With the main focus of chiropractic being on the spine, many people think chiropractors can only help with problems such as back pain, neck pain, and headaches. 

And while it’s true that chiropractors can often help people with pain, there is so much more to chiropractic than just treating pain. Chiropractic care is really about total health and well-being. It’s about helping people to feel great, and get the most out of life, functioning at their optimal potential.

To understand how this works, it’s important to consider the spine’s role in the body. The spine is there to protect the spinal cord, which is part of the central nervous system. The spine is like a set of armor made up of segments, so that it can bend and move naturally with the body.

A spinal segment consists of two vertebrae and the joints that connect them. There is a disc in-between each vertebra that acts as a cushion.

Underneath that armor, a whole lot is happening. Messages travel from around the body, up the spinal cord and into the brain. The brain processes those messages and sends replies back down the spinal cord to tell the body how to respond. The central nervous system is one big information highway, and it carries vital messages to every part of your body.

Sometimes, the wear and tear of everyday life can impact the spine and cause spinal segments to move in a way that is different to normal – in a dysfunctional way.¹ That wear and tear can happen gradually, such as from bad posture, or it can happen suddenly, which is common with sports injuries.

Because of the close relationship between the spine and the nervous system, everyday strains can actually impact the flow of information between the brain and the body. Messages may not be delivered to the brain, or they may be inaccurate.^{2, 3}

When that miscommunication occurs due to abnormal movement in the spine, chiropractors call this a ‘vertebral subluxation’.³ A vertebral subluxation occurs when you have abnormal movement in the spine that interferes with the accurate flow of information between your brain and body.³ As a chiropractor our number one job is improve the function of your spine.

By making fast, gentle adjustments to the spine, we can help restore its natural movement and improve the flow of accurate information throughout your nervous system.^{2, 4-8} A great example of this would be to view your central nervous system like the ‘engine’ of your body and the Chiropractor acts like the mechanic - tuning the spine and central nervous system so that your body can run like a race car.

People often ask about when they are being adjusted, what are the popping sounds that occur with some adjustments. We always like to point out early on in the piece that these popping sounds are completely harmless – they’re just the release of gas from between spinal segments,⁹ and they are no more significant than any other release of gas from the body.

So let us give you a bit of background information about how your brain and nervous system work.

The interesting thing here is that how you – or your brain – sees a situation may not be entirely accurate. Sometimes your brain even ‘fills in the blanks’ on your behalf!¹⁵ So this means that your experience isn’t 100% based on reality, but is instead a perception of reality.

Let’s look at an example of how the brain fills in the blanks. Look at this picture and consider which square is darker, square A or square B?

They’re actually exactly the same color. It is incredible isn’t it! Your brain does not just ‘see’ what the eyes tell it. It interprets what the eyes tell it based on other information it has already stored up.¹⁶

In this case you see square A as darker than square B, because square B is in the shadow of the green cylinder, while square A is outside the shadow. Based on your brain’s past experience it will ‘decide’ for you that if a square in a shadow reflects the same amount of light as a square outside the shadow, then it must be a lighter shade of grey.

This ability of the brain to fill in the gaps or create its own perception of reality can become a problem for you if your brain is not accurately perceiving what’s going on inside and outside of your body.^17-19 What happens if the brain’s map of the body is inaccurate, or if it is interpreting information based on faulty perceptions? It may mean that your brain responds to environmental cues ineffectively.^17-19 

But how would you know if your brain’s map of the body or its knowledge of the environment was inaccurate?

You might find that you become a bit clumsy.²⁰ That you stub your toe often, or catch your elbow on door frames. You may find that your golf swing is out. Or that your concentration is just not what it used to be. Or you may find yourself over-reacting emotionally to a situation.

This is where chiropractic comes into the picture because the vertebral subluxations mentioned earlier alter the way your brain processes information coming from the environment.³ So by correcting vertebral subluxations chiropractic care can help restore the function of the brain and the central nervous system, improving the accuracy of your brain’s map of the body, so that you can operate at your best.^{2, 9} Let's examine this in a little more detail so it makes more sense.

We know that our brain receives information about your body and the environment from your sensory organs – such as our eyes, ears and nose.

But did you know that the muscles in your body are also sensory organs? As your body moves, muscles stretch, and this information is sent to your brain, so that it knows what your body is doing.²¹

When you think of muscles you probably think of your biceps and triceps. And you won’t necessarily think of the small muscles close to your spine and skull.

These small muscles do in fact play a very important role – they tell your brain what your spine is doing, which represents what the core of your body is doing.^{21, 22}

However, if your spinal segments begin to move in a dysfunctional way – for example due to an injury or bad posture – then that communication between your spinal muscles and your brain becomes distorted, which means you have a communication breakdown between your brain and your body. This is exactly what happens when you have a vertebral subluxation in your spine.³

If you have a vertebral subluxation it may cause background noise for your brain or your brain might not be getting adequate information about what’s happening in your body, and will therefore have to fill in the blanks.^{2, 3}

This is where your chiropractor comes in. A chiropractor will gently adjust any dysfunctional spinal segments, these vertebral subluxations that are continuously mentioned, to restore healthy movement. This can improve the communication between your brain, your body and the environment.^{3, 23} It is a lot like rebooting a computer.

When your brain can accurately perceive what is going on inside and out, it can control your body better for the situation at hand, and move muscles in the right order. ^17-19 This means your body moves accurately, you have fewer accidents, and you can function and perform at your best.

So chiropractic care is all about improving the function of your nervous system so you can function at your optimal potential.

References:

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