What is Neurologically Based Chiropractic Care?
The intent of care in our office is to assist our clients on improving their neurological function and obtaining ideal neuroplasticity (the ability of the nervous system to adapt and respond to a stressor and maintain homeostasis/balance). We know that there are 3 main systems of the body:
#3 The Passive System = consists of bones and joints. They do nothing on their own - so they are never the cause of dysfunction!
#2 The Active System = consists of the muscles responsible for actions. They can't act on their own - so they are never the cause of dysfunction!
#1 The Nervous System = the control system... the central organizing authority. Nothing takes place in our bodies without the Nervous System initiating and approving the process. THE CAUSE OF DYSFUNCTION!
In our office we understand that a Nervous System displaying Compromised Neural Integrity (CNI) is the cause of all dysfunction. We define CNI as Subluxation. To simplify... Compromised Neural Integrity (CNI) = Subluxation = Reduced Neuroplasticity = Loss of the ability to ideally adapt and respond.
What is a Stress Response?
All living creatures have an awareness of a threat to their existence. Humans have a built in warning system that alerts them to all levels of threats. Our 5 senses alert us to danger even when we are totally unaware of it. Bad smells, unusual sounds, foul tastes are just some of these warning systems. The subconscious is even more sensitive and will often trigger a protection response of which we are unaware consciously such as an increase in blood pressure, heart rate or respiration.
The nervous system is divided into two main divisions:
- Para-Sympathetic: keeps everything running smoothly and in balance.
- Sympathetic: responsible for protection and defense and doesn't care about balance, its only purpose is to offer extreme responses to preserve life.
Stress is a threat, and even low levels of stress over time can have drastic results in the health of an individual. What many don't understand is that “STRESS” is a response to a “STRESSOR” and throughout a lifetime we will always be confronting stressors.
The challenge lies in several areas: the intensity of the stressor, the duration of the stressor, the level of previous damage done to the stress response system and the ability of the system to return to a normal balanced state.
As current medical research is now claiming that 95% of all illnesses are the result of a lack of the body’s ability to reestablish normal balance, it only makes sense that we learn what must be done to bring the body back into correct neurological responses.
As it is critical for good health to have a nervous system which can adapt to stressors and recover correctly, it only makes sense that we have a method which has the ability to measure these action/reactions. It is much easier to keep the system in balance than to attempt to correct it once it has already been damaged.
