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Gibsons Chiropractic Blog

April 5, 2011

Chiropractic Boosts Brain-Body Coordination

By Dr. Stacey

by Dr. David Jockers

The brain is the master control system for the entire body. It sends and receives a complicated frequency of signals with the body that dictate the function of the body. When there is interference in this neurological feedback loop, it alters the environment the brain perceives itself to be in; this consequently changes the adaptation process the brain orchestrates throughout the body. Chiropractic adjustments have been shown to enhance the sensorimotor integration of the brain with the body.

Many experts have hypothesized that increased stress cycles in the body produce the environment for dis-ease and eventually disease within the body. Stress can come from a variety of sources in the mental/emotional form, chemical form, and physical realm. When the body is under increased stress it responds by increasing its sympathetic tone. This means the body shunts itself into “fight or flight” survival based mode by altering cardiovascular & endocrine function to get itself ready for dynamic activity.

Increased sympathetic tone causes a release of stress hormones such as adrenalin, epinephrine, and cortisol. This is the same response we get when we are anxious or exercising. This is okay if it is for a short period of time; however, when the stress lasts longer than expected it exhausts the body and causes a state of dis-ease to manifest.

When the brain sends information to the organs, muscles, and tissues of the body, this is called efferent neurological flow. In return, the afferent flow of information includes all the messages sent to the brain from skin, muscle, joint, and organ receptors. This afferent/efferent neurological loop is how the body is able to respond and adapt appropriately to its environment.

The ramifications of increased stress hormones in the body include overworked adrenal glands, lowered immunity, decreased digestive functions, fatigue, & blood pressure disturbances. Increased cortisol levels also cause ligament laxity by stripping critical proteins from the tendon and ligament structures. This causes joint weakness throughout the body, including the spine and extremities, making them much more susceptible to injury.

Subluxation is a term used to describe mechanical compression and irritation to spinal joints and nerves. Subluxation scrambles the neurological feedback loop by causing altered rhythms of neurological flow. Subluxations are caused by trauma, poor posture, or increased chemical and emotional stresses.

Subluxations are a physical stress on the body and therefore increase the sympathetic tone, so the body shunts its energy toward the fight or flight system. If the subluxation(s) are not corrected they continue to produce this increased stress response. This increases cortisol and causes greater joint & ligament laxity in the spine and extremities making them more susceptible to injury. Additionally, increased long-term stress on the body greatly accelerates the degenerative processes of the spine and joints leading to osteoarthritis.

Chiropractic adjustments have been shown to normalize spinal afferent/efferent processes to their proper resting tone. This is like hitting the reset button on the computer when it is malfunctioning. The computer is allowed to pause and reprocess itself. Chiropractic adjustments stop the stress response and restore normal hormonal and cardiovascular function to the body. This allows the body to reset itself and begin healing the damage that was done in the body due to chronic stress cycles.

Research performed by Taylor and Murphy demonstrated that chiropractic adjustments enhanced sensorimotor integration, the body’s ability to sense where it is in space and effectively coordinate complex movement patterns. This improves function in both the brain and the body. Improved spatial intelligence translates into better physical and mental balance, coordination, and mobility. Chiropractic adjustments make you think and move with better speed, skill, and finesse.

Taylor H, Murphy B. Cervical Spine Manipulation Alters Sensorimotor Integration: A Somatosensory evoked potential study. Clin Neurophysiol; 2007;118:391-402
Taylor, H, Murphy B. Altered Sensorimotor Integration with Cervical Spine Manipulation. J Manipulative Physiol Ther; 2008;31:115-126

Learn more:  http://www.naturalnews.com/031134_chiropractic_brain_health.html#ixzz1Fvk1l3Il

Filed under: Adjustments,Brain Function,Innate Intelligence,Nervous System,Spine,Stress,Subluxation — Tags: , , , ,

March 20, 2010

Trauma, Thoughts, and Toxins = Vertebral Subluxations Part 2: Emotional Stress

By Dr. Stacey

by Dr. Brandon Harshe on March 16, 2010 · 

Last week, we covered the five components of a vertebral subluxation, as defined by B.J. Palmer in Volume XVIII published in 1934. They are:

