You eat well and exercise – but you should still see a chiropractor. When we talk about physical health, it’s often two tiered – nutrition and fitness. But this view misses a critical element. The missing piece of the puzzle here is a healthy spine and nervous system. Physiology shows us how the brain controls every single organ, cell and tissue in your body.
During exercise, it’s important to have your spine moving properly and your body balanced.
Imagine hitting a large pothole in your vehicle. The tire may not be affected immediately, but if you keep driving with this imbalance, the tire will eventually wear out. And so would its attached components.
Your spine works in the same way.
If your spine is imbalanced, the physical impacts of exercise will actually wear it out faster. And consider this. If you’re taking the time and energy to eat well and exercise regularly, you want your body storing and using those nutrients at an optimum level.
Eating well and exercising do not replace the need for chiropractic.
In fact, many of the professional and world class athletes get adjusted regularly. They use chiropractic not merely for aches and pains, but to get that extra edge, to push their bodies even further! If you have 100% life energy flowing through your body, healthy eating and exercise will only push you in a more positive direction.
Misalignments are an adaptive state in response to stress. Stresses to our spine and nervous system come in three major forms:
-
Physical Stress
Physical stresses can include both injuries from slips, falls, car accidents, trauma, and micro-traumas – poor posture, computers, couches, driving, etc.
-
Emotional Stress
Imagine you are a passenger in a car on a wintry highway. The roads are pure ice and you can’t see more than a car length in front of you. After a few hours of this tense driving situation, how does your body feel? Stressed? Likely symptoms might include a tight neck, possible headache, possible nausea, tight shoulder blades, low back aches, etc.
It’s a large list of physical symptoms, yet nothing physical has actually happened.
In our society, emotional stress has become a chronic and long-term problem – no wintry roads needed. Between traffic, meetings, finances, relationships, negative media and our busy lives, our systems are permanently locked in “fight or flight” modes – with a laundry list of physical consequences that effect spinal integrity, nervous system function and overall health.
- Chemical Stress
A large part of chemical stress to our bodies is uncontrollable, relating to things like atmospheric and environmental toxins in our food, water and air supplies, smog, etc. And just like emotional stress, chemical stress will eventually manifest as a physical symptom.
Have you ever sat in a freshly painted room or a garage full of exhaust? Or drank too much alcohol? Your body can often react violently to these chemical stresses. The physical manifestations can be headache, muscle tension, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, etc.
The most devastating chemical stressors we expose ourselves to is the overuse of medications. Medications were never designed for long term use. ALL medications have negative side effects. We look for quick fixes in North America and it is killing us! Canada and the U.S. make up as little as 5.5% of the world’s population. Yet, we consume 78% of all the world’s pharmaceuticals. If medication was the answer to health, we should be one of the healthiest nations in the world.
As you can see, the need for chiropractic care has never been greater. Even if you are incredibly healthy, feeling great, staying active and eating well, your everyday life exposes you to continual stresses that have a significant effect on your spine and nervous system.
Chiropractors assess the function of your body – they don’t just treat the symptoms. Chiropractic can help ensure that your body’s nerve communication is flowing fully, allowing every part of your body to be connected and functioning at 100%; that is what true health is all about!