5 preventive benefits of chiropractic care
There are many benefits to seeing a chiropractor. Of course, make a chiropractic appointment if you are experiencing ongoing neck or back pain. In addition, regular visits to a chiropractor can help prevent misalignment problems. A properly aligned skeletal structure can help your body continue running properly.
Beyond acute pain, there are lots of solid reasons you may want to visit a chiropractor. Here are just 5 of the preventive benefits you may not have thought of before.
Chiropractic treatment increases your energy. It’s able to do this in two ways: by reducing tension in the spine and by freeing the nerves to work more effectively. Many times we’ve been sore and tense for so long that we don’t even notice it. Pain becomes normal to us. As our bodies struggle with muscle aches and pains and an ineffective nervous system, we find ourselves feeling run down and tired. Chiropractic adjustments remove the pressure, freeing the body to run as it was designed to.
Chiropractic care can help you breathe better. The lungs are just like every other part of the body in that they rely on nerve function to travel unimpeded from the brain to the spiral cord. A misalignment in the thoracic and mid-cervical regions of the spine can lead to lung abnormalities like asthma. Correcting subluxations can help reduce inflammation in the lungs and increase our ability to breathe properly.
Chiropractic may be able to lower your blood pressure. A study performed by WebMD concluded that a chiropractic adjustment that specifically targets the nerves in the upper neck is as effective as taking a double dose of blood pressure medications. This specific manipulation is referred to in chiropractic circles as the “Atlas adjustment,” and is known to have stabilizing effects on blood pressure.
Chiropractic adjustments can improve your digestion. The nerves that run through the spine also control your stomach and its functions. If the vertebrae in this area are improperly aligned, the nerves can begin signaling a need for more acid production, resulting in gas, heartburn, and acid reflux. A chiropractic adjustment can help the nerves in the thoracic spine work properly; the end result is frequently the elimination of stomach problems.
Chiropractic care can boost your immunity. A healthy immune system should be able to fight off most of the bacteria and viruses that it comes into contact with, with only minimal assistance from antibiotics or other drugs. Because the nervous system controls the functions of cells, organs and tissues of the body, a misalignment can reduce the ability of the immune system. Chiropractic care can realign the spine, freeing up the immune system to fight off intruders. Studies show that people who practice chiropractic maintenance have fewer colds than others.
As you can see, there are many other reasons to visit a chiropractor besides relief from neck and back pain. Chiropractic care is a safe, natural way to help the body learn how to heal itself. Chiropractic treatment isn’t so much a way of fixing physical problems as it is a way of allowing your body to perform the healing it already knows how to do if it’s given the care and respect it needs.