Whenever your body takes an impact, your spine, being the core of your body, absorbs a great deal of that stress. It is a flexible column of bones held tightly together by strong ligaments, its movement coordinated by an intricate system of muscles, all designed to protect the spinal cord-a tract of nerves that acts as a highway of information between your brain and body. Sudden falls, awkward twists, sport tackles, or any other impacts often lead to tiny tears in the ligaments that hold your spine together. When this connective tissue is weakened, it allows the vertebrae to shift out of alignment. How many times have you seen your child fall, slip, get tackled, or injure him/herself?

How many impacts has your body taken throughout your life? They all add up, and they accumulate.

Most people don't realize that these tiny spinal misalignments can begin to exert irritating pressure on the tiny nerves exiting between the vertebrae. These nerves are pain-sensitive and will eventually tell you something is wrong when enough damage has been done. Once a ligament is injured and your spine shifts out of place, it heals with scar tissue, which is not nearly as flexible as the uninjured tissue once was. This spinal joint remains weaker than the rest because of the weaker scar tissue and the fact that the spine is now also misaligned. This sets the stage for recurring injury, spinal arthritis, and nerve damage, which can't be reversed if left too long!

A common treatment for this damage is simply to offer drugs for pain relief, but the pain will usually return. The misalignment remains, the injury worsens, the ligaments weaken further, the nerves become increasingly damaged, the pain returns more fiercely, and the need for more powerful drugs is required. These drugs block your brain from registering the heightened damage. It's a ticking time bomb and one's health is negatively affected in the end. I often see patients who have faced various surgeries once the damage is too great to be effectively masked by drugs anymore.

You see, your spine cannot realign itself. As your skeletal frame becomes imbalanced, certain predictable spinal stress points develop-places where more physical strain is exerted due to the poor alignment. Think of a car: more stress is placed on the tires, shocks, and brakes when the alignment is off, creating imbalanced wear patterns on the tires over time. Spinal wear-and-tear is the slow breakdown of the spinal joints called osteoarthritis. Chiropractors see it develop in spinal joints where misalignments have existed over time. I have seen osteoarthritis forming in children who have spinal subluxation patterns. It's not really a disease of old age particularly, but rather a disease of pressure and imbalance on joints caused by vertebrae being misaligned.

My experience of treating thousands of patients and viewing their spinal x-rays has taught me that the price you pay for having these imbalances is costly, as it leads to: roughened joint surfaces; inflammation and pain that can become chronic; reduced flexibility and stiffness; degeneration and bone spurs that pinch nerves (causing pain to radiate); tingling and numbness in the hands or feet, or in various patches on the skin on the body; and so much more. Basically, it seems that if shifted, misaligned joints remain displaced and uncorrected in your spine, the joints can degenerate and the nerve system becomes alarmed (pain). Eventually their ability to transmit the brain's information to the body gets shut down (dysfunction). These are the markers of poor health performance. Of course, there is a direct relationship between nerve system health and how well the organs of your body can do their job. So, aside from pain and symptoms of a poor-functioning neuro-musculo-skeletal system, there is a lot of information suggesting that these spinal displacements can affect organ function.

I see this in my practice all the time. Patients respond to spinal adjustments by showing signs of improved breathing, better digestion, a more restful sleep, reduced allergic reactions, improved sinus function, fewer colds and flus, increased muscle strength and endurance, etc. Of course, most patients initially come to see us wanting to "get rid of" a pain that has been bothering them, but once they learn how the body is wired and how we Chiropractors can help improve nerve function, they understand these brain-body relationships and start referring people who wish to improve other aspects of their health-not just pain.

I have devoted a large part of my life to bringing this information to you, so that you ultimately have a choice in the outcome of your future health and the health of your children. Millions of people receive adjustments by a Chiropractor every day. Doctors of Chiropractic study for years, learning how to help your body recover from spinal imbalances and injuries, optimizing health and performance.

Find a Chiropractic Doctor in Vernon who suits your health goals. Ask around for a personal referral. Most people know someone who sees a Chiropractor they are very happy with. Call a few clinics nearby and see if you can speak with the Doctor-most are excited to share their message. A personal referral and the Doctor's enthusiasm should be your guide. I look forward to your story!