There exists a profound interconnectedness of different systems within the human body
To understand the workings of the human body through a simple out-dated model of health and disease fails to appreciate that there exists a profound interconnectedness of different systems within the body.
The systems of the human body work together to maintain healthy balance (homeostasis).
Each system is essential to maintain life. The nervous and hormonal systems exert ultimate control over homeostasis because they coordinate the functions of the body’s systems.
The way we interact with and interpret our environment is mediated by biochemical, hormonal, neurological, immunological, piezoelectrical and physical/mechanical responses.
Imbalance in one system can have a knock on effect on something else. There are bi-directional links between body systems. Whatever stresses the body can trigger a response by these mechanisms, which may be experienced as symptoms.
Symptoms of a compromised nervous system might include back pain, neck pain and headaches. Current research is available that supports these claims.
Chiropractic is not just muscles bones and joints structure; chiropractic adjustment is influencing the nervous system.
Deficits in proprioceptive function (your brain interpretation of body position and movement) and subtle restriction in or excess of joint mobility in particular of the spinal column, subtle joint dysfunction (including intraarticular adhesions), and entrapment of intraarticular menisci and synovial folds can all lead to pain.
Frequently overlooked causes of musculoskeletal pain include overt or subclinical inflammation, hormonal imbalance, vitamin D deficiency, consumption of a proinflammatory diet, lack of exercise, excess adipose and resultant release of adipokines, proprioceptive deficits.
All of these are correctable with non-pharmacological and non-surgical means; addressing them will successfully improve the patient’s health and reduce the impact of these problems on other aspects of health.
Using chiropractic technique we are correcting a compromised nervous system, this helps explains in some part why some patients may report subjective improvement in other symptoms/conditions that seem unrelated to their pain symptom.
The human organism is a complex adaptive system
Whatever stresses the body can trigger a response via biochemical, hormonal, neurological, immunological, piezoelectrical and physical/mechanical responses.
This may be experienced as a multitude of varying symptoms that may have clinically significant implications and distant adverse effects.
Once the body exceeds its adaptive range then we might experience symptoms of disease. As a chiropractor we use the term subluxation to illustrate when someone has reached this state of compensation within their body’s systems.
A useful analogy might be to think of is; if the body is unable to adapt to a force outside of itself then it will adapt by tripping a circuit breaker. Subluxation can be thought of like a safety valve, like a circuit breaker if you over load the system. If the nervous system is compromised then that person will function in a compensatory state for their lifetime.
We can increase the threshold at which the nervous system is functioning, which means you build more resistance. If you can remove the obstacles to healing (compromised subluxated nervous system, poor diet, lack of exercise, negative cycles of thought, lack of connection to others etc) then the body will take care of itself.
What is important to me is the ability of the nervous system to function and deal with disease. If we can increase the threshold at which the nervous system is functioning you will build more resistance. By changing the tone of the nervous system and how it mediates itself then the body can; given the right circumstances begin to heal itself.
Healthcare not Sickcare
First and foremost my role as a chiropractor is to improve nervous system function, secondly is to instil a personal responsibility in patients to support the change that I can make.
Answers to chronic health problems will not be found within the acute health care model. Treating of symptoms and disease is a sickcare market through marketing we are taught to take a drug for a symptom.
The acute care model is necessary for life-threatening scenarios. It requires no understanding of why someone has become ill; it is symptom focused and requires no participation of the patient except to follow their prescription.
The sickcare market treats specific diseases symptoms but doesn’t address the global picture of health. Within the healthcare market (e.g chiropractic, osteopathy, acupuncture, homeopathy, functional medicine practitioners, naturopaths) practitioners look at the person’s imbalances not just their symptoms.
The choices that we make each day are either moving us toward health or moving us away from it. I want to empower people to establish healthy living behaviours. This includes behaviour toward our self and our behaviour to the wider planet.
I want to empower people with the knowledge to help them achieve and maintain wellness. This may include addressing diet, nutrition, movement and exercise, stress-reduction and better sleep. I believe that people should take responsibility for their own health
As your nervous system function improves then you will start to feel better and appreciate what health feels like, this is often when you start to make the right choices.
Genes do not determine your health
The field of epigenetics popularised by Bruce Lipton has taught us that your genes and DNA do not control our biology. But the information we feed the genes will determine if that gene is expressed or not. The food we eat, chemicals we are exposed to, how we are feeling are all factors from our environment, which are interpreted by our senses via our nervous system and interpreted by our genes. This information will influence whether certain genes are turned on or off.
If you expose your genes to an adverse environment this may, overtime be expressed as disease. To restore health your genes need to be bathed in a healthy environment (physical, emotional, chemical and spiritual).
Your health status today is a result of choices you have made over your lifetime.
Mind-Body Connection
Your everyday thoughts and beliefs can have an enormous impact on your health. How you think affects your physical body and visa versa. Imagine what posture we hold when we are down in the dumps; slopped shoulders head hanging down, and when we are angry; tense shoulders and jaw. It is easy to see how such postures might cause neck pain and headaches. Similarly if we were ill and not mobile it would be easy to feel low because we are not moving the spine.