science
The more you know, the more able you are to make good choices, and feel confident in your decisions. That’s why we at Horsham Chiropractic Centre have decided to fill you in on some of the science behind Chiropractic, and the ongoing research into its effects.
Why not take some time to read about what a healthy person looks like? Or watch a two minute video on the latest research into Chiropractic? And if you have any questions, we’d love to talk about them with you!
What Does a Healthy Body Look Like?
Your brain constantly makes decisions about your body, and your actions, without you really being involved at all...
Running down the middle of your body is the sensitive spinal cord, the road that information travelling between your brain and your body must travel along. It begins at the base of your brain, inside the skull, and extends down the middle of your spine (from neck to lower back).
The spine itself acts as an armour for this information thoroughfare. But, rather than being one stiff and unyielding unit, it consists of lots of separate vertebral segments. These shift around, so your body can move, whilst your spinal cord stays protected.
At each spinal segment, where the two vertebrae meet, spinal nerves leave the spinal cord and head towards another region of the body, spreading throughout the entire body. Messages about your body and your external environment are constantly travelling to the brain along these nerves. The brain rapidly works through this constant influx of data, and uses it to build a continually evolving 3D map of your body, basing all of its decisions on this information.
What Happens When Something Goes Wrong?
The wear and tear of life can cause the small muscles that attach to the individual vertebrae to become tight and the joints to become restricted...
This prevents the segment from working properly.
That’s because, if one of the spine’s segments is jammed, it cannot act as a flexible armour. Instead, it will prohibit movement – of your back and body, and of information in and out of your brain. If your brain is receiving incomplete, or even inaccurate, information then its decisions will be based on faulty information.
Your brain is smart, so it can function even if there are parts of your body it cannot see. It can even, because of past experience, control these parts. However, if you are operating partially in the dark, you are unlikely to be operating at your best. You may feel a bit clumsy. You may feel that your concentration is not what it used to be. You may even end up having an accident and really hurting yourself.
What is Chiropractic About?
Chiropractic care seeks to find dysfunctional vertebrae and adjust them...
The stressed areas can then find release, and the spine can return to its normal movement: properly moving vertebrae allow information to flow through the body, which means that your brain can build a complete map, and your body knows how to respond to its environment.
