12 Good Reasons

Chiropractic is not just for aches and pains, it's for everyone who wants more out of life. As you will read below you don't have to wait for a symptom, an ache or a pain to develop first to benefit from chiropractic care. The importance of proper maintenance, like dental checkups, like tune-ups for your car, cannot be denied. No matter what level of health you want, chiropractic has something for everybody.

These citations were taken from medical and chiropractic journals. See what they have to say about spinal health.

Nerve damage may occur to nerve fibers other than the tiny pain nerve fibers. The tiny pain fibers are small and less liable to mechanically cause irritation. Therefore harmful nerve damage can occur without pain. Spine‚ 1980;5:185-192. (Dr.Glendon - i.e., you can have a problem and not even be aware of it because you can't feel it.)

Nerve compression from spinal mal-alignments adversely affects the inherent capacities of the body during healthy and unhealthy states. Luttges & Gerren. Compression Physiology, Modern Developments in Principles & Practice of Chiropractic‚ Haldeman ed. 1980:65-92.

Chiropractic adjustments positively influence the immune system. Brennan. Journal of Manipulative and Physiologic Therapeutics‚1991;14(7):399-408.

Stretching the joint capsule of fixated joints can inhibit the nerves responsible for muscle spasms, cycles of pain and immobility. Kirkaldy-Willis, Cassidy. Canadian Family Physician‚ 1985:31;535-540.

4 - To Prevent Abnormal Nerve Signals Resulting From Stress

Stress and muscle tension traumatize the proprioceptors (position sensors) causing abnormal nerve impulses. Parkhurst, Bennett. JOSPT‚ 1994, 19(5): 282-295.

5 - To Improve Flexibility

Asymptomatic patients increase their ranges of motion and symmetry with chiropractic care. Nansel. Journal of Manipulative and Physiologic Therapeutics, 1989, 12(6):419-427.

6 - To Improve Joint Functioning

Chiropractic increases the movement of restricted or fixated joints (subluxations) and reduces the excess movement of adjacent compensating hypermobile joints. Yeomans. Journal of Manipulative and Physiologic Therapeutics‚ 1992,15(2):106-114.

7 - To Improve Athletic Performance

Chiropractic care lead to improved agility, balance, speed of reaction time, power and kinesthetic perception. Lauro,J. Chiropractic Research & Clinical Investigation‚ 1991, 6(4):84-87.

Even small biomechanical abnormalities result in a significant amount of stress on joints. Renstrom, Johnson. Sports Medicine‚ 1985, 2:326-333.

Altered proprioceptive input interferes with normal patterns of emotions, balance, coordination and equilibrium. Wyke. Aspects of Manipulative Therapy, 1980, 67-71.

8 - To Improve Organic Functioning

Chiropractic can decrease blood pressure. Yates. Journal of Manipulative and Physiologic Therapeutics‚ 1988,11(6):484-488.

Function of visceral organs such as the heart, bladder, and digestive organs are influenced by nerve impulses from the spine. Sato. The Research Status of Manipulative Therapy‚ 1975, 163-172.

Patients with duodenal ulcers responded better to chiropractic care than to traditional medical care. Pikalov, PhD, Kharin, MD. Journal of Manipulative and Physiologic Therapeutics‚ 1994,17(5):310-313.

9 - To Prevent Spinal Disk Degeneration

Lack of motion in the spine increases the tendency for disk malnutrition. Holm. Acta.Orthop.Scand.(suppl. 25), 1993,64:13-15.

The most critical variable responsible for the degeneration of disks is declining nutrition. Buckwater, J. Bone & Joint Surgery‚ 1993, 75A(10):1533-1548.

10 - To Prevent Abnormal Nerve Signals

A dysfunctioning joint sends persistently disturbed sensory feedback to the nervous system, therefore existing motor patterns have to be modified. Johansson. Neuro-Orthopedic, 1990, 9:1-23.

Impaired proprioceptive input is related to problems with the musculoskeletal system. Bullock-Saxton. Spine, 1993, 1896:704-708.

Spinal and postural reeducation occurs with rehabilitative techniques since the body proprioceptors have the ability to learn. Reve. Archives of Physical Medicine, 1994, 75(Aug):895-899.

Spinal manipulation helps to improve postural and kinesthetic awareness. Nyberg & Basmajian. Rational Manual Therapy, 1993, 451-467.

12 - To Reduce the Possibility of Pain Due to Joint Dysfunction

Chronic lower back pain isn't an injury but is a result of a downward spiral in inactivity and reduced functional capacity. Mikheev. The Chiropractic Report‚ 1993, July:1-6.

Come and see what chiropractic can do for you.

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Last modified: May 11, 2001, Friday.