If you’ve spent any amount of time in our office, you’ve likely heard our doctors talk about proper spinal structure and the impact that it has on the body’s ability to function. The concept is quite simple: if something is not built properly, it cannot do its job properly. When it comes to you and your personal health, I think you would want your body to function as optimally as possible. Simply put, your body is merely a collection of cells organized into organs. Those organs are further organized into different body systems (digestive, nervous, endocrine, and cardiovascular, etc.). It takes all of these systems functioning together in harmony to create a state of optimal health and well-being. All of the different systems within our body hold very important roles, but one of them is King, and that is the nervous system.

Our nervous system is the most important system in our body. Without our pulmonary system, we would not be able to breathe and take in air. Without our cardiovascular system, we would not be able to transport oxygen-rich blood throughout the body. Without our digestive system, we would not be able to take advantage of the nutrients found within the healthy foods that we eat. Without the immune system, our body would not be able to identify and eliminate external threats to homeostasis. Without the direction of our nervous system, however, all of the previous systems I just mentioned would not be able to carry out their jobs.

The nervous system consists of three primary components: the brain, the spinal cord, and the nerves. It is these structures that everything else in the body depends on for direction and organization. Think of your brain as a computer processor – its job is to coordinate trillions of different bytes of sensory input and coordinate the appropriate motor response. The brain sends messages down the spinal cord and out through the nerves to the appropriate ending destination. If the nervous system is not dealing with any interference, it is able to do its job properly and maintain a state of optimal function.

The skeletal system is what gives our body its shape. In addition, it allows movement, produces blood cells, and protects many of our vital organs. The skeletal system consists of give or take 206 bones (some people may have an extra rib or vertebra, but that isn’t important for the purpose of this discussion). We were designed intelligently, and given 22 cranial bones to protect our brain (the most important organ in our body) and 35 vertebrae (24 movable and 9 fused) to protect the second most important organ in our body – the spinal cord. Think about that for a second: just over ¼ of the total bones that we have in our body serve primarily to protect the brain and spinal cord. They must be pretty important, right?

The third component of the nervous system – the nerves – exit the spine through holes that are formed by the vertebrae above and below them. These nerves act as extensions of the spinal cord, plugging into various structures throughout the body, directing them to properly perform their jobs. This is the primary area of the nervous system where interference can occur, in the form of vertebral subluxation. This is another term you have most likely heard myself or Dr. Dulmes mention more than a few times. A vertebral subluxation occurs when one or more of the bones in the spine misalign and interfere with the environment of the nerves as they exit the spine, resulting in dysfunction. This misalignment impedes the proper flow of information across that nerve, resulting in a decreased state of health and function of whatever is at the end of it.

This is where chiropractic comes into play. If the structure of your spine is not as it was intended to be, it can interfere your body’s ability to function. Nervous system interference in the form of vertebral subluxation can manifest itself in a myriad of ways, all of them with the end result being decreased health and function. Let’s say that one of your upper thoracic vertebrae is subluxated and interfering one of the nerves that innervates your heart. Is your heart going to still function optimally as a result? Probably not. Your chiropractor can help your body achieve a state of optimal health and nervous system function through maintenance of proper spinal biomechanics. We can’t wait to see you at your next adjustment.

Dr. Wade Bemis

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