What is Spinal Manipulation?

By: Dr. Sande Jacobson.

What are the benefits of Spinal Manipulation?

There are so many so let's cover the basics.

Patients under Chiropractic care can live a better quality of life as some breathe better, some have less muscular tension. Other have less back pain or leg pain. Some patients experience better digestion, better sleeping, and even greater mental clarity as they are not constantly disturbed by their physical pain and dysfunction.

The idea behind spinal manipulation is to restore the natural, normal balance to your body. Your Spine is made of 24 moveable bones called Vertebrae.

Your vertebrae are stacked on top of each other like little building blocks you had when you were a kid. But, the difference is that between every 2 of your vertebrae, you have an InterVertebral Disc. (you hear the word Disc when people have a herniation or bulge.. this is it).

Your body wants to keep your vertebrae stacked on top of each other because if they slid out of their normal position, they'll put abnormal pressure on your Discs, and other structures.

The reasons why you have a spine is to provide:

• A great amount of movement. Your body can bend and move in so many ways, that a robot can't even come close to working like you.

• Great protection to your Central Nerve System.

Each of your vertebrae has a channel in the middle of it, that allows your spinal cord to travel through it. Your Spinal Cord is an extension of your Brain.

Your Skull protects your Brain. Your skull has a big opening, a hole, in the bathroom of it where the Spinal Cord exists the skull. It's very deep inside your neck and you cannot feel it, but it's there.

The Spinal Cord branches onto spinal nerves, which exit behind every Disc, which is between every 2 vertebrae. And those Spinal Nerves branch into hundreds of nerves that control every function in your entire body.

Since you have such great movement in your Body, your vertebrae are subject to many forces we encounter every day. Because your spine is such an important attribute to your fantastic body, it needs and is supported by a complex built of bones, joints, muscles, and other connective tissues.

When your body is suffering with a vertebrae out of place, Chiropractors call this Vertebral Subluxation. All the means is a vertebrae or spinal bone, is sub or less than, and out of place, or luxation.

Vertebral Subluxation can and will cause extensive damage to your body if left uncorrected. The components of Vertebral Subluxation are:

• Abnormal pressure on spinal nerves and that can be the cause of multiple health problems.

• Abnormal pressure on spinal joints leading to arthritis and degeneration.

• Tight, sore muscles

• Abnormal pressure on your Intervertebral Discs which can become worse over time causing constant back pain.

• Abnormal pressure on your vertebrae and surrounding connective tissues.

So, when a vertebrae slips out of place, and you get pressure on a nerve that controls stomach function, and you only have 50% nerve supply to your stomach due to the Vertebral Subluxation effecting the nerves to your legs, your legs wouldn't function at 100%.

I don't know about you, but I want as close to 100% nerve supply that I can get. And I want it every day, not just sometimes. Because when I'm crossing a street and a car is coming at me, I want my legs to be able to move fast! And when I eat, I want my stomach functioning properly to break down nutrients so they can be delivered quickly to the rest of my body.

Problem areas in the spine occur when gravity, or other forces, like car accidents, lifting heavy objects incorrectly, falling, or exerting yourself too much in any way, can cause your spinal bones to move out of place.

Returning the vertebrae to its normal position will restore the spine's structural integrity and balance, improve the nerve system which controls all body functions, reduce pain and inflammation, and allow the body to heal itself naturally.

Doctors of Chiropractic spend several years learning anatomy and physiology along with how your joints in your body function and perform. With this knowledge, we practice the skills of gently moving vertebrae and return them to their original position. Spinal Manipulation, or Chiropractic Adjustment, is that skill. Through the use of several different techniques, Doctors of Chiropractic are trained to help you by returning Vertebral Subluxations to their normal, proper state of balance.

I hope you can see how important it is for you to have and maintain good spinal health. Your entire body depends on it. Everyone knows what their smile looks like and doesn't need a dentist or x-ray to tell them there could be a problem.

If people could see their spine every day, they'd take much better care of it.