Did you know Chiropractic adjustments were initially primarily used to help people with similar things you may see in a medical office? There are countless reasons why visiting a chiropractor is excellent for your health, relieving back and neck pain are merely the most simple and what people nowadays think of first.
Thinking about a chiropractic adjustment?
You are not alone, nearly half of American's say they have been to a chiropractor. That means you probably know someone who has been. Ask around, find out about their experience and find out who they recommend in your area.
Chiropractors work to rebalance the tension on your nervous system. We do this primarily through impulses ranging from gentle contacts to larger thrusts directly into the Central Nervous System (CNS). The CNS consists of the brain and spinal cord, and they are protected by your skull and your vertebra. By resetting the CNS tension, the back muscles and ligaments can operate more efficiently and without pain, but the function of all of the other systems in the body who rely on the nervous system to communicate can also improve.
If you have lower back pain or neck pain that is a sure way to know that the tension pattern is being over stressed and a sign that you should find the best chiropractor in your area, for Santa Barbara that's Dr. Ricky Polizo at Flow Chiropractic. Below are some common, but lesser known, reasons for seeking chiropractic care.
1. Improve Your Sleep:
Getting great sleep is one of the most important things we can do for our overall health and well-being. Our bodies and brains heal and recover while we are sleeping, helping our immune system and recharging us for the next day.
Millions of Americans take medication to help them sleep better, but chiropractic care can also help improve your sleep. By decreasing the tension in the CNS a chiropractic adjustment can help you to find that deep relaxation needed for a good night's sleep.
People often ask me, "What the best position to sleep in?" My answer is that the best position is to change positions. Your body naturally shifts and moves throughout the night in order to take pressure off of places that may hurt otherwise. If you can only find one position that feels comfortable and that leaves you with a stiff neck in the morning, we need to find and address that underlying pattern that keeps you there. Chiropractic adjustments help to reset these patterns and decrease positional pain, this allows you to find more comfortable positions while sleeping and wake up feeling your best.
2. Improve Your Blood Pressure:
Most people wouldn't think visit a chiropractor to help with high blood pressure, but just like most things in your body, your nervous system plays a fundamental role in regulating your blood pressure and heart rate. A blind controlled study published in the Human Journal of Hypertension found: “Chiropractic treatment affects people the same way as high blood pressure medication.” The study looked at adjusting just the top vertebra, and found an average of 14mmHg systolic (top number on BP reading) and 8mmHg diastolic (bottom number). These results lasted up to 6 months, and no adverse effects were found. To achieve the same result with medications, patients would have to take a combination of 2 medications daily.
Because your body is making the changes from inside out, the non-intended effects promote health and may be one of the other items on this list. Meanwhile, blood pressure medications are making changes from an external source and the side effects can be undesirable and leave you feeling fatigued.
As one of the best Santa Barbara chiropractors, Dr. Ricky can help.
3. Reduce Your Stress:
Stress is what happens anytime your body needs to ramp up. Only a few generations ago, this would have been primarily triggered by danger or excitement and subsequently allowed to decrease when the stimulus was gone and you were given space to recover. It is becoming increasingly difficult, in our modern society, to completely disconnect from the stimulus of an environment that is monetized by attracting our attention.
This constant demand for activation of our excitatory nervous system has led to adaptations throughout the body. Chronic stress has led to an increase in diseases related to metabolism, mood/addiction, and decreased immune function. The sympathetic, or fight or flight, branch of the nervous system is what coordinates our heightened response ability in our body. Things such as increased heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose, and respiration are ways your body primes itself to act in a way that is necessary to face our stress. The sympathetic nervous system is centralized in what is called the 'Sympathetic Chain Ganglia', which is located directly in front of the joint where the ribs connect into the spine. Increased tension in this area can lead to over-activation of the sympathetic nervous system, and possibly a chronic over-activation of one of the things this nervous system controls. Getting adjusted helps to balance tone in the body.
4. Improve Digestion:
Growing evidence has shown the strong influence the gut and brain have on each other. This research shows that neurotransmitters, named that way because they were once thought to exist only in the nervous system, have the ability to regulate blood flow, gut motility, and nutrient absorption. This is all done via the Vagus Nerve (CNX), the major branch of the Parasympathetic (or "rest and digest") Nervous System. The gut and microbiome are also immensely influential in both the activation and modulation of the immune system.
The Vagus Nerve is influenced by sensory neurons in the neck. When the mechano-receptors are sending a signal that is balanced from the top 4 bones in the neck, the Vagus Nerve creates a clearer signal. When the neck is out of alignment, and the Vagus Nerve is not functioning properly, issues in the gut may arise. This prompted the newer term Neck-Stomach Syndrome, which correlates neck pain with "diseases of unknown cause" such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Functional Dyspepsia (FD).
5. Reduced Number Of Sick Days:
Holistic healthcare is based on the truth that everything in the body has the potential to affect everything else. The body has a few different ways of communicating this effect. The two most extensive systems in the body are the circulatory and nervous systems, both are utilized to increase internal communication within the body. When these systems are cared for and functioning well, the body has the ability to adapt to more. When the body encounters a pathogen, for example, it can take measures to isolate and eliminate the threat.
Not only does chiropractic help your body to understand itself, it also decreases inflammatory markers, increases anti-inflammatory markers, and increases endorphins. This means that when you get regular chiropractic care, your body reacts to its environment better, and is in a state of restoration and healing when you leave.
Lastly, a study from the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that low back pain was the costliest reason for missing work. The study set out to determine which method was best for remedying this. It found that chiropractic had not only lower rates of reoccurrence, but also lower overall cost to the patient than medications and physical therapy.
These are 5 reasons to get a chiropractic adjustment that most people are unaware of. If you are looking to improve your overall health Dr. Ricky Polizo, Santa Barbara's Chiropractor, is here to help.
Call, text or email our office if you have any questions. Or check availability to book your first appointment today!
(805)364-3123
flowchiropracticsb@gmail.com