In my 30 years of practice I have observed that the patients who come in regularly, usually once per month, don’t get sick as often or hurt as often as the people they work and live with who don’t get adjusted. And, their bodies function better overall. Chiropractic is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. It is natural and health producing. Most importantly, it allows them to do the activities they enjoy doing.
The reason is that the chiropractic adjustment gets the body working better and in a higher, more optimum state of function. You can take nutritional supplements which will help your body function better and help you feel better but, if your body is not functioning properly or at optimum for you, you will not get the full benefit of the supplements that you take.
Here are some benefits of regular chiropractic care:
- Improved Digestion
- Better Balance
- Healthier Immune System Function
- More Energy
- Improved Posture
- Better Sleep
- Normal Mobility
- More Efficient Bodily Function
- Slowed Spinal Degeneration
- Frequently Prevents Surgery
- Slows the Aging Process
- Pain Relief
- Drug Free
- Relieves Stress
Breathing is a good example of a function most people do not associate with spinal health. A case published in the 1980’s involved a 53-year-old man with a 20-year history of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. More than 14 months after starting chiropractic care, the amount of air he was able to forcibly exhale in one complete breath (a measure called “forced vital capacity”) and the amount of air he could move in the first second of that complete breath (called “force expiratory volume in one second”) had both improved substantially (1 liter and 0.3 liters, respectively).
This case is part of a growing body of literature indicating that improved spinal health through chiropractic care is often accompanied by improved lung volumes.
The long-term implications of the link between chiropractic care and lung volumes cannot be overemphasized. In most adults, even those without pulmonary disease, lung volumes do not improve over time. In fact, lung volumes generally decline with age.
Lower than normal lung volumes are associated with shorter life spans. More specifically, depressed lung volumes have recently been linked to increased risk of stroke, heart attack, and other potentially life-shortening cardiovascular problems. Conversely, the better your lung volumes, the longer your lifespan is expected to be.
Additional biological functions that seem to benefit from improved spinal health include reaction time, balance and vision.
In the short run, it is great to get out of pain. Chiropractic care can help most people achieve this short-term goal of spinal health. In the long run, it would be great it retain as much lung capacity, visual acuity, reaction time, balance, and cardiovascular health as possible.
Emerging research strongly suggests spinal health has a role to play in these long-term goals as well. Consider follow up visits as part of your health regime.
