Research has shown that patients who are under consistent chiropractic care get sick much less often that people who are not.  With this post, I am going to attempt to show why this is the case.

The brain and the nervous system controls and coordinates all the  functions of the body. From your heart beating, to your breathing, to your immune system fighting off disease, to your gall bladder digesting fats to your kidney and liver filtering out toxins from the body.  Each activity is controlled by the brain sending it’s signals through out vast nervous system.  So, the first reason chiropractic patients are healthier is because chiropractic directly affects the nervous system.  Pressure on a spinal nerve will not only cause pain and muscles spasms, but it also affects whatever organs that nerve goes to and controls.  If the brain can’t get 100% of its signals to a particular organ, it only makes sense that the organ cannot function at 100%.  By removing pressure on the nerve through an adjustment, we are also allowing the body to function at a higher level.

The second reason chiropractic patients are healthier is because of the intimate relationship between the nervous system and the immune system.  There is an entire field of study now called psychoneuroimmunlogy which looks at this connection between the mind, the nervous system, and the immune system.  Researchers are finding that it is almost impossible to separate the immune system from the nervous system. This fits perfectly with chiropractic because, again, we are the only discipline that can remove pressure on spinal nerves through an adjustment.  It makes sense that when the nervous system is function better, the immune system will also function better.  Germs don’t make us sick.  There are germs EVERYWHERE.  If germs made us sick, we would be sick all the time.  It’s our body’s ability to fight off the germs that keep us healthy.  When our immune systems aren’t functioning at the highest level is when the germs are able to invade our bodies causing dis-ease.

The final reason chiropractic patients are healthier is because chiropractic patients tend to lead healthier lifestyles.  People who are concerned about their health tend to eat a little bit better.  They tend to exercise a little more.  They tend to take less prescription and over the counter medications.  All of these things, along with getting adjusted regularly, lead to better health.

Obviously, I am not saying that all you have to do is get adjusted consistently, and you’ll never have any health problem.  There are many factors that affect health…your attitude, your diet, your rest, your stress levels, your exercise, and your environment. However, I don’t believe that any one of those things is more important than taking care of your nervous system and getting adjusted.  I get checked once a week just to make sure I keep myself tuned up.