subject: Why Does Chiropractictreatment Work?
[print this page] New chiropractic care people are frequently pleasantly surprised at how much of a difference the treatment makes in how they feel, and how quickly they get results. Many people notice instantaneous improvement in symptoms after getting adjusted, even in cases where symptoms have been present for long durations. Some patients are pleasantly surprised by improvement in other health issues after they initiate chiropractic. These include things like chronic sinus conditions, asthma, infertility, high blood pressure, digestive disorders, and many other common health problems. While the effects of chiropractic for such conditions are less reliable than for musculoskeletal pain, they do happen for many patients. How is it possible for adjusting joints in the spine to produce such benefits?
Those skeptical of chiropractic care believe that the perceived improvements in symptoms patients get from chiropractic treatments are only placebo in nature - that is, people get better just because they expect to. In opposition to this is the fact that many of the people who claim to have benefittted from chiropractic treatment were actually skeptical of it themselves before they started treatment. These patients were not inclined to think that the treatment was going to provide any beneficial results. The placebo effect could definitely be a factor in some cases, but it is plain that there is more to the success of chiropractic care treatment than people simply believing in it. So how can chiropractic adjustments reduce pain so rapidly, and how could have any effect whatsoever on conditions involving glands and organs?
The nervous system monitors and controls the entire body all the organs, glands, and tissues, as well as the musculoskeletal system. The spinal column contains a great portion of the nervous system and there are many complex associations between the mechanical function of the spinal joints and nerve functions. The spinal joint nerve receptors are the key to the various beneficial effects of treatment by chiropractors. When the spinal joints are not functioning properly due to trauma, repetetive stress, poor posture, inflammation, or other causes, the firing pattern of the nerve receptors inside the joints is altered. Basically, a sort of disruption is produced in the nerve signals coming from the joints. The disrupted nerve signals results in adjustments in the central nervous system's analysis of problems in the body. In response to the disruption, the nervous system may modify how it regulates the body's muscles, organs, and/or systems. The result can include reactions such as excess muscle contraction (often a source of pain) and changes in organ and gland function.
Chiropractic treatments alter the firing of the spinal joint nerve receptors by means of varying the movement patterns in the joints. When a person is in pain, this change in nerve signals within the spinal column can result in major symptom variations nearly instantly. For patients with other health disorders, if that health problem was due to the abnormal nerve signals from the spinal joints (clearly, any health problem can have a number of other causes unrelated to the spinal column), the health condition will often improve very quickly within a few days or weeks depending on the circumstance.
Owing to these effects on the nervous system, treatment by chiropractors can be valuable in the treatment of nearly any health problem. Potentially chiropractic can help nearly any health condition, but it is far more dependable in the treatment of musculokeletal pain than in the treatment of organ dysfunction and for this reason chiropractic will likely remain a healing art devoted mostly to musculoskeletal disorders.
