Your central nervous system
Our health relies on our central nervous system more than any other system or organ in our bodies.
This intricate system intertwined throughout our bodies is the power supply of life. By maximizing nerve supply, we maximize the power supply of life within our bodies.
This requires specific spinal correction.
The brain is the first organ to develop in the mother’s womb because it is the command center for the rest of our body. It uses our spinal cord and nerves to create all of our cells and organs.
From development until death, this command center is in charge of the flow of power along the spine and through the nervous system, controlling all function and healing within the body.
Maximized nerve supply is needed to attain true wellness.
The nervous system controls millions of cells inside dozens of operating systems all at once. Breathing and blinking happen without conscious thought. And our hearts beat effortlessly because the nervous system instructs it to do so.
While your body may be able to go days without water, weeks without food and even minutes without oxygen, it cannot keep going one second without the power created by your nervous system.
The nervous system is so essential to your body that it is protected within a well-built, bony structure. This bony structure consists of the brain-protecting skull and the spinal column, which shelters the spinal cord and nerve roots. When this spinal column is not well taken care of, it may shift or rotate out of place, interfering with your body's ability to create maximum nerve supply.
The condition of your spine influences both your physical and mental health—making it essential to optimal performance.
Developments in modern medicine enable chiropractors to accurately measure your spine. This allows them to precisely gauge both the damage done to your spine and nervous system, as well as make recommendations for care.
Though chiropractors are typically associated with pain relief, full spinal correction also improves neurological health, organ function, range of motion, resistance to injury, athletic performance and prevents spinal degeneration.
Overview of your spine
Your spinal cord and nervous system control all function and healing in your body. It consists of 24 movable bones grouped into spinal units that must remain in alignment. Should these units misalign, they cause pressure on the spinal nerves and spinal cord.
A chiropractor requires specialized training beyond graduation in evaluating these spinal units and curves. This training teaches how the spinal units and curves influence each other, which is necessary to understand how to actually correct the spine, rather than to just simply manipulate it.
Maximized Living doctors are certified in this specialized training.
From the front, your spine should be straight. From either side, it should have three distinct curves to allow for healthy nerve function.
A deviation in spinal alignment is called a subluxation, and it poses a complex problem. The bones that make up your spine—or vertebrae—are attached to muscles and ligaments while they surround and protect your spinal cord and nerves.
Unfortunately, today’s lifestyle makes spinal subluxations very common.
When spinal vertebrae misalign, your muscles and ligaments get stretched and potentially damaged. Meanwhile, your spinal cord and nerves are compromised, which can cause pain and enable disease to develop.
Spinal manipulation as the lone treatment is a fine short-term solution, but it’s imperative to address all aspects of your health when correcting subluxation—something not always done by traditional chiropractors.
The goal of certified Maximized Living doctors is to fully remove subluxations while also coaching you on the remaining four health Essentials . This method removes the sources of a health problem, so your pain goes away and never returns.
When the spine is positioned properly and the individual units and curves function normally, you have a tremendous ability to protect your nervous system—your body’s lifeline.
The "Arc of Life"
A major focus of spinal corrective care is the curve of your neck from the side.
There is an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence dating back to the 1960s that proves how critical this cervical curve is to your health and the prevention of degenerative disease.
- In 1960, in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, a study found that when the curve in your neck moves forward out of its normal position, your spinal cord experiences up to 40 lbs. of pressure.
- A 2006 study done by the Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine in the Liberty Safe Work Research Centre at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland showed that losing the cervical curve in your neck literally shrinks the circumference of your spinal cord.
- A 1998 study in Germany found that the diameter of your spinal cord shrinks as much as 24 percent due to tension and pressure resulting from a lost cervical curve. Stretching, narrowing, and shrinking of the spinal cord causes severe neurological damage.
- Researchers in Japan found that when the spine loses its normal curve, it actually flattens the spinal cord and leads to degeneration of spine tissue. Other research in Japan showed that this degeneration was so bad it created demyelination of the spinal cord—as seen in patients with multiple sclerosis.
- Through MRIs of the spinal cord and the spinal canal in the neck, German studies found that when you lose the curve, you stretch the spinal cord as much as 15mm (like a rubber band).
- On a positive note, a large research study on 100 patients revealed that if you have a normal curve in your neck, you have no chance of spinal stenosis (pathological loss of spinal canal space). However, it also showed that if you’ve had a trauma, there’s a 98 percent chance you will have lost the curve in your neck (and most likely be headed towards stenosis).
Other Science that is Important to Know Related to the Need of Spinal Correction
Abnormal weight bearing placed upon spinal bones will cause you to exhibit abnormal and premature degenerative patterns. This degenerative, aging process can start immediately when bones of the spine are misaligned. Spinal correction prevents the damaging effects of Wolf’s Law from kicking in and a well-trained chiropractor can stop and even reverse this problem if identified early enough.
Motion is the Key to Life and Performance:
Anyone who has ever tried to improve their golf swing, play with their grandkids, or compete for an Olympic medal knows mobility and range of motion are not negotiable facets of health.
Corrective care chiropractors have patients ranging from kids to grandparents and are also on the sidelines of professional and Olympic sports competitions.
The results of a study published in the November/December 2001 issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics showed that cervical range of motion was significantly improved with chiropractic adjustments.
More Critical Facts about Correction:
With proper alignment and normal curves, the spine has a dramatic increase in resistance to injury. In fact, your spine is 26 times more resistant to forces when all the spinal units are properly aligned.
Children fall enough times in a day to hospitalize an adult. A child’s healthy spine can withstand this assault.
As an adult—between stress, poor posture, car accidents, sports trauma, etc.—it’s critical that your spine be able to withstand great amounts of force to ensure health and safety.