Chiropractic Stress Management May Boost Overall Health

When the wear and tear of life start to “get on our nerves,” it’s exactly our nerves that may be getting impacted. Stress bears down on the nervous system, and that in turn can create problems with headaches, backache, neck pain, fatigue or digestive difficulties.

And that’s where chiropractic care comes in. Chiropractors’ primary area of expertise is the nervous system, especially the spine. The nervous system as a whole is the coordinator of all of the body’s processes – including those in the circulatory, respiratory, digestive, reproductive, endocrine and musculoskeletal systems. So to correct problems in those systems, the chiropractor focuses on the all-important nervous system, which underpins them all.

To do this, chiropractors concentrate on the spinal column – the bony and cartilaginous armor that encases the spinal cord. The spine is made up of bony segments known as vertebrae, and chiropractors believe that, if these are out of alignment, they can interfere with the normal operation of the host of nerves that branch off from the spinal cord to control the manifold workings of the body. Such misalignments are said to cause many unexpected illnesses.

The chiropractor adjusts the spine and surrounding muscles, attempting to correct the cause of nerve interference and irritation, to release muscle tension and to increase circulation.

So, when one begins to feel what may be the result of the stress of life – headaches, digestive problems, aches and pains, sleeplessness – it may be a sign to visit not only one’s local general practitioner, but one’s local chiropractor as well. An adjustment of one’s spine and a correction of one’s nervous system may help do the trick to restore health.

Back Pain: Causes and Treatments

There's a good chance you or someone you care about has suffered with back pain that lasts a long time. Back pain is the second leading symptom seen by doctors in the United States. Now, one might think a powerful group of pain medicines can help relieve the agony. But it appears, their effectiveness, at least with back pain, might be overblown. Chronic back pain--meaning, pain that lasts more than three months--is reported in 19 percent of working adults. That's one in five! Thambal Yima will tell you first hand how debilitating it can be. She suffered five herniated discs, and two fractures a couple of years ago. “I went through all kinds of medical treatments. I was in so much pain to get up on the examination table I would scream.” She came in in intractable pain, certainly, sounding like someone, if there was someone, who would benefit from opioid pain medicines…drugs in the morphine family. These are drugs like fentanyl, percocet, oxycontin, and vicodin. They are powerful pain killers. But according to new research in the annals of internal medicine, the difference in pain relief between these medicines and placebo was not significantly different long term, believe it or not.

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WHO Investigates Neck Pain Big-Time

Persistent neck pain makes life miserable for millions of people worldwide, and all too often the advice of conventional physicians is to seek help through surgery. But a huge, years-long international study shows the best way to treat most instances of neck pain is through far less drastic approaches, such as chiropractic.

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Expert Commentary: Thomas Hyland Robertson, DC 3/25/2009

Imagine a complicated pulley setup with rubber shock-absorbers between the parts and ropes moving through the system. What if you left this pulley out in the weather for 30 years, with minimal maintenance or lubrication? Rust and grit would probably start to restrict the movement of the parts, and the rubber might get brittle. The ropes could even tighten up and jam the pulley's motion.
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