Chiropractic care & your brain
A simple explanation of how chiropractic care works
The function of your spine can influence the way your brain perceives what’s going on in your body.
If your brain can accurately perceive what is going on, it can control your body better. Chiropractic care restores the health and function of your spine thereby improving the communication between your brain, your body and the environment. |
Sensorimotor integration ….. What is it & why it’s important
Your brain needs to integrate all the sensory information it receives from the body to then be able to accurately move your body. This is called sensorimotor integration. When your brain gets it right, it can carry out movements with pinpoint perfection.
If your spine is not moving properly it makes it harder for your brain to accurately perceive what is going on in your body.
If spinal segments are moving too much, this causes background noise for the brain. If they don’t move enough, the brain doesn’t get adequate information about what’s happening in the spine.
If your brain can’t perceive what is going on in your body it impacts how it can control your movements. This can lead to clumsiness, accidents and the development of painful conditions.
If your spine is not moving properly it makes it harder for your brain to accurately perceive what is going on in your body.
If spinal segments are moving too much, this causes background noise for the brain. If they don’t move enough, the brain doesn’t get adequate information about what’s happening in the spine.
If your brain can’t perceive what is going on in your body it impacts how it can control your movements. This can lead to clumsiness, accidents and the development of painful conditions.
The role of chiropractic care
As chiropractors, we check the spine and other joints for dysfunction. We then gently adjust the spine, using various techniques, to restore appropriate spinal movement and help improve sensorimotor integration. For the brain this is like rebooting a computer.
We can then work to maintain good function through appropriate exercise and rehab.
(Adapted from: ‘The reality Check’ by Dr Heidi Haavik)
We can then work to maintain good function through appropriate exercise and rehab.
(Adapted from: ‘The reality Check’ by Dr Heidi Haavik)
Let’s look at an example of how this works
Kate has been sitting at her desk at work for a while slouching over her computer. She gets up and then bends over to pick up her handbag so she can go home and immediately feels a twinge in her lower back.
She comes to see us for an assessment and we discover that there is joint dysfunction in her lower back. This dysfunction is creating the altered communication between the brain and body. In other words the brain doesn’t know exactly how that area of Kates spine is working so it couldn’t control it properly. Now this simple movement of bending over to pick up her handbag has created a problem. This is the proverbial 'straw that broke the camels back' scenario.
Kate starts a program of chiropractic care and the adjustments restore appropriate spinal movement so the brain can now accurately perceive what is going on in that area.
As we are restoring better communication between the brain and body through her chiropractic adjustments, we give Kate appropriate exercises/stretches/soft tissue work to do. We also look at things which may have caused the problem in the first place. Examples of these are posture, how she bends and moves and how she sleeps. These all help give her faster and hopefully longer lasting results.
For more information on this, please contact us.
She comes to see us for an assessment and we discover that there is joint dysfunction in her lower back. This dysfunction is creating the altered communication between the brain and body. In other words the brain doesn’t know exactly how that area of Kates spine is working so it couldn’t control it properly. Now this simple movement of bending over to pick up her handbag has created a problem. This is the proverbial 'straw that broke the camels back' scenario.
Kate starts a program of chiropractic care and the adjustments restore appropriate spinal movement so the brain can now accurately perceive what is going on in that area.
As we are restoring better communication between the brain and body through her chiropractic adjustments, we give Kate appropriate exercises/stretches/soft tissue work to do. We also look at things which may have caused the problem in the first place. Examples of these are posture, how she bends and moves and how she sleeps. These all help give her faster and hopefully longer lasting results.
For more information on this, please contact us.
Rehab products available at Elevate Chiropractic
We have a range of rehab products at great prices to help you achieve the best results. These include:
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