Feb 1997; pg 33