Why Is Our Spinal Health So Important?

​Why is the Spine the focus and the attention of Chiropractic work? Thought you might be wondering, so here are 5 reasons illustrating the importance of spinal health.

1.) Structure: Many chiropractors say that structure determines function. To a degree, I believe this is true. Dr.Donald Epstein says this another way. “The shape, position and tone of your spine and nerve system, is directly related to the shape, position and tone of your life.” You know the importance of structure. Think of the importance of the structure of your car. If the car’s tires are slightly misaligned by as little as a few millimeters, consider how much this can reduce the mileage on the tires and increase the gas consumption. Think of the importance of the structure of the foundation of a house. If the foundation is off by just a few inches it can be potentially devastating to the integrity of the home. This is very similar to your spine. Your spine is the foundation and the framework of your body. If you are out of alignment, even as little as a few millimeters, it can cause tremendous strain on your muscles, joints and ligaments, often causing early degeneration, and things such as osteoarthritis.

2.) It’s the Lifeline: The spine does something else, perhaps even more important than holding you upright. It protects the delicate, soft, core essence that is your spinal cord. Your spinal cord really is your lifeline. It’s what connects the brain to the body and the body to the brain - creating both the mind-body and the body-mind connection. You know the importance of this lifeline in examples like spinal cord accidents and paralysis; when the spinal cord is compromised at the base of the neck it can cause organ failure throughout the rest of the body and be, potentially, life threatening. You also experience this when your leg falls asleep and you lose muscle control. It’s not that your muscle has fallen asleep it’s your nerve that tells the muscle to contract that has been compromised. Dorland’s Medical dictionary defines the nerve system as the master control system of the body. The nerve system acts like a computer’s CPU (central processing unit). It runs both the hardware and software and integrates the two. It is estimated that the average human body has about 10 trillion nerve cells. If they were placed end to end, they would stretch around the earth about 47 times!

3.) Main Energy Meridian: If you look at any energy diagrams of the body the spine is always featured as being the main energy channel or meridian of the body. The majority of our chakras are in alignment with the spine. Scientifically, we know that the nerve system sends what’s known as an “action potential” which is a tiny impulse of energy which travels up to 200 meters per second, up and down your spine and throughout your body. It is estimated that there are 3 trillion neurological events a second (of which you are only aware of 2,000) this is a lot of energy! Think of your spine like a garden hose, and the water than flows through the hose is the life-force energy that flows through your spine. Now think of what happens if you make a kink in the hose and how the water starts to backlog, increasing the pressure build up and decreases the outflow. Another example, what happens to the flow of the river when there is a beaver dam
disrupting its natural flow? This stagnation of water creates a wonderful breeding ground for bugs and insects to multiple. The same is true in your body.

4.) Emotions:  In 1997 Candice Pert wrote a landmark book which outlined her pioneering research in mind body medicine, Molecules of Emotion (an interesting note is that Network Spinal Analysis is one of the mind body approaches she discusses). Her research demonstrated the connection between the emotions and the nervous system.  She found that the highest density of neuroreceptors for the tiny neuropeptides of emotions (the molecules of emotion) are found in the dorsal root of the spinal cord.  Common sense tells us a similar story.  Imagine someone upset and look at the shape of their spine.  Now imagine someone happy and look at the shape of their spine. By changing the shape of your spinal cord, and therefore of your spine, you are changing the receptivity of your molecules of emotion!


5.) Perception: Essentially everything that you perceive is integrated through your nervous system. Recognize that all of your senses: hearing, taste, touch, sight and smell are first received by your special sense organs, and then relayed through nerves, and then computed in your brain.  Feeling where your body is in space and balancing your body is also computed through your nerve system.  This is the hard science.   We can also assume that your nerve system is also involved in your extra sensory perception and intuition.  BJ Palmer the developer of chiropractic spoke at great length about listening to that quite voice from within. In his words, this was his innate, which is understood to be communicated through… you guessed it, your nerve system.  Your nerve system is the communication highway for your perceptions.  The clearer the highway, the clearer your perceptions.  Subluxations, distortions of the nerve system, are like panes of stained glass. They filter the actual facts of your experiences through your perceptions of yourself, of your life, environment, etc, and create your perceived experiences.