Fill Your Pocketbook By Protecting Your Health

While we often take many things in life for granted, one thing you should not be neglecting is the health of your spine. Stress, poor workplace ergonomics, improper lifting techniques, old sports injuries, poor nutritional choices and chronic bad health can all lead to a decline in the health of your spine.

Your spinal column, which is made up of the vertebral bones of the spine, houses and protects the very delicate yet important spinal cord. Along with the brain, the spinal cord and spinal nerves make up the nervous system, which controls every organ and function in the human body. October is National Chiropractic Month, and the purpose is to educate everyone on the importance of the spine, ways to protect it, and how chiropractic can help enhance quality of life by ensuring the nervous system communicates with the entire body properly.

Chiropractic is an entire form of healthcare all its own, complete with its own diagnostic and treatment systems based on the concept that the nervous system coordinates all of the body's functions, and that disease results from a lack of normal nerve function. Chiropractic uses adjustments of misaligned vertebra (subluxations) in the spine to relieve pressure on nerves coming from the spinal cord. This pressure may be due to direct irritation on nerves that exit between vertebrae, from inflammation of tissues around a nerve as a result of trauma, or from decreased blood flow or lymph drainage in areas where there is stagnation of fluids.

While many patients feel pain relief as a result of their treatments, chiropractors treat much more than pain. Unless there is a recent direct injury, pain is usually one of the last symptoms to appear when there is a problem. How many times have you heard of someone having heart disease, but the chest pain was the first symptom of the problem during the heart attack? Pain is not always the best indicator to let us know if there is a problem or not, or if we are healthy or not.

Since chiropractic actually focuses on the health of the nervous system and how it relates to the rest of the body, it addresses much more than pain issues. Many patients experience such a relief for a variety of problems that they want to come back periodically to sustain their improved quality of life. Chiropractic has been known to help with infertility, menstrual pain & irregularities, pregnancy conditions, breech babies, breast feeding difficulties, colic, ear infections, fighting infections by boosting the immune system, incontinence, headaches/migraines, low back pain, sciatica, carpal tunnel syndrome, foot, knee & hip pain, impotence, menopause discomforts, constipation/IBS, asthma, allergies, sinus infections, food allergies, reflux, TMJ dysfunction, ADHD and more.

The idea behind chiropractic is not that it is an individual cure for any one of these disorders, but rather that it helps balance and regulate the nervous system so that it can do its job of controlling the functions of the body. When we have stress hormones and toxins from our food & environment bombarding our body constantly, it makes our supporting tissues such as muscles, ligaments, and tendons weaker. Bones are surrounded by and supported by these tissues, and when they fail, our bones cannot stay in their proper alignment. When we overuse certain areas of our body because of repetitive motions at work, we can wear out the joints. If these joints happen to be in our spine, then it can irritate or injure the spinal nerves. It is easy to see how small and repetitive things can become major problems if we do not take proper care of ourselves.

Chiropractic is a lifestyle approach focused around the health of the spine, but also incorporates other aspects to ensure that the whole body is taken care of properly. No system can operate alone within the human body, so all parts must be functioning properly to make the whole person the best it can be. Most chiropractors include postural evaluations and nutritional consultations in their exams as well. Diagnostic tools such as x-rays visualize exactly what your spine is trying to tell them at that particular moment. Muscle testing may show where imbalances within the body are hiding. Computerized scans of the spine can detect heat and muscle imbalances from side to side, which may indicate areas of inflammation. Scans of the feet show uneven weight distribution and potential problems. Healthcare classes offer up ways to improve quality of sleep, decrease stress, make better nutritional choices, and make healthier choices for raising children. Many will include demonstrations of proper techniques to lift, work in the garden, exercise, or sleep.

Chiropractic is also a great way to avoid unnecessary drugs and surgery. Patients may find they no longer need to take over the counter pain medication to treat headaches or backaches. They sleep better and no longer need to take sleeping pills at night. Many children can avoid or break the vicious antibiotic habit because chiropractic helped them avoid reoccurring ear infections. Patients have been able to get off or reduce medications for high blood pressure, asthma, allergies, and reflux because balance was restored to their nervous system.

Many patients find they can avoid surgeries for herniated discs, sciatica, knees, hips, carpal tunnel syndrome, and TMJ dysfunction because chiropractic realigns the joints and decreases wear and tear. When the joints of our extremities and spine are properly aligned and move smoothly, there is less pain and friction. This slows down the degeneration process and allows our body to move freely and easily.

During the month of October, ask yourself, your family and your friends how chiropractic care could improve your quality of life. You may be surprised to learn that many of your day-to-day complaints could be helped by incorporating the chiropractic lifestyle into your daily routine. A wise man named Thomas Edison once said, "The doctor of the future will interest patients in the care of the human frame." This is definitely solid advice.

Massage for Detoxification