Chiropractors Are NOT Just For Back Pain

Special thank you to Dr. Bill Janeshak for shedding light on the holistic need for chiropractic care.

Why should you seek out a quality chiropractor?

Because I said so, doesn’t cut it anymore. In modern times people are far too intelligent to just

listen to an authority figure and do what they say, especially when it’s something that has been so controversial in the past.

Unless you’ve been to a good Chiropractor that actually took the time out of his/her life to educate you on WHY you need adjusting you may be using Chiropractic merely for pain relief of neck and back pain. Which in itself is not a bad thing but it’s like buying a super-computer and simply using it for a paper weight.

So, what are we really dealing with? Chiropractors deal with the nervous system first and foremost. The nervous system is the first system of the body that is developed, when the sperm and egg come together, they create the first brain cell. It’s the nervous system that is called the “Master System” of the body because it controls and regulates all the other systems in the body.

The bulk of the population believe that Chiropractors are back pain relief doctors and are much the same as physical therapist or massage therapists. While they do have expertise regarding muscles and movement, chiropractors are actually closer to Neurologists in training. They start with addressing any interference in the nervous system and with chiropractic adjustments, the patient gets well naturally.

Chiropractors are “Natural Doctor’s” meaning that they believe that by providing the body with basic needs and removing the nerve interference, the body will heal itself…naturally. They don’t prescribe drugs and don’t perform surgeries. They don’t try to manipulate the body’s natural chemistry and don’t remove anything that helps the body do its job. Not that there isn’t a need for some patients to have drugs and/or surgery, it’s just not what Chiropractors do.

The nervous system is so important that is the only system of the body that is totally incased in bone for protection. The brain has the skull around it and the spinal cord has 24 moveable bones (called vertebrae). The bones are connected and supported by ligaments (that hold bone to bone), tendons (that connect muscles to bones), muscles (that enable the spine to move), and discs (that are like shock absorbers in the spine). All of these different components of the spine are connected to the brain via nerves. The nerves let the brain know what the body is doing and where it’s positioned. All of these movements are calculated in the brain, so it knows how to respond.

Here’s an example of how this works:

Close your eyes and reach your hand out in front of your face, curl your hand into a fist and extend only your index finger as if you were pointing at something. Now, take your finger and touch the tip of your nose. Did you do it? How did you ever find your nose with your eyes closed? How did you know exactly where your finger was as it related to your nose?

It was your nerves telling your brain where your finger was, where your nose was, what position your hand was in, how much force you needed to squeeze your fist, what angle you needed to put your wrist at, and what distance your nose was from your face. The millions of calculations that the brain has to do just to take one little action like touching your nose, is nothing compared to what it has to do to create and maintain your health.

The brain also, has the same relationship with your organs, tissues, cells, hormones, neurotransmitters, and environment. It’s a shame that most people don’t even notice this vital organ until something goes wrong. Someone once said, “if our spine was on your face we’d take better care of it”.

Most people wait for the “Danger Alarm”(aka pain) before they seek out care for their spine. The interesting thing is that is exactly how we are taught, and it’s not a terrible way to ascertain to get adjusted it’s just not the full story or the most efficient way of dealing with your health care.

You’ve already seen how complex the nervous system is and how many things it affects (EVERYTHING) yet, we are only concerned when it causes us pain. The fact of the matter is that sensory nerves, i.e. nerves that cause you to feel something such as pain, tickle, vibration, touch, hot, and cold, just to name a few all add up to only about 9% of your entire nervous system. So, out of all of those different types of “feelings” pain is probably about 3%.

We are taught to evaluate our lives and health based on only 3% of all the information that is available to us. On top of that, most pain is subjective, we all know people with a high pain tolerance and we also know people that have low pain tolerances. Again, just because you can handle some pain doesn’t mean that you are functioning properly. For people that are concerned with living the best quality of life want to make sure that they are firing with all cylinders.

Well, if I you can’t rely on pain as a good indicator of when to get adjusted what do you use? A great way is to have a regularly scheduled appointment with your Chiropractor. I emphasize “your” because the doctor will know you, your lifestyle, your hobbies, your stresses, your work environment, and other personal things about you that just any Chiropractor may not know. I’ll explain why this is important in just a moment.

The best way to evaluate if you need an adjustment is to pay attention to your current level of health, or self-awareness. Be careful not to confuse this on just “how you’re feeling”, we just went over how that might not be the best measuring tool. Self-awareness does take time to learn how your body works and how you work your body. When you have knowledge of what’s “normal” and what’s “not quite right” you will be in a perfect position to determine when to see your Chiropractor.

