If you were to write down every single process that takes place in the human body that we know of and can observe, you would be writing for a very long time.
One of the benefits of a chiropractic education is a well-rounded understanding of how the human body works when healthy.
Having studied human biology, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, we looked at how cells reproduce, how proteins get created by genetic expression, how muscles work, how cells utilize energy, how the various organs function and how the whole system works together.
If you consider the number of chemical reactions that happen every second of every day in the human body, it’s just mind-boggling! Add to that a higher level of complexity of timing and coordination and you have something akin to trying to fly a spaceship through an asteroid field (at least in the movies:)).
When all the billions of cellular processes are in perfect timing and coordination, it’s like listening to a finely tuned symphony orchestra. So many moving parts and yet there’s a time and place for each one. And when they come together, something bigger is created: A beautiful piece of music, with harmony and synchronicity.
Without timing and coordination, a symphony orchestra would sound all chaotic, dissonant to the point that you’d want to plug your ears.
The nervous system is the conductor of the body, keeping time and creating perfect timing and coordination. When the nervous system gets dysregulated such as with NeuroStructural distortion, all of the billions of cellular processes, organ function and movement are threatened.
When the nervous system can direct the body, coordination, balance, strength and agility are at their peak.
The other day Karen came in to the office and told me that she had been diagnosed with a herniated disc in her low back. She had been experiencing low back pain as well as some referred pain down the leg. She was able to have an MRI confirm that her L5 disc was herniated. And she was looking for relief.
I told her that once the distortion in her spine has healed, we may be able to slow down the progression of the herniation, or, we may be able to stop the progress of the herniation, or, we may be able to help the body actually reverse and heal the herniation to an extent.
After having her first entrainment, she got up and told me that the pain was gone. She felt so relieved! But wait, did her body completely reverse the herniation after one session? Could it be that years of stress and maladaptive posture and degeneration was erased in one session?
I shared with her that when the nervous system can coordinate better, her body can immediately start to repair itself and gain better posture and balance. This was most likely what was responsible for the decrease in pain.
This “improved coordination” will typically last a few hours, or a few days until the nervous system reverts back to its previous state. With successive visits however, the nervous system can learn to operate at higher and higher levels and sustain itself over time.
This permanent shift towards improved balance, coordination and posture becomes the new norm.
Why is it that we tend to focus in on the “area of concern” such as the low back when actually the whole body is involved with that herniated disc? And why do we look for the “one cause” when it’s typically a lifetime of lifestyle and habits that tend to create dysregulation in the nervous system?
Why do we hope and look for the magic solution? After all, a finely tuned orchestra gets to be that way through time and practice.