Spine 101

What role does your spine play regarding your health? You’d be surprised to know that your spine is vital to whatever’s going on in your body! When a chiropractor adjusts your spine, he or she can help relieve all sorts of problems, from digestion troubles to your ability to breathe better. Researchers have found that there’s a direct correlation between the spine’s vertebrae (bones) and nerves that go to your organs.

Sometimes tension or inflammation occurs in a region of the spine due to physical, chemical or emotional issues, such as stress. The spine can then go “out of alignment.” When this happens, your nervous system doesn’t work as intended. It’s kind of like if you were driving a car on a highway but suddenly the highway has a traffic jam and you tried to go around it on the side of the road through the dirt and grass– that wouldn’t be as smooth a ride, right? Exactly.

A spine that’s out of alignment can cause problems with the way your brain communicates with your body. When this happens, certain parts of your body might have pain and/or not work well. Take, for instance, someone who is in a car crash. Their body moves in an awkward position forcefully and quickly, and damage to the spinal vertebrae can occur. Depending on which vertebrae are affected, a person could then experience problems. For example, if a certain vertebrae is negatively affected by an injury, a person could experience bad leg pain and/or numbness in the foot or certain toes. Sometimes the body can heal on its own. Sometimes a chiropractor can help the body heal itself. And sometimes the damage is so bad that major surgery has to be done for the good of the patient.

In most cases, people who have pain typically have misaligned spines that can be corrected by hands-on adjustments made by a knowledgeable chiropractor.

In Forest Lake, MN, call 651-464-0800 and make an appointment at Lakewoods Chiropractic. See how an adjustment works, in person, and how it makes you feel afterward. Many people with lower back problems, as well as neck and shoulder issues, utilize chiropractic care in order to feel better. Chiropractors know how much the spine matters to every part of a person’s body and their overall well-being!