Chiropractic care is a non-invasive therapy that has been helping people improve their overall health and well-being for over 110 years. Scientific studies have shown that chiropractic care may be an effective therapy option for numerous conditions including:
- Back pain
- Sciatica
- Neck Pain
- Dizziness
- High blood pressure
- Acid Reflux Syndrome
- Dyslexia
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- Shoulder Injury
- Scoliosis
- Sports Injuries
- Stretch Mark Reduction
- Stress Headaches
- Insomnia
- And hundreds more…
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Millions of people have been turning to the natural approach to chiropractic and have seen lasting results from many therapies and treatment options that are safe and natural. Below is an overlook on how your back can be injured and how chiropractic care can help restore your body and get back to a healthy state.
About Your Spine
The human spine is an extremely amazing and complex structure that provides support to the body, shields the internal organs and nervous system, and allows incredible flexibility and range of motion and movement.
The spine can also be exposed to very high forces, especially during lifting, that certain areas of the spine can experience around 300 pounds of force. This combination of flexibility and complexity makes the spine vulnerable to damage. In fact, over 1/3 of all adults report some form of frequent back pain.
The Structure of the Spine
The building blocks of the spine are the boney vertebrae. The vertebrae are extremely strong and support the weight of the body, protect the spinal cord, blood vessels, and nerves of the torso. The vertebral discs are made of fibrous tissue and act as shock absorbers that sit between each vertebrae which protect the bones from damage and allows the bones to bend and rotate.
The spinal cord passes through each of the vertebrae and the spinal nerves branch out between each vertebral segment. These spinal nerves travel throughout the body communicating with our muscles and internal organs giving us the ability to sense our surroundings and move our bodies. The bones of the vertebrae are attached by ligaments-which are tough bands that act as straps- except too much movement can be dangerous to the spinal cord and spinal nerves and the ligaments hinder this motion.
Movement and stability of the spine is made possible by hundreds of muscles which connect to the vertebrae. The small muscles that attach to the spine work without us having to do anything and are constantly working to stabilize our spine and maintaining an upright position.
Many different segments have to work together to maintain a healthy spine. When all of these pieces are working properly we are not even aware of them being there. But when one piece fails, the rest of the parts are affected as well.
The role of chiropractic is to make sure all of the pieces of your spine are working properly the way they are intended.
How Your Back Can be Injured
Injury to the spine can involved numerous structures. Ligament injury is very common and linked to back pain and can stem from improperly lifting a heavy box or tool. When a ligament is damaged, a number of things occur.
The body’s first reaction is to stop any other damage from happening. It is a simple reflex where the injured ligament sends a signal to the spinal cord, which in turn sends a signal to the surrounding area to contract or tighten. The contracted muscles work to protect the spine from any more damage by limiting motion. That’s why your back feels tense or sore after you have damaged it.
Next, the injured tissues become inflamed when the body sends white blood cells and chemicals to the area to begin the healing process. Inflammation causes pain and further restricted movement of the joint.
Finally, the body attempts to repair the damaged ligament, and it completes that by making scar tissue-which acts like a quick patch to the injured tissues. The problem with scar tissue is that it is not nearly as flexible as normal healthy tissue resulting in the joint losing much of its mobility making it even harder for the joint to move.
The result of all of this guarding, inflammation, and scar tissue develops into reduced mobility and your range of motion. This impaired flexibility puts immense strain on the joints of the spine which results in an increase in wear and tear on the discs between the vertebrae. This immobility in the injured region also affects how your whole body works.
Pain and restriction in the spine can alter how your entire body moves. If left untreated, this pattern between the muscles, spinal cord, and the brain can result in permanent dysfunction of the injured area and can create pain in other parts of the body as well.
How Chiropractic Care can Help
As we now know, a flexible spine is a healthy spine, and that is the main goal of chiropractic care here at AdvaCare Clinics. Chiropractic care helps your spine regain its mobility. To do this, our chiropractor finds the vertebrae that are not moving correctly, then those vertebrae are adjusted or rapidly moved which stretches the joint causing the nerves in the joints that detect motion to become stimulated. Although it may seem that chiropractic care mainly focuses on a single vertebrae, the effects of this are way more widespread throughout your body.
Recent medical research shows that chiropractic care has dramatic effects on the central nervous system. Chiropractic care helps your spine regain function in three ways.
First, chiropractic works by creating movement in the ligaments of the spine. Research suggest that when the ligaments are stretched during a chiropractic adjustment, the scar tissue is broken down which allows the ligament to grow new and healthy tissue.
Second, the adjusted vertebrae sends nerve signals to the spinal cord into the brain stem, Immediately, the pain signals are interrupted in the spinal cord which breaks the pattern of tension that causes fixation of the joint.
Third, research has found that chiropractic also has direct effects of the brain itself. According to recent studies from both the U.S. and New Zealand, chiropractic adjustments send nerve impulses to the lower portions of the brain. These impulses effects how your brain processes pain.
Chiropractic is proven to work by stretching ligaments of the spine, break up pain signals, and affects the nervous system.
AdvaCare Clinics has over 85 years combined medical treatment experience, trusted to provide you the care you need to get your health back. Call AdvaCare Clinics today (952) 835-6653 today if you have any questions about any of our therapies or to schedule a complimentary screening today.
