Have you ever wondered why sometimes you feel pain in lieu of an accident, injury, or fall? Why does pain not show up until days later sometimes? And finally, why do I not feel any pain at all but have some type of dysfunction or underlying process occuring?
Unfortunately we are a “pain driven” society and feel that we are healthy or nothing is wrong if we are not in some kind of pain or discomfort. This is a flawed perception for many reasons as lack of pain is not a barometer for good health or a measurement as to how our body may be functioning properly! We should not be relying on lack of symptoms as a guide as to how healthy we are. Let me give you a simple but appropriate example: The day you wake up with a toothache, did that cavity just pop up overnight and now produce pain or did it take months or even years to start decaying and break down to get to the point where it finally produced symptoms? Exactly, it took time for the tooth to break down before you felt any pain or were aware of any underlying problem. That’s why most of us see a dentist on a regular basis, to keep our teeth and gums healthy and hopefully prevent future problems. That’s how chiropractic generally works and why you should see a chiropractor on a regular, preventative maintenance basis. Routine chiropractic care can not only help prevent injury, correct postural imbalances, and reduce pain, but, it can help your overall well-being and enhance optimal functioning of your body!
Let me explain further and interject some anatomy and physiology as well as scientific research. Every single cell, organ, muscle, joint, sensation, function, or internal bodily process is controlled by one thing- the brain and nervous system. Our nervous system is a direct extension of the brain and is the master control system of the body as well as the pathway by which our brain controls every function of the body. Keeping it simple, our nervous system is broken up into 2 main parts, motor and sensory. The motor nerves are what essentially controls every function of the body from external movement to internal processes like our heartbeat, breathing, and digestion. Motor nerves comprise 90% of our nervous system and are allocated towards everyday general overall functioning. The other 10% of our nervous system is comprised of sensory nerves and are responsible for sensation and sense perception (pain). Just by how our nervous system is inherently divided up with the majority of the nerves utilized for everyday functioning and only a very small amount used for sensory, we can see how pain reception is not a very important part of our bodies daily overall everyday processes. This is why we should not use pain, or lack there of it, as a sliding scale as to how healthy we are. This explains the dental cavity analogy mentioned above in a nutshell and why you should consider making chiropractic part of your healthy lifestyle.
So, why should you consider making chiropractic part of your life even if you are not in pain or discomfort? Safe, effective chiropractic adjustments reduces overall stress on the body and removes nervous system interference allowing the brain to properly communicate with the body overall. Muscle spasms, tight tendons and ligaments, joint dysfunction, postural imbalances, and stress can act like a negative barrier not allowing for optimal functioning of the nervous system. This can translate into dysfunction and dis-ease anywhere in the body if those nerves become irritated, compressed, or compromised in any way by any of those negative barriers mentioned above. Chiropractic care can remove and reduce those negative barriers, allowing proper communication between the brain and body and optimal functioning of the nervous system. By reducing overall stress on the body and nervous system, we generally feel better and function more optimally, living up to our fullest potential.
Another example of how pain alone should not be a determining factor for overall health is when a person suffers a heart attack. Why you might say? What are some of the first signs that you’re having a myocardial infarction or heart attack? Many of you know the symptoms- chest pain, shortness of breath, left arm pain, jaw or facial pain, sudden mid back or shoulder pain, etc. But, again those are symptoms that your body finally produce from a longer underlying issue that may have been brewing from some sort of dysfunction or dis-ease process. So, by the time you feel pain or experience symptoms, you’re actually having a heart attack! Remember, only 10% of your nervous system is allocated towards pain reception and symptoms production, which is why you may have not been warned of the condition earlier. It takes about 60% dysfunction before your body and sensory nervous system will start to produce minimal symptoms or the brain to sense dysfunctional signs. Again, pain is not a good measurement as to how healthy we are, and lack of pain is not a good barometer for health!
Prevention can be tough measure, and sometimes that’s how preventative chiropractic care can be referred to if not being treated for pain. Yes, you will most likely feel good, have more energy, better joint movement, improved posture, decreased muscle tension, and reduced overall stress with routine chiropractic care, but what about the potential far reaching benefits of having a nervous system that functions optimally. The nervous system is the gateway or pathway that allows proper communication between the brain and body, this is the only way the body can potentially function as close to 100% as possible. This is where chiropractic is helpful by removing interference on the nervous system, allowing unobstructed nerve impulses to move freely and “normal” transmission to occur. Stress is referred to as the “silent killer” because it can go undetected and there’s no real way to objectively measure it. We can see the negative effects of stress on the body as it can manifest itself as symptoms, dysfunction, or dis-ease. Every body system has a pain threshold and breakdown tolerance, so once those levels are hit, symptoms will finally occur. Give your body the best opportunity to function as optimally as possible, try a regimen of safe, gentle, effective chiropractic care.
With over 21 years in private practice, Dr. Philip Altieri has successfully treated thousands of patients. People of all ages seek out his specific type of chiropractic care and unique approaches to injury and overall health. He has many long term patients that continue to see him on a regular preventative maintenance to reduce the negative everyday stress on the body and allow their bodies to function as optimally as possible.
