Part 1: What Are the Benefits of Regular Chiropractic Care?

Part 1: What Are the Benefits of Regular Chiropractic Care?

By Dr. Molly Casey

People go to chiropractors for many different reasons. Some are looking to get out of pain, others are wanting to improve their athletic performance, and some are hoping for better overall health and wellness. Then there are those who are unsure why they are there. So what are the main benefits of receiving regular chiropractic adjustments, especially if you're not in pain? That's a valid question so let's take a look.

There are four main components to the answer. Here are the first two -- communication and relaxation.

Better Communication

Your body functions based on the electrical impulses that the brain sends down the spinal cord through the miles and miles of nerves that go to every cell, system, structure, and organ in the body. Those cells, systems, structures, and organs send electrical impulses back through the miles of nerves so that the brain can process information and respond and direct accordingly. You live your entire life through this communication system. The better the communication system functions, the better you function; as a result, you experience a greater quality of life and expression of health.

One of the most common interferences in that communication system comes from a structural component -- restricted range of motion in the spinal joints. The lack of motion, or a spinal joint that is stuck and not moving properly, is called a subluxation; literally, it means less than a dislocation. When a subluxation is present, the joint itself -- the ligaments and tissues within the joint, the muscles that attach, and the nerves that exit that area of the spine -- can be negatively affected. Consequently, this means that the electrical impulses traveling to and from the body and brain can be negatively affected as well, creating less than optimal communication and function.

Because less than 10 percent of the nervous system has the ability to transmit pain, it means you can (and often do) have a subluxation present that's preventing you from experiencing optimal nervous communication and health while not feeling any pain or symptoms.

The chiropractic adjustment is done by hand and corrects the subluxation. Chiropractors perform the chiropractic adjustment with the intention of improving nervous system communication to allow the body to function at its best so that you'll have optimal expression of health and experience the greatest quality of life. Like any other healthy discipline in life such as drinking water, going to the gym, and eating healthy, consistency is key and repetition is required; that's why regular chiropractic care is important.

Promotes Relaxation

Subluxations can interfere with brain body/body brain communication, cause hypertonic (too much tone/tight) or hypotonic (too little tone/weak) muscles, inflammation, and joint swelling, among many other negative effects. When subluxations are present, the body must work harder to fix or heal these affected areas as well as deal with regular daily life function and strains. You can likely imagine subluxations creating a situation in which the body must work much harder to perform at, or maintain, a certain level of health.

Subluxations can play a role in keeping the body in a consistent state of using primarily the sympathetic nervous system -- fight, flight, or freeze. This is the portion of your nervous system that is activated in times of high stress and/or danger. The body is not intended to remain in this state primarily. Subluxations can absolutely contribute to the body being stuck in sympathetic nervous system activation.

The chiropractic adjustment can correct the subluxation and take pressure off the nervous system allowing it to shift into the preferred parasympathetic nervous system state. Living and functioning in a parasympathetic state is the condition in which you're expected to live the majority of your daily life. It's why you take deep breaths from your belly, feel calm, think clearly, and move intentionally and with steadiness.

Regular chiropractic adjustments make life better in many different ways. Better communication promotes better function, and better function promotes better experience of health and life. Having the body properly operating and utilizing systems the way they are intended creates a more relaxed and calmer experience in life. Regardless of the presence of pain, better brain-body communication and a properly operating process will take you further on your journey of health and wellness. Stop in to see the chiropractors at The Joint Chiropractic to see how they can help you help yourself by experiencing greater health through regular chiropractic adjustments.

The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this page are for informational purposes only. The purpose of this post is to promote broad consumer understanding and knowledge of various health topics, including but not limited to the benefits of chiropractic care, exercise and nutrition. It is not intended to provide or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your chiropractor, physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this page.

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