The Immune System and Chiropractic

When we think about boosting the immune system, we’ve all heard about reducing sugar, eating right, increasing vitamin D, adding probiotics, resting/meditation, exercise, and taking herbal remedies, but something that is important and often overlooked is taking care of and maintaining a properly functioning nervous system.

Many people ask me how my family and I stay so healthy despite regularly coming into contact with various illnesses. Those who know me well know that I adhere to the above principles of movement, relaxation, supplementation, and eating a whole food/non-processed diet, but where my family and I gain the largest benefit is through regular chiropractic care. As I will explain below, the nervous system, which is housed by the skull and spinal column, reigns supreme over all other systems. How do I know this? There are numerous examples throughout history, including the story of Masha and Dasha, who were conjoined twins who had every organ system in their body shared between them, but had separate spinal cords and spinal columns; this was the only difference between the two girls (story here).

To help you understand more, included below is a brief excerpt from a book by Dr. Fabrizio Mancini (2012), entitled The Power of Self Healing: Unlock Your Natural Healing Potential in 21 Days:

“Most people think chiropractors treat back or neck pain, or maybe headaches. Yes, we do treat those. But, rather than try to relieve the symptoms, chiropractic tries to correct the cause – and encourage the body to self-heal. What I’ve learned over the years is that the body has a far greater capacity to heal itself than most doctors give it credit for.

The best application of chiropractic in our lives is preventative maintenance – just like we’d take care of our cars. We know it’s easier to keep a car in good running order if we regularly maintain it. Well, our bodies are the same way, and chiropractic is one way to keep the body running in good order. And one of the ways we do this is by keeping the spine adjusted. Adjustments remove nerve interferences from the body; this keeps communication lines open between the brain and the rest of the body. In addition, we also encourage a fully functioning nervous system, good nutrition, water, proper rest, inspired thoughts, and movements.

Chiropractic allows for the body to be a stress-free as possible. In other words, while many people live on the stress roller coaster, people who stay well adjusted find that they experience a steady road to better health through better living. That’s why a chiropractor analyzes your body for nerve interference that occurs as a result of our stressful lifestyles.

The daily stress of our lifestyles and the accidents we may experience can cause subluxations, or pressure on nerves [interference]. Subluxations cause misalignments of spinal bones (vertebrae). These misalignments unduly stress the spinal nerves and spinal cord, which are considered in chiropractic to be the body’s main communication line. When the stress from subluxation goes unchecked long enough, the results can be devastating. It can cause millions of chemical reactions inside our bodies to become diluted, triggering respiratory problems, allergies, digestive problems, reproductive problems, skin problems, pain, and more.

Chiropractic doesn’t cure any of these conditions, but by getting adjustments, your nervous system functions better, you can boost your immune system, and you can restore motion and provide your body a means with which to take care of unwanted conditions faster.”

So, if your child is one of those kids who catches every bug going around, then this could be a sign of subluxation. Because the immune system is signaled by the brain recognizing an invader (virus or bacteria) and responds by telling the body to produce antibodies and eliminate the problem, if your child’s immune system is operating properly they will hardly show any symptoms of having contracted the cold, flu or other common childhood illness.

When your child’s spine is subluxated, there is interference of the signals from the brain to the rest of the body, and it will not function properly. Nerve interference will hinder the message and the glands won’t respond properly, which may result in your child’s body being unable to fight off the illness.

A study published in 2009 revealed that regular chiropractic care for children resulted in commonly reported immune system-related improvements. For instance, parents reported back that their children were sick less often, had improved sleep patterns and an improved emotional state or mood. It should also be noted that in all of these cases, these improvements were unrelated to the initial reason for seeking chiropractic care.

While I don’t have complete immunity to all illness, my body is primed to withstand a greater load put open it; I have a higher threshold to stress than someone who doesn’t receive regular chiropractic care. Chiropractic and the lifestyle associated with it is always my first go-to — drugs next, and surgery last. There are numerous research articles available in a variety of different journals and publications that resoundingly support the efficacy of chiropractic for various health conditions (such as colic, infertility, sensory processing disorder, asthma, and musculo-skeletal pain). A great website to refer to is http://icpa4kids.org/.

Please let me know if I can answer any of your questions.

Yours in health,

Dr. Kat