5 Ways to Achieve Better Chiropractic Health
Dr. Bruce Salzinger on the importance of posture and chiropractic adjustments
How many of us through our formative years heard our parents say to us “sit up straight or stand up straight?” How right they were to intuitively know how important that is. And of course they were passing on from who knows how many generations back advice that was intuitively induced. But why is this so important to our health?
If you were to look at the human frame critically you would notice our brain and spinal cord (our central nervous system, CNS) are protected by the skull and vertebral column. Held up by muscles interconnected with tendons and ligaments our bodies must now deal with its weight and the precious positions we put ourselves in relative to gravity. All of this control and coordination are several of the many functions of our CNS. The nerves that come off our spinal cord divide and redivide until they literally communicate with every cell in our body. Controlling all functions, e.g. heart rate, digestion, immune system function our bodies ability to direct a proper response to trauma or stress is critical to our survival. Each of us takes for granted when we feel well that it is also the job of our CNS to continuously monitor “feeling well” too. Another way to describe that would be homeostasis.
Basic chiropractic philosophy expresses a foundational approach. Here are five ways to begin a road to better health:
- Regular chiropractic adjustments to minimize or eliminate nerve pressures and maximize biomechanical function.
- Daily responsible approach to organically grown whole food nutrition preferably picked vine ripened as our fuel of choice.
- Daily responsible exercise emphasizing stretching and strengthening with aerobic conditioning.
- Rest when your body tells you it needs it.
- Positive mental attitude.
Dr. Bruce Salzinger
So why is posture so important and what can go wrong? To start our discussion lets begin with text book normal postures as our basis. In the standing position ideally from the front view we would desire our head to be straight, shoulders level and hips level. From the side view perspective we would want our gravity weight bearing line to have our ears over our shoulders, shoulders then in line with our hips, lateral side of our knees and ankles. In this position we are putting the minimal amount of stress on our CNS. When our shoulders or hips are not level, when they are rotated relative to our central axis, when our head has a head forward position, increased forces on our spine diminish its ability to communicate with whatever cells or organ systems they communicate with. A very small amount of torsional or compressive pressures then leads to subluxation and this has been clearly demonstrated to decrease optimal function or worse cause malfunction. Additionally over time those forces accelerate degenerative forces on our discs and joints (degenerative disc disease and degenerative joint disease or arthritis.) Over time these forces diminish the communication to the organs that produce the critical chemistry which coordinate all bodily function. Eventually we have symptoms, long after the cause of the problem has been festering.
Take a look in the mirror. If you are less than the text book normal speak to your trusted health provider for counsel. Next time you sit have that 3rd eye on yourself and feel the tensions and pressures on your body when you don’t sit up straight, feet on floor or crossed at the ankles. Men, don’t sit on your wallets! Women, don’t cross at the knee! Doctors of Chiropractic are trained in these tools of examination as well as others.
Should you have and questions or concerns, contact me on my blog. I’m here to help.
For related links on genConnect:
- Body Breaks With Gina Murdock
- 6 People Making a Difference in Health (VIDEO)
- Combat Obesity: Don’t Let Your Desk Weigh You Down
Want more genConnect?
- For more daily expert updates, follow genConnect on Twitter and Facebook.
- To stay on top of Dr. Bruce Salzinger’s latest contributions: Sign Up for genConnect.
Share with us your thoughts in the comments box below.
Category: Health, Mind Body Connections
