The proper chiropractic adjustment can do tremendous things for a person and positively impact many different aspects of the body. Chiropractic can clearly help with neck pain, back pain, headaches, sciatica, and other musculoskeletal complaints. But how?
Chiropractic Care and the Nervous System
In this breakdown, I'll illustrate how an adjustment is effective across the body's systems. Most people start with the alignment of the spine and skeletal system, but the effects go much deeper than that. I submit that the nervous system is the most essential to the body and to a chiropractor.
In chiropractic, we also closely examine how the nervous system interacts with the skeletal system, specifically the spine's alignment. Furthermore, we will examine the body's different systems and then show how far chiropractic can go!
Before we go any further, I will say there's a wide array of techniques in chiropractic, and they're all a little different from each other. The main variants between techniques are how the various systems are analyzed and what type of force is put into the body to effect change, but the primary system of interest is the nervous system. What follows covers a large portion of the field of chiropractic adjustments, and to be more effective, I will tend more toward simplicity rather than hyper-specificity.
The nervous system is the master control system, and even since the beginning of chiropractic, it has been a central focus of our analysis. The beginning of chiropractic science was to read paraspinal (either side of the spine) temperature swings between vertebral segments, and that's still a significant analysis technique today.
DD Palmer, the founder of chiropractic, knew at its inception that the nervous system was paramount. He also showed the world how affecting the spine's alignment and, in turn, affecting the function of the nervous system could change and save lives. DD knew and promoted that with a well-functioning nervous system, a person could and would heal faster and better.
The Eleven Body Systems and Chiropractic's Impact
There are known to be 11 different systems of the body, and they are:
1) Nervous system: This consists of the neurons of the brain, brain stem, spinal cord, and entire peripheral nervous system, which goes to all tissues and is the master control system of the body. Also, the eyes and ears are significant parts of the nervous system! I will note here that chiropractic takes the most interest in the nervous system first and then its interaction with the skeletal and muscular systems.
2) Skeletal system: This one is pretty obvious… it's all the bones! The skeletal system is amazing because it gives structure and is an effective build for any individual. In all people, the skeletal system allows one to stand up and create motion (you can imagine a broken leg affecting your ability to get around). It also protects the most vital organs—the central nervous system, lungs, and heart.
3) Muscular system: Another easy one—it's all the muscles, and these muscles create motion! Muscles are super basic; the only thing a muscle does is contract. The contracting of the muscles is based on what the nervous system tells it to do, and all muscles have a specific nerve. The motion that results from each muscle depends on which of the bones and where on that bone it attaches.
Muscle knots and trigger points exist, and various techniques exist for muscle problems. Checking the function of the nerve is critical to recovery. There is also such a thing as "muscle memory," but it's more accurate to say nerve memory!
4) Cardiovascular system: The cardiovascular system includes the heart and arteries, which bring nutrients and oxygen to all the body's tissues. The veins, which cycle waste material and carbon dioxide out of the body, also participate in this system.
We can't ignore the very important capillaries. Capillaries are where arteries turn to veins and connect with whatever tissue the specific artery supplies and vein drains. Interestingly, the arterial side has a muscular lining, and the venous side does not. The muscular lining of the arterial side works to shunt or direct blood to different parts of the body, depending on what the nervous system tells it to do. One study says, "The brain regulates the cardiovascular system."
5) Respiratory system: The lungs comprise the respiratory system, one of the few organ systems with voluntary and involuntary control. The main but not only role of the lungs is to bring oxygen in and let the waste product carbon dioxide out. However, the lungs do much more for us. They are responsible for busting up little blood clots that the veins bring to them and play a small role in detoxifying the body.
The diaphragm at the bottom of the lungs and the muscles between the ribs expand the chest cavity and create negative pressure to draw air in, then the opposite to get air out. The nervous system is critical to control the respiration rate, which is "controlled subconsciously by the respiratory center at the base of the brain."