1.) Malposition – This simply means misalignment of a vertebra
2.) Occlusion – This refers to the closing off of an opening that a nerve passes through. In our case, we are referring to the neural canal where the spinal cord travels down.
3.) Pressure – When C1 or C2 is misaligned, this can occlude the neural canal near the brain stem. This can cause pressure or tension on the cord at this level.
4.) Interference to flow of nervous system transmission – With a misalignment, an occlusion, and pressure, there is zero chance for the nervous system to properly communicate to the rest of the body.
5.) Three-directional torqued vertebra – To achieve these four components of vertebral subluxation, the C1 and C2 vertebrae has to shift up or down, left or right, and rotated front or back.

We also covered how physical stressors are one of three components that cause vertebral subluxations. Let’s move on to the second cause of a vertebral subluxation.

 
Thoughts also known as Emotional Stress
Stressed housewife

Stressed?!

Emotional stress is an unavoidable part of life. Loved ones will pass away. Downsizing at the workplace will continue to happen as companies merge, fail, and outsource. Family trouble, marital troubles, routine work deadlines, bills, student loan debt… the list goes on and on and on…

Learning how to deal with these day-to-day stressors is paramount. Here’s why…

Fight or Flight

Our bodies have something called the “fight or flight” mechanism. This is an automatic response by your body in cases of extreme stress.

Some examples would be coming across a bear in the middle of the woods, getting mugged in a dark alley, or nearly getting hit by an oncoming car.

Your body responds in such a way that you are literally - in a split second’s time - equipped to fight or flee your way out of a perceived deadly situation.

Panic Button

Panic Button

Your body responds by instantly releasing adrenaline and cortisol throughout your body. These hormones cause your heart to pump faster and your breathing to increase. This allows more oxygen and blood to the muscles used for fighting or fleeing. It keeps them ready to react at the blink of an eye. Your liver releases sugar into the blood so your muscles can have that instant energy. You begin to sweat more, cooling down your body. Your metabolism speeds up, your tolerance to pain increases, and your senses are keener.

While these responses are great in a deadly situation, they are not great over long periods of time. A day to day continual fight or flight response over days, months, or years will cause your nervous system to write cheques the body eventually won’t be able to cash. This will open the door for any number of disease processes to begin.

This is what chiropractors mean when they speak of a body being in dis-ease before it develops into disease.

Wearing Down

These reactions are carried out through the sympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is one of two parts to your autonomic nervous system. The other is the parasympathetic nervous system, which carries out bodily functions while at rest. Ideally, we always want to be in a parasympathetic state. This allows our bodily functions like digestion and peristalsis to carry on without hindrance.

When we are always in a state of stress, our sympathetic nervous system runs the show. Constant secretion of adrenaline and cortisol, tension in the muscles, increased heart rate and blood pressure, and increased sugar release into the blood wears the body down over a long period of time. Because we are in this stressed state, we don’t sleep as well. With less sleep, out bodies can’t heal properly, and our immune system can’t bear the load. We then become more susceptible to lingering effects from bacteria and viruses.

With our body in a weakened state, our Innate Intelligence can only do so much. When the matter that is your body is limited to much less than its potential, true healing and health can never be experienced. Normal external forces that our body’s Innate Intelligence usually deals with (i.e. gravity, bumpy car rides, coughing, and sneezing) become too much for our bodies to handle.

The end result? A vertebral subluxation that interferes with the nervous system’s already depleted communication to the body.

As I said last week, we can’t afford to go through life without getting our nervous systems checked on a regular basis. That takes care of the physical part, but what about the emotional?

Coping With Stress

A positive mental attitude is a good place to start. Keeping yourself from getting down about your circumstances can be difficult at times, but it is necessary. We all go through rocky times, but life is sometimes about enduring through the hardships.

Exercise is one way to keep your spirits up. It is impossible for you to feel depressed once you start moving. The body releases endorphins (natural opiates) that naturally help you feel good. Yoga is another great way to release tension brought on by emotional stress. Deep breathing, meditation, and prayer are also other good ways to settle down mentally and allow your parasympathetic nervous system to take over.