Ok, you understand that the Chiropractic is about the nervous system, the nervous system controls everything, and a properly functioning nervous system is one of the keys to achieving and maintaining your health. Next question that always comes up is “How does the spine get out of alignment?”. There are 3 main culprits that will cause the spine to come out of alignment. They are all stresses on the body:

1. Physical Stress
2. Chemical Stress
3. Emotional Stress

A physical stress can be a trauma, such as a car accident, sports injury, or even lifting a heavy object improperly. All of these can create a huge impact on the spine and the nervous system. Repetitive stress such as using a computer mouse all day or a one-handed sport. Poor posture is not only unattractive, it causes the body to be constantly pulled out of position causing chronic and sometimes permanent spinal problems. Sitting or standing in one position for long periods of time will cause the spine to fatigue and fall out of alignment. These are by no means the entire list of physical stress; they are the most common.

While physical stress and spinal misalignments are relatively intuitive, to understand when it comes to chemical stress is a bit of a leap of faith if you weren’t already aware of the nervous system vital role in your health. Chemical stress may include food, either sensitivities or allergies, processed food and GMOs, toxins in the environment, and even well-meaning medications. When your body ingest a natural food there is a normal chemical reaction that happens, i.e. digestive process. In a normal healthy body this is exactly how you should function. When you ingest or come in contact with something that the body has to work harder to process or doesn’t recognized as food, this causes a stress on the body. It will send signals to the brain that “you are under attack” and it needs to unleash the stress response. This stress response or fight or flight response causes the nerves to be hypersensitive and muscles to tighten up, especially around the spine.

This response is relative to the perceived threat the body is under, for instance this could be a long low grade response to standard American diet (SAD), which would cause the spine to slowly weaken and degenerate or it could be a more aggressive response, like food poisoning that will sometime actually cause acute spasms throughout the body and quickly throws your spine and nervous system out of balance. Which may lead to even further dysfunctions in your body.

This is why it’s important to have knowledge of what goes into your body and how the body works.

The third way that your spine can get out of alignment is emotional stress. This is when you have a deadline at work and you’re not prepared, when you daughter didn’t call when she was supposed to, when there are more bills than money, and the list can go on and on.

Think about the last time that you were stressed out about something, what did your body do? Did your muscles tightened up? Maybe a headache? Digestion slows? Did you get a cold? Hard to concentrate? This list also can go on and on, can’t it?

Just as mentioned with chemical stresses, the body will react to the perceived threat or danger. In a chemical threat the danger is a cell or a molecule, with emotional stress the body responses to a thought. Interesting isn’t it? Same response different cause.

Here’s a common example.

Perhaps you’ve had a dream that you’re falling out of a plane or a cliff and you wake up just in time before we hit the ground. When we wake up our heart is beating faster, you could be sweating, or even out of breath. What happened? You were having a physical response to an emotional event. This is how the body response to emotional stresses.

Many people exercise and eat healthy but worry about every little thing and are constantly sick…control your emotions and you can easily control your health. The fact is that your worries, fears, and anxieties only have as much power as you give them. You get to give them meaning. Are you aware that excitement and worry is the same physiological response? You will experience one or the other based on the name you give it.

Here’s some facts about Chiropractic care throughout your life.

PreNatal: Women under Chiropractic care while pregnant have experienced easier delivers, high weight babies, markedly less complications, and less medications….and less pain.

Postnatal: After pregnancy women regain their pre pregnancy weight easier, cognitive function, get restful sleep, restore normal posture.

Pediatric: Children under Chiropractic care have less chronic diseases such as asthma, constipation, ear infections, and take less medications.

Athletes: Athletes tend to perform better and recover faster than those not under regular Chiropractic care. Most professional Teams keep at least one Chiropractor on staff to maintain optimal function of their athletes, as well as reducing injuries.

Geriatrics: The older population benefits from Chiropractic care by keeping them mobile and functioning to the best of their ability and use less lifestyle medications.

Regular Folks: Everyone else in between has shown benefits using regular Chiropractic care, less colds and flus, less back and neck pain, improved digestion, improved sleep, more energy, and less fatigue than people that don’t use Chiropractic.

I mentioned earlier that you have to find your Chiropractor as part of your health assurance (not Insurance). While all Chiropractors are trained to deliver adjustments, they are not all the same. There are different techniques, different body types, and different specialties. You need to find a Chiropractor that fits you, call a few and interview them and let them explain what they do best and tell them exactly what you’re looking for. Look to build a relationship with a trusted advisor and use that advisor to better your health and your family’s health.

If you are in the Orange County California area, I would recommend connecting with Dr. Bill Janeshak at Yorba Linda Family Chiropractic. Dr. Bill provides an in depth initial session to address your needs. Get your Depke Wellness $300 discount here now!

If you are not in the Orange County California area, I would suggest reaching out to friends, loved ones and other health professionals in your area for a quality chiropractor referral.

Also, If you have any comments or questions regarding this article please email me at info@depkewellness.com.