6) Digestive system: The digestive system includes everything from the stomach to the exit door. It breaks down nutrients from our food and allows the circulatory system to distribute the contents.
Notably, most of the immune system comprises the "normal gut flora" or bacteria that live in our gut. (The lymphatic system is also vital in immune function.) The nervous system also controls the digestive system, which is the enteric nervous system. It is regulated by different hormones released by the gut itself.
7) Lymphatic system: This system covers the entire body, generally in the tissue between the skin and muscles, but goes deeper. We have collections of lymph nodes strategically placed in the neck, armpits, and groin. When you're sick, your lymph nodes are prone to swelling up, and this is what your medical doctor is probably feeling for in your neck when you go in because you're feeling sick. The lymphatic system is more complex than we can unpack here, but it's easy to say it's a commonly undervalued system by most analyses.
8) Integumentary system: This is a really big word for skin, hair, and nails! I guess the skin deserves the props because it is the largest of the organs, protects our other organs from outside pathogens, and is a major detoxifying organ. Many products are on the market to support your skin, and it's essential to have healthy skin. The skin has a close relationship with the nervous system as there are little nerves in all parts of the skin to pick up sensation and relay changes in the environment to the master control system—the nervous system.
9) Endocrine system: This is made up of the different hormones, which, like the nervous system, exert control over many functions of the body. The endocrine system has both glands and organs to produce hormones, and there are a few easy things you can do to help support your endocrine system: maintain a healthy weight, regular exercise, proper nutrition, quantity and quality of sleep, avoid alcohol, and avoid smoking. Hormones trigger or reserve other bodily functions, and the role of a healthy endocrine system cannot be overstated.
10) Urinary system: This is another detoxifying system that filters the blood to eliminate waste through the kidneys and into the bladder (which stores the waste liquid until it's evacuation time). The urinary system also balances electrolytes, which affect blood chemistry. There is a close link between the male prostate and the urinary system, but the prostate is actually part of the reproductive system.
11) Reproductive system: This is made up of different parts between men and women, and when combined just right, the outcome can be a baby or maybe just some adult fun. To skirt a gender debate, we will look only at the biologics of the varying sexes. Women have a vagina, uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes. Where men have a penis, prostate, and testicles, there are other supporting structures for both, but these are the big ones.
The different organs produce different hormones. In males, it's mainly testosterone, which gives larger muscles, a deeper voice, more hair, and a few other factors that deal with physique. In females, it's a lot more complicated. Women have progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin, and prolactin. To not unpack this too far: the effects of these different hormones vary greatly and often trigger each other throughout a woman's menstrual cycle to menopause.
Wheat Ridge Chiropractic Treatment for Overall Health and Wellness
Some chiropractors, including DD Palmer, would say chiropractic can and will affect every body system. While that may be true, it is certainly true that chiropractic more directly affects some systems than others. The first six listed systems are the most direct because of the direct nervous system control. The following five are a little further out.
The main systems we analyze will first be the nervous system's function and the skeletal system's alignment and motion. The ways these first two systems are analyzed vary the most in specific techniques, but almost all techniques address these two first.
It's easy to see how the muscular system is affected since the nervous system controls it. We have shown that the brain controls the respiratory and cardiovascular systems and uses the nerves to do so. Chiropractic also directly affects the digestive system because we can link the enteric nervous system back to the central and sympathetic nervous systems. After that, the logic gets a bit thinner, but it suffices to say that a chiropractic adjustment can affect positive change across your body and body systems.
Chiropractic Care in Wheat Ridge, CO
If you live in Wheat Ridge, Golden, West Denver, or Lakewood and want to learn more about supporting systemic health or complementary treatment for systemic diseases, I invite you to contact me to book an initial consultation at my Wheat Ridge chiropractic clinic.
I am available for chiropractic adjustments on evenings and weekends to help you fit your treatments into your busy schedule.
Comments