Our Ability to Adapt: the Pros and Cons
Through a chiropractic lens, the body’s ability to respond to stressors, and its miraculous potential to heal, is what makes our profession holistic. It sets us apart from Western Medicine, and is part of a paradigm shift in healthcare. Anatomy is our focus, and the neuro-skeletal implications of misalignments, what we call subluxations, within the spine is how we treat a myriad of conditions that walk through our clinics. Adapting to the environment is what our bodies are made for - the chemical exposure we get through foods, water, and medicines, the physical macro/micro traumas of our lifestyle, and the emotional manifestations of mind and body. With that said, the Pros are endless: some people who have never ate a vegetable in their life without Velveta cheese on it could live to 100 years old, while the eco-conscious “crunchy” gardener and marathon runner face dire health concerns at age 40. Yes, genetics can be appreciated to a small degree, but the mystery is the epi-genetics: what in the environment is turning on and off our response to it all and our subsequent health expression. Our ability to adapt cannot be measured, as we fight the odds every day, and on the other hand, succumb to what should have been minor or transient.
My point? Chiropractic appreciates and relies on our bodies ability to adapt. That no matter what diagnosis we have, whatever lifestyle we live, our choices and our environment can optimize and manifest into health and wellness. Adjustments to subluxations in the spine restore function to the body. Period. When someone comes in with headaches, TMJ issues, and neck pain, and after a care plan of specific chiropractic adjustments, they have more regular bowel movements and can achieve REM sleep, I don’t bat an eye. Pain and nerve-related symptoms tend to be the alarm system that the body is adapting to all of the stressors and it is getting exhausted from constant compensation.
This brings me to the Cons, which are much easier to list out, but are just as endless as the pros. We are seeing currently how the body is adapting to a world reliant on technology. On being barraged with news meant to spread disease and disfunction. The cons of adaptation can be visualized best as if we walked down a street or entered a cafe - and took a look at everyone’s posture.
Our bodies are learning to adapt to technology. Molding to the downward pull that the tiny devices demand of us, and the information that blinds our attention to the downward dip we fall into and stay in for hours. We are fed ads that target posture, and they make a pretty penny on it: bras that relieve back pain, posture straps that hold you up without you needing to change anything, little buzzers on your skin notifying you when your head sinks too far forward. The answer, however, is finding balance. Finding a way to create movement in our bodies, and in our lifestyle, that still allows us to live tech-savvy.
Consider the researched effects of poor posture, both neurological and physiological:
Sympathetic Stress Activation
Altered Balance and Proprioception
Accelerated Heart Rate - leads to high blood pressure and arrhythmias
Decreased Lung Volume and Breathing Capacity
Stimulates Glucose Release - contributes to diabetes
Inhibits digestive tract peristalsis - leading to IBS or constipation
Early degenerative changes in discs and joints
Shuts down immune response and accelerates tissue break down
Secrete epinephrine and norepinephrine - leading to hormonal disbalances
Inhibits reproductive system
Remember, our body is incredible at adapting. But these adaptations can lead to significant compensation throughout a lifetime. As a chiropractor, I see everyday how chiropractic adjustments help individuals regain movement, neurologic function, and posture correction with a conscious effort to create an optimal environment within their own anatomy. If chiropractic is your first step to address posture concerns, or other health conditions, it will create a domino effect in your health choices and your energy to pursue them. Our potential to heal is endless- so allow your body to adapt with support and with a holistic (whole-istic) mentality.
Sincerely,
Dr. Katherine McCarty, D.C.