Chiropractic: It’s Not Just For Back and Neck Pain

If you’ve ever suffered through a stiff neck or pain in your back, you’ve likely given chiropractic care a thought and maybe even visited your local chiropractor for an ‘adjustment’. That’s what chiropractors call the force that they use when they move the vertebrae (bones) in your spine and, if you’ve ever experienced a well-performed adjustment from an experienced chiropractor, you no doubt know how much better you feel afterward.

But here’s the thing; chiropractic care is much more than just helping your back or neck to feel better. In fact, regular chiropractic care (even when you don’t have any pain at all) can keep your entire body healthy throughout your life, helping you to avoid many crippling diseases and conditions down the road.

Chiropractors take care of the spine, and the spine takes care of you.

Think about it like this; in your head sits the most important organ in your entire body, your brain. Your brain is the ‘central computer’, telling your body what to do every second of every day of your life. How does it do this? Via the nervous system, the massive collection of nerves that reach out to every organ, every limb, every joint and every other part of your body, from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet.

So the brain’s up top, running the whole show, and the nerves are the cables that connect it to the body. But there’s one nerve that’s bigger and more important than the rest, the spinal cord, and guess where the spinal cord is located? If you said “inside the spine” you’re correct! Like your skull, a dense bone that protects your soft, squishy brain, the spine is a series of dense bones that protect your soft, squishy spinal cord, making your spine the 2nd most important set of bones in your body after your skull!

A misaligned or ‘subluxated’ spine can cause much more than just pain

Over 100 years ago the first chiropractor realized that, if the vertebrae of the spine were misaligned or ‘subluxated’, they would put pressure on the delicate nerves within, causing not only pain and discomfort but, over time, disease and medical conditions of many kinds such as migraines, sciatica and carpal tunnel. Plus some have heart, liver, kidney and digestive problems. Some scientists even believe that a subluxated spine can cause cancer and other diseases. 

That’s why chiropractors focus on the spine, and use specific adjustments to put the vertebrae back into their correct position, taking pressure off of the nerves and allowing the brain to fully and completely communicate with the body without any interference. In that way, your body will be able to heal itself fully, all the time, because the brain can tell it what to do without interference from misaligned or ‘subluxated’ vertebrae pinching the nerves and cutting off the flow of information!

What causes these ‘subluxations’? Many things, including accidents, poor posture, sports injuries, stress, work, heavy lifting and much more, things that most of us do every day! Today especially, many people are hurting their spine, and thus their health, because they look down at their smartphone screens all day, pushing their neck out of alignment and putting massive pressure on the nerves!

Chiropractic Care is True Health Care

Hopefully, you now have a better appreciation for what chiropractors can do. The fact is, they can help you stay healthier, longer, and help you avoid many of the problems that plague most Americans. All it takes is regular chiropractic care, something that the fine staff at Integrated Health Solutions offers every day. Our Tinley Park chiropractic facility also offers massage therapy, trigger point therapy, nutrition advice and much more, to help you and your family stay fit, healthy and happy throughout your life.