Physiologic Adaptations

The body is quite amazing. It never ceases to amaze me in how intricate and yet connected it is. I’ve had people come in with shoulder pain that I was able to trace back to a foot issue. I have had people come in with shoulder pain that was connected to a neck issue. I have had people come in with shoulder pain that was connected to a low back issue. Every body is different and that means that there is no cookie cutter approach to health and healing. My job as a chiropractor is to allow the body to heal and repair itself by removing the adaptations that are creating the problem. Physiologic adaptations happen all the time. Through our jobs or injuries or lack of muscle tone our bodies learn ways of coping. They will adapt to the stress so that we can function to our maximum potential. The problem is that sometimes these adaptations lead to causing a malfunction in other parts of the body. Let me give you an example; Let’s say you break your foot and as a result you need a cast. In this scenario, you’re lucky, and you get to wear a walking boot cast. With this boot you will end up limping and having an abnormal gait. This gait translates up to the knee and hip and low back and you start to strain these areas as the body is compensating for the limp. The compensations for the low back become entrained and segments don’t move as well as normal. The boot comes off and you’re no longer limping but the entrained segments still aren’t moving. This leads to nerve irritation and eventually low back pain, maybe disc issues, maybe over a long period of time arthritis sets in. My job as a chiropractor is to retrain the body and remove the interferences that have been entrained and irritate the nervous system and also degenerate the body. There are many reasons why someone needs to be adjusted but one thing is certain; if you are coming in with pain….. we are already behind the ball. We are working against irritated nerves that have been subjugated to physiologic adaptation for weeks, months or maybe even years. The best time to come and see a chiropractor is before symptoms even start. Over half of my patients are wellness/maintenance patients where we adjust them in the absence of symptoms. Allowing them to not only feel amazing but also function at their best. One common misconception is that once you start going to a chiropractor you need to continually go. Although most of my patients end up choosing to receive adjustments after their symptoms are gone, they are always able to stop care without any adverse effects. Wellness care is simply allowing your body to maintain its optimal form, similar to working out on a regular basis or brushing your teeth daily. You do these things to maintain health. An occasional adjustment is very similar. You get adjusted to maintain the health of your spine. So, don’t forget to come in and have your spine checked and adjusted regardless if you’re having symptoms or not. We want you to perform at your peak level of performance and ensure you’re not slowly degenerating the spine through insidious physiologic adaptations.