If I were to say to you that the structure of the spine is important, you would probably think that sounds quite reasonable. But would you be aware of how important it really is? You may think that the spine’s structure is best when the spine is straight. But then how could you take into account its curves?
The best way to think about the spine is that it’s a masterpiece of engineering AND design. We tend to simplify things for ourselves and others. It’s common to imagine a spine as a set of lego blocks stacked on top of one another. And if either the top or bottom of the stack goes out of alignment, the whole thing can collapse. The foundation can fall apart in which case the rest of the spine loses its support. Or the top of the spine can lean forward like with Anterior Head Syndrome, which pulls the rest of the spine in whatever direction the top is going in, like the leaning tower of Pisa.
But the spine is so much more than a stack of lego blocks! It houses the long slender part of the Central Nervous System, namely the brain stem, spinal cord and all of the nerve roots, which give rise to almost all the nerves in the body.
The spinal cord needs to have the least possible amount of tension on it. When you stretch the spinal cord, you diminish its transmissibility of electrical signals. It’s like stretching the two ends of the 401 to the point where the car lanes start to overlap each other, making travel impossible.
So if you go back to the leaning tower of Pisa example, imagine that this structure houses an elevator shaft. In the leaning tower, the elevator shaft would start to lean and some of the elevator cables would tighten to the point of snapping, leading to the elevator not working. The elevator cables are like the spinal cord and the spine has to moderate the tensions on the spinal cord, otherwise we can develop all kinds of secondary condition such as carpal tunnel syndrome, sciatica, frozen shoulder, headaches, vertigo, restless legs, just to name a few.
But really the piece de resistance in talking about the design of the spine is how it beautifully moderates structural stability with flexibility. When we’re sitting, the spine is put under what’s called a static load. When we’re moving around, the spine experiences dynamic, changing loads.
The spine is constantly adjusting its structural rigidity to accommodate the stresses and strains that are being put on it from minute to minute. And at the same time, it has to maintain a certain flexibility to allow movement of forces through it. If it’s not able to do this, degeneration and injury is the result.
There are some similarities between a spine and a suspension bridge. Both have to maintain a structural rigidity otherwise they will fall apart. And at the same time, they have to be able to move with external pressures. In the case of a suspension bridge, it has to be able to handle traffic while withstanding wind. With the spine, it has to be able to support the body, the nervous system, the organs, while at the same time allowing us to move unhindered whether we’re tying our shoelaces or exercising.
If you click on this link, you’ll see a video of a famous suspension bridge that succumbed to the wind because of poor design. It’s fascinating to see the bridge’s movement. Spinal movement also tends to happen in wavelike patterns, similar to those that you can see in the video.
A chiropractor is best equipped and educated to help your spine function optimally, taking into account the many design features that it has as well as the physical stresses that you may have. Neuro-Adaptive chiropractors also recognize that emotional and mental stresses create physical tension and pressure on the spine.How you feel about what you’re feeling has an impact on your structure. Is your spine adaptable to the various stresses that it encounters?