Subluxation is a term used in chiropractic to describe a process in which your nervous system becomes STUCK in a stressed state.
Your nervous system includes your brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves and is responsible for all the communication between cells, tissues and organs in the body as well as executive functions - meaning actually using all that information between cells, tissues and organs to make things happen - like digestion and breathing and healing and sleep cycles and detoxing and movement and… the list goes on.
The nervous system has such a big job to do and coordinating all those functions can get overwhelming sometimes. Most of the functions the nervous system is in control of are things you don’t even feel happening (Did you know that only 10% of the nerves within your nervous system can transmit pain) so it can be easy to forget to take care of this integral component of your health.
Well your brain is responsible for receiving information from the entirety of your body, making sense of all that information at once and coordinating some type of action between all the systems that make you an upright, living, breathing, thinking and hopefully kind person.
If the brain is constantly receiving input from the body, that it is stressed, overwhelmed, dysfunctional and in what we call dis-ease then the brain is going to coordinate action to repair or fight against this condition. If you work a job or have a lifestyle that has a lot of
Physical (long, repetitive motions or a lot of consistent impact)
Chemical (high toxic load) or
Emotional (stressful work relationships, power struggles or constant deadlines) then your nervous system is most likely on overdrive.
This state is called fight or flight.
When you go into a state of fight or flight (sympathetic dominance) your body physically redirects “fuel” (oxygen, nutrients and energy) to particular systems within the body to combat the stress.
Imagine for a minute walking down the street and coming across a bear unexpectedly. This is an extreme example of this state but you get the idea.
The systems you want to work really well when you are under stress include your brain, your musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems for the most part. These systems will get you away from danger and back to safety. BUT that is just it! This state of fight or flight is NOT meant to go on and on for long periods which is where we are running into problems today.
See if you get stuck in this hypervigilant state eventually these systems begin to wear out and take shortcuts to keep up with the high demand and now you are feeling:
brain fogged and can’t focus, you can’t sleep so you are exhausted and you are stiff and sore everywhere and you think you just need a new mattress.
Unfortunately, there is more to this story. In order to redirect all this fuel to these systems the body has to take it from others. The systems that typically get sidelined in this state are the digestive system, immune system and reproductive systems.
So to add to the mess you are now also struggling with some level of digestive upset, feeling like you are sick or more susceptible to allergies and colds, and your libido is non-existent (neuro-endocrine function just in complete chaos).
YOU ARE SUBLUXED
This is not a mode that promotes health and is the biggest reason you feel like you are stuck in the mud, unmotivated and why all the other things you are trying to do to stay healthy aren’t seeming to get you anywhere.
Fortunately, Chiropractors are excellent at not only detecting the root cause of subluxation but the adjustment delivered by a neurologically focused chiropractor works with the spine to alter the input your brain is receiving to direct you out of fight or flight into rest and digest so that you can begin to heal from the inside out.
Learn more about how the adjustment influences your brain here!
If you read this and were thinking, YES! That is exactly how I feel, then give us a call or hop on our website and schedule a time to have your nervous system evaluated and see if we can help get you unstuck and on your way to a more balanced lifestyle!
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