Next week, we will cover the effects of chemical stress on the body and how that can result in a vertebral subluxation.

[Original article from: http://theatlasoflife.com/2010/03/16/trauma-thoughts-and-toxins-vertebral-subluxations-part-2-emotional-stress/]

Filed under: Adjustments,Chiropractic,Exercise,Innate Intelligence,Stress,Subluxation — Tags: , , , , ,

March 11, 2010

Trauma, Thoughts, and Toxins = Vertebral Subluxations Part 1: Physical Stress

By Dr. Stacey
Trauma, Thoughts, and Toxins = Vertebral Subluxations Part 1: Physical Stressby Dr. Brandon Harshe on March 9, 2010 · in Patient Education, Upper Cervical Chiropractic
football injury, vertebral subluxations, upper cervical chiropracticThe chiropractic fundamentals are based on removing interference to the nervous system so that the body’s Innate Intelligence can operate at full capacity.

Interference comes by way of vertebral subluxations.

Sometimes a misalignment can be mistaken for a vertebral subluxation. For a example, sometimes it is thought that a vertebral subluxation can be seen on an x-ray.

That is incorrect. Only a misalignment can be seen on x-ray, whereas a vertebral subluxation has a far-reaching effect greater than that of a simple bone out of place.

B.J. Palmer cleared up this confusion in the early 1930s when he found that vertebral subluxations have five components to them. They are:

1.) Malposition – This simply means misalignment of a vertebra
2.) Occlusion – This refers to the closing off of an opening that a nerve passes through. In our case, we are referring to the neural canal where the spinal cord travels down.
3.) Pressure – When C1 is misaligned, this can occlude the neural canal near the brain stem. This can cause pressure or tension on the cord at this level.
4.) Interference to flow of nervous system transmission – With a misalignment, an occlusion, and pressure, there is zero chance for the nervous system to properly communicate to the rest of the body.
5.) Three-directional torqued vertebra – To achieve these four components of vertebral subluxation, the C1 vertebrae has to shift up or down, left or right, and rotated front or back.

What causes a vertebral subluxation?

Stress. Pure and simple. Various forms of stress bombard our bodies on a daily basis. If not dealt with properly, they can and will manifest themselves in the form of a vertebral subluxation.

For intensive purposes, I will discuss three forms of stress: physical, emotional, and chemical.

vertebral subluxation, hospital birthTrauma aka Physical Stress

Today we will talk about physical stress. Physical stress always begins at birth. The newborn baby has to wiggle and slither, torque and twist his/her way out of the vaginal canal to enter this world. That’s if it happens naturally.

Many times during a hospital birth, a doctor or nurse-midwife will grab the baby’s head and tug and twist until that baby is yanked free. And we haven’t even mentioned forceps, vacuum extraction, or c-section yet.

The C1 vertebrae is the most unstable vertebrae in our spine, connected only by muscles, tendons, and ligaments. With any kind of extreme twisting, turning, or yanking, that vertebrae WILL misalign in three directions, which will result in occlusion, pressure, and interference.

Beyond birth, once the baby begins crawling, standing, walking, running, and climbing, he/she will fall literally thousands of times by the age of four. My eight month old falls every few minutes. I know because of her lovely shrieking each time it happens.

As we get older, and get into sports, or exercising, or just plain old every day life, injuries occur. For example, getting tackled in football, smacking into the fence while trying to catch a pop fly, slipping and falling on an icy sidewalk, getting T-boned by a semi in a busy intersection, etc. Even natural everyday motion such as walking can have a negative long term effect. Years and years of gravity pulling down on your body will take its toll.

The point is, we can’t afford to go through life without at least getting checked for interference to our nervous system. We haven’t even addressed emotional or chemical stress yet, but physical stress beginning at birth and continuing on into adulthood can and will have long-term devastating effects on your overall well-being.

Next week, we will cover the effects of emotional stress on the body and how that can result in a vertebral subluxation.

[This great article is from: http://theatlasoflife.com/2010/03/09/trauma-thoughts-and-toxins-vertebral-subluxations-part-1-physical-stress/]

Filed under: Adjustments,Chiropractic,Innate Intelligence,Stress,Subluxation — Tags: , , , , , ,