Every cell in your body is hardwired to be healthy. When we go to a chiropractor, it is more than joint mobilization, or what many call “back cracking”. The main reason we should be receiving a chiropractic adjustment is to relieve pressure on our nerve system; this is critical because it controls and coordinates every aspect of the body. 

The human body has self-regulating and self-healing mechanisms. We are designed to function, heal and recreate from the inside out as the body works to maintain a balanced functioning state. For example, it strives to actively keep our blood pressure, blood sugar and heart rate within a normal range. This requires that millions of messages be transported from the brain down the spine, and then out to the organs, tissues and cells. The purpose of a chiropractic adjustment is to clear any interference in that pathway.

Common issues that can be helped include difficulty conceiving, depression, pain and dependence on painkillers, inadequate sleep, numbness and tingling, sinus infections, digestion challenges, and breathing problems, among others. This doesn’t happen by “cracking a back,” but rather when pressure comes off the central nervous system and the body is again able to heal itself.

Unfortunately, it seems the expectation in America is that we are supposed to be sick, and that there is always a solution—usually found in a bottle. This belief system is crumbling. Reactive health care is failing; we are seeing more degenerative disease—such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and arthritis—than ever before. We must be proactive and optimize our health so we too don’t follow that path. Research tells us that genetics account for only about one-third of how long and well we live; the rest is under our control. In other words, our state of health is a result of how much we do to be healthy. Health is built by our daily lifestyle choices.

Our health conditions are the culmination of the body’s inability to adapt to the stressors placed upon it on a regular basis. When we come to this realization, it leaves us with two choices: remove the stress or increase the body’s ability to adapt to it. Chiropractic care can help with the latter. Stressors cause spinal shifts within the inner framework of the body, thereby impairing or impeding our body’s self-healing forces. This structural imbalance leads to an impaired nervous system, which can reduce immune function, concentration, and recovery from illness and injury. It could lessen athletic performance, digestive function and even alter behavior.

When we look at the nervous system, any structural imbalance that occurs becomes part of our pattern as time passes. If this cartilage system is shifted, altered or distorted, it creates an inhibition or interference in the neurological system. That pattern becomes ours as we get older, and it’s much more difficult to correct or to set right. The goal in a chiropractic office is to maintain the integrity of the spine and nervous system, and the earlier we start, the better.

  Instead of focusing on the lost health, deterioration, energy decrease, immune system suppression and other negative effects of nerve interference, focus on the untapped potential for health and vitality available to the body through chiropractic care. 

Peter J. Braglia, DC, is a chiropractor and the owner of Stratford-based True Health Chiropractic. A member of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association, he has received advanced training in pediatric adjusting and prenatal care, including the Webster technique. Connect at 203-923-8633, [email protected] or TrueHealthCT.com. See ad, page 34.