Burnt Fingers - ouch!

So what is it that prevents you from burning your fingers when you touch a hot surface?  The school of hard knocks perhaps - you have done this before and know the consequences and so have become conditioned to avoid repeating the action.  But what is the underlying control mechanism that activates that almost immediate response when we inadvertently touch something that is going to cause us harm?  The Nervous System is what registers this noxious stimulus as messages are sent to the brain at lightening speed along nerve pathways.  Your brain then registers this and instantly sends a reactive response out to the body which tells your muscles in your arm to contract and get your fingers out of the way.  Can you imagine what would happen if there was any delay in this response - the consequences could be dire!  

So what would happen if this same scenario was applied to other parts of your body?  What would happen if for instance there was lack or interruption of nervous supply to your heart, or your lungs, or your bladder, or your intestine?  If we take your heart as the example, the following could be possibilities:  high or low blood pressure, arrhythmia's, congestive heart failure, to name but a few.  With the lungs; asthma, and or bronchial spasm could be the result.

Chiropractic was founded as an art, science and philosophy which directly looks to the remove this nervous system distress.  The bones, or vertebrae that make up your spine protect and wrap around your spine. However, between each one of these bones is a nerve which travels out into your body and acts as the information superhighway where messages travel back and forth from your brain.  When these bones become misaligned they cause a chocking down onto these nerves and a reduction in the speed and quantity of messages that can travel along this pathway.  Your whole system then slows down and responses and function decrease.  By removing the misalignment it is like removing the roadblock along this pathway and then nerve energy is free to flow and your body will respond appropriately.   This is exactly what the chiropractic adjustment does - it is so much more than getting your back "cracked"!         

                           

Living to a Hundred - the next step!

Reduce stress and fatigue:



Nervous system stress is caused when one or more of the bones that make up your spinal column become misaligned, and it is the job of Chiropractic to remove this. These bones or vertebrae wrap around your spinal cord and protect it. However, when we experience  either emotional, physical or chemical stress or a combination of these, these bones can shift out of their normal position and in so doing pinch or choke down on the nerves that exit the spinal cord between them. When this happens the brain has a hard time communicating with the rest of the body and telling it what to do. This increases stress! Also your body is required to work harder and harder leading to burn out and fatigue. The adjustment - the precise procedure used by a chiropractor to reposition the misaligned vertebra, removes the pressure on the injured nerve and so allows for restoration of brain - body communication. This then allows your body to function to its max, reducing stress and eliminating fatigue.

Want to live to One Hundred? Start with this:

Ignite your Fire:


Exercise, good nutrition and adequate sleep are all wonderful measures that are necessary to ensure optimal health. But unfortunately they are like putting premium gas or new oil into a car that has a damaged or non-functioning electrical system. Without the electrical system working properly the car won’t even start. We can change the oil, put in the most expensive gas, pump up the tires, and even have the car detailed but it still won’t go anywhere. The oil and gas are like good food, the pumped up tires and shiny exterior are like exercise. But what is lacking is the spark. Chiropractic is the key that turns on the ignition. Chiropractic makes sure that your electrical system is intact and firing adequately and appropriately so that there is proper functioning of your body. It makes sure that you can go when you start your engine!

Chiropractic and Kids.

So the other day I had a patient ask me why I adjust my kids?  "How old are they", she enquired?  "Two and four",  I responded.  "Well they don't have any neck and back pain - they have to be too young for that, surely!", was her comment.  Her retort really was a case in self-discovery.  Wow, I realized just what a terrible job I had done on educating this patient on what chiropractic is and isn't and it also gave me a glimpse into what she believed  true health to be.

 
At the outset let me point out that simply the absence of pain does not equate with optimal health.  Seriously, consider this for a moment: if you were to neglect brushing your teeth for say a month, and didn't have pain - would you still have good oral health?  Or what about the guy who is 100lbs overweight - his blood pressure is elevated, blood sugar is sky high, but has no pain - is he the poster child of good health?
For far too long we have been indoctrinated by the pharmaceutical media, medical fraternity and insurance industry, to believe that no pain means I must be healthy.  This is based on the old adage, that by taking this pill, or cutting something out you will rid yourself of pain, and voila you are well!

Perhaps a much more realistic equation would be that optimal health needs optimal function.  If our bodies are working to their maximum potential then we are more apt to enjoy optimal health.  Health means that we need to be able to fully adapt to mental, physical and chemical stresses on a daily basis.  You can't tell me that we are immune to these.  So how do we get this?  We achieve this by ensuring that our Nervous System - our bodies' master control system, is functioning without interference as this guides function.           

So to get back to my patients' question:  Knowing that she is a parent too, I asked her whether whether she wanted the best for her kids.  A rhetorical question I know, but a good one to ask anyhow.  Did she want to give her children an inheritance that had the potential for making them stronger, brighter, happier?  As a parent this is definitely what I want.  I want to make sure that my kids are equipped with whatever it takes so that they can be their best.  That they can run, jump and skip to the best of their ability, that they can heal quickly should they get hurt, that their immune system acts the most efficiently so that colds and infections are short lived, or don't even have a chance to take hold.  And these are just a few examples of what can happen when the nervous system is working correctly.  In short, that my children are capable of functioning to their max.  This reasoning is based on the understanding that if the Nervous System can send messages out into the body that are easily interpreted and appropriately acted upon, then function is going to be optimal.  However, when these messages are garbled, faint or distorted than function will proportionately decline.

I never want my kids to suffer from this, and probably neither do you!  The best solution is to have them get adjusted.  The chiropractic adjustment makes sure that messages transported by the nervous system out into the body reach their targets as loudly and clearly as possible.  Now that's true health!

We invite you to visit our website at www.core-chiropractic.com to learn how this can be an affordable option.  Or call us at (208) 664-0800 as we would love to answer your questions.