The spine houses the spinal cord, which is the central nervous system of the body. The central nervous system controls all other systems of the body. This means it controls the functions of all your other organs like your heart, liver, glands, etc. Therefore, if there is a problem with the central nervous system it can manifest itself as symptoms all throughout your body.
Problems in the central nervous system occur very often when your spine is misaligned. These can be large misalignments, like scoliosis, which many may have heard of, however they can be partial misalignments of bones (vertebrae) in the spine; this is called a subluxation.
When a subluxation occurs, it can cause the spinal cord to send incorrect messages throughout the body. This results in all different types of symptoms from headaches to dizziness to stomach problems and more aside from the standard neck or back ache that will likely accompany it over time.
Subluxations in the spine manifest outwardly as postural issues. If your bones are not aligned properly, you will not be standing as straight or tall as you should. Issues with your posture can cause the subluxations, but also a subluxation could be caused other stress factors, including an accident or other trauma. The main idea here is that not all issues with your neck and back are posture related, however some may be. It’s important to ensure you do what you can to have proper posture and ergonomics, but sometimes underlying issues must be fixed to allow you to have good posture.
There are plenty of healthy things you can do to lessen symptoms and correct posture. People often turn to Yoga to improve flexibility and strength as well as physical therapy for similar reasons. Though these practices are definitely very healthy and helpful, the only way to correct these subluxations in your spine is to see a chiropractor. A chiropractor specializes in solving these types of issues.
A chiropractor works to correct subluxations in the spine. Different chiropractors have varying techniques but they often boil down to manual adjustments of your neck and spine. Chiropractors can also adjust different joints in your extremities (ankles, wrists, etc). By making these adjustments the chiropractor gently moves the bones back into better alignment so that pressure on the nervous system is reduced. It is almost always painless and is non-invasive. Similar to wearing braces, it takes time and consistent adjustments to fix the problems in the long run.
Not only do you need to see a chiropractor regularly, but also it’s important to make certain changes in your life to ensure that adjustments hold, and your spine stays in better alignment. I will detail some of these changes in subsequent articles, especially as they relate to working at a computer (ergonomics). By making these changes, you will need to see a chiropractor less frequently and will be much healthier overall. One thing is for sure, it is definitely a good idea to go see a chiropractor no matter who you are, especially if you work at a computer. The longer you wait, the harder it is to fix these issues.