What Are the 5 Keys to Optimum Health? Why is Chiropractic the 5th Key?
What Are The 5 Keys to Optimum Health?
- Exercise
- Good Nutrition
- Rest
- Stress Management
- Proper Nerve Supply with Chiropractic Care.
Why is Chiropractic the 5th Key to Optimum Health?
Actually, chiropractic care helps restore and keep proper nerve supply and is the first key to optimum health. Without proper nerve supply our entire system is not functioning optimally.
One of the best things about chiropractic care is it’s a drug-free and surgery-free path to healing naturally. In order to have the other 4 optimal health keys work best for us, we need to start with a healthy, happy spine. That is a spine that is in good alignment.
Chiropractors pride themselves on taking a natural, drugless approach to helping their patients reach their health goals. Essentially, the basic principle upon which the entire profession is built is that the body has the amazing, innate ability to heal itself; your chiropractor’s job is to find and correct nerve pressure allowing healing and optimal health to take shape.
Because the nervous system controls every cell and organ in your body, chiropractors focus their attention on the health of the spine being properly aligned and if there are shifts, helping the spine come back into alignment. This misalignment is called a vertebral subluxation.
Why Get Chiropractic Adjustments?
Many things can lead to a vertebral subluxation. Chiropractors often refer to the cause as the 3T’s (Thoughts, Trauma, Toxins) Some of the more common causes are:
- A vertebra going out of place (“misalignment”) because of a slip or fall, accident or sport injury (Trauma)
- Poor posture over weeks or months, many times poor work ergonomics (microtrauma).
- Joint swelling and inflammation caused by a poor diet, dehydration or psychological stress.
- Stress causing muscle and hormonal changes weakening the body and making it easier for vertebra to misalign.
- Toxins in our environment whether through pollution, pesticides, or drugs all cause stress on our bodies, predisposing us to spinal misalignment.
People have reported chiropractic benefits help to improve:
- Back pain
- Headaches
- Ear infections
- Neck pain
- Arthritis and joint pain
- Scoliosis
- Asthma
- Blood pressure
- Healthy Pregnancy
- Organ function
- Surgery prevention
The problem that we see in Western cultures is that our unnatural habit of sitting down all day does a number on our spines — not to mention our posture. We’re glued to our cell phones, IPads and laptops!
Far too many live their lives hunched over and with their necks stuck out like turtles. Doctors call this “forward head posture,” and studies prove that for every inch your head sticks out from a true center of gravity, your neck bears an extra 10 pounds of stress. Just think about how common and dangerous this can be for your health!
During posture evaluations, chiropractors regularly observe many of their patients carrying their head two to three inches forward, which is an extra 20-30 pounds of pressure on their neck!
Chiropractic Studies and Research
Finding a good chiropractor isn’t only key to correcting the damage caused by years of poor posture or trauma — it’s also important for everyone wanting to take a proactive approach to his or her health care.
Here are some of the studies and medical research proving the therapeutic benefits of chiropractic.
Sciatica
The European Spine Journal published the findings from a clinical trial last year uncovering how chiropractic adjustments resulted in a 72 percent success rate in treating sciatica and related symptoms compared to the 20 percent success from physical therapy and 50 percent from corticosteroid injections.
Compared to most medical treatments, few interventions can initiate back pain relief and healing like chiropractic adjustments can!
Low Back Pain and Neck Pain
In a study published in the British Medical Journal 2003, 183 patients with neck pain were randomly allocated to 3 groups: spinal adjustments, physiotherapy (mainly exercise), or general practitioner care (counseling, education and drugs) in a 52-week study.
The clinical outcome measures showed that chiropractic adjustments resulted in faster relief and healing.
Athletic Performance
There is a reason why athletes both today and in the past, like Michael Phelps, Jerry Rice and Joe Montana, are under regular chiropractic care. In fact, over 50 percent of NFL teams have a chiropractor on staff.
Because it is so effective at pain-based and pathological conditions, one of the most overlooked aspects of chiropractic care is that it enhances personal and athletic performance. Studies have shown that it:
- Reduces inflammatory
- Boosts your immune system
- Enhances pulmonary function
- Decreases mental and oxidative stress
- Relieves muscle tension
- And can naturally increase your energy level
Studies have even proved, objectively and subjectively, that chiropractic patients experience “overall increased bodily function,” which includes bowel regularity and mental clarity.
Basically, because it helps place your body in the position where it can heal itself, chiropractic adjustments can free your immune system up to focus on keeping you healthy, which enhances your ability to think, move and perform.
In conclusion Chiropractic care aims to improve health by restoring structure and function to the spine and other joints. Stress, accidents, overexertion, or other injuries may cause minor displacement (subluxation) of the spinal vertebra. When a vertebra is displaced, muscle tension or irritation to the spinal nerves can result, causing pain (e.g., neck, back, headache) and impairing overall health.
When was the last time you saw your Chiropractor? When was the last time you shared your chiropractic success story with a friend?
