To shed some light on chiropractic and how it could benefit you, please allow us to offer you a brief lesson on the basics of chiropractic. Let’s have a little fun and call it “Chiropractic 101.” Can you guess what is the core, weight-bearing structure of your body to which all other structures are attached and which hold you upright? This structure also plays the very important role of protecting the delicate lifeline of communication between your brain and all the organs, glands, tissues and cells in your body. Yes, congratulations! You guessed it! It’s your spine.
The bones, or vertebrae, in your spine hold up and protect your spinal cord. And we all know how important the spinal cord is. The spinal cord is what the highway to the brain, (the master computer of your body), uses to send controlling and coordinating messages to all the rest of your body. These messages are critical to the best function and the best performance of your body and all its parts.
If your body and all of its parts function and perform at their best, then you know what? You function and perform at your best on every level: physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual. But, what happens when there is interference to those messages between your brain and your body’s organs, glands and systems?
Yes, you guessed it again! The function of your body and the level of your performance would be indeed compromised. And who wants that?
And how does interference happen to the life-giving messages between your brain and the rest of your body?
We are sure you are familiar with the most tragic and obvious form of interference to the nerve system, and that is the major interference to the spinal cord, which causes paralysis, major loss of organ function and worse.
Well, there is another kind of interference to the nerve system that happens in the spine, which is often much more subtle but can be devastating to your body over time.
Let us explain. Because the bones in the spine are movable to give us flexibility and mobility, they can also get stuck or moved out of the proper position. If the spinal bones get stuck or become misaligned, they can irritate, put pressure on and interfere with sensitive nerves that exit from the spinal cord, between the bones of the spine, to all parts of your body.
These spinal nerves are the primary conductors of those life-giving messages from the brain to the rest of your body. If these nerves are interfered with, the messages to your body parts are also interfered with, causing the compromise of function and performance of your entire body.
These particular interferences, caused by the pressure of your spinal bones on your spinal nerves, are called subluxations (specific Chiropractic term, not to be confused with a medical subluxation) created by joint dysfunction. A subluxation occurs when the bones of the spine get stuck (joint dysfunction) or misaligned and put pressure on and irritate the spinal nerves that exit from the spine, causing the interruption of the brain’s ability to control and coordinate every cell, gland, organ and system in your body. A mouthful, but we are sure you get the idea, Nerve Interferences (subluxations/joint dysfunction) to your nerve system cause communication and relay problems to your body and your life!
How do you get these subluxations/joint dysfunctions?
Misalignments or subluxations of your spine are caused by physical traumas: birth trauma, childhood accidents, falls, quick jerks, prolonged positions, repetitive movements, sports, lifting, bending, work or car accidents. You may or may not be aware of how these common incidents, which occur throughout your lifetime, can and do affect the movement, stability and the function of your spine, therefore, the health of your entire body.
And how do you know if you have these subluxations/joint dysfunctions?
Great thinking and great question!
Are they painful? Do they cause stiffness? Do they cause numbness or tingling? The answer to these questions is: Sometimes yes and sometimes no.
Subluxations/joint dysfunction can indeed cause pain, stiffness, numbness and/or tingling in the back, neck, shoulders, hips, arms, legs and head. But, often times, they are very asymptomatic for many years causing no pain at all but slowly causing wear and tear to the spine itself.
And even worse, subluxations/joint dysfunction, remember, interfere with the function of your organs and glands and, therefore, can have devastating effects over your lifetime to your overall function and health. So, if you can’t tell for sure what is going on in your spine by the pain and symptoms, how can you know for sure if you are subluxated or ave joint dysfunction? Well, that is our job as chiropractors-to check your spine to see if you have subluxations/joint dysfunction or misalignments in your spine and then assist your body in correcting them! How awesome is that? And that is the end of lesson “Chiropractic 101!”
Download Health Guide (DOC)
Bridlewood Chiropractic Centre 