Marbella Chiropractic

Symptoms are a nuisance, undesired and unwanted. So it is understandably there is a natural desire and reaction to want to be rid of them. However assume for a moment that symptoms are a good thing. Suppose they are messages from your body that actually aid to restore and maintain health.

There is a process called homeostasis by which the body looks to maintain a stable internal environment. This is essential in order to stay alive. An obvious example of homeostasis is sweating and shivering to lower or raise the body’s temperature. Suppose symptoms are really just an extension of homeostasis with their purpose to bring your body back into harmony. If this is true, then to treat any symptom – no matter the kind of treatment: medical or natural – with the goal to have the symptom go away, is not healthful as it prevents the body from working to restore the body back to balance. In effect one has interrupted the body’s path to health. If diarrhoea was your body’s way of eliminating a toxin or pathogen should the process be stopped?

In the case of pain, the most common method of “treatment” for pain is taking either prescription or non-prescription painkillers. Once the symptom (pain) has gone the common belief is that the problem has also gone and so therefore nothing more needs to be done. This mistaken way of thinking has the effect that the underlying imbalance grows and gradually becomes more debilitating, and with some conditions, life threatening.

Challenge yourself and start to listen to your body. The next time you experience a symptom why not ask what area of my life or health have I neglected to get this symptom? What do I need to change in order to create health (homeostasis)? The answers may well require some drastic changes in your lifestyle, and/or seeking a health professional, but in doing so you will be rewarded with life in your years and years to your life.

“More than 90 percent of the energy output of the brain is used in relating to the physical body in it’s gravitational field. The more mechanically distorted a person is, the less energy available for thinking, metabolism and healing” – Dr. Roger Sperry, Nobel Laureate

If we take a moment to read this statement it comes as no wonder that never is vibrant health and bad posture found in the same body.

All those years of our parents telling us to sit up straight and not slouch; this was indeed very, very good advice.

Posture refers to how the body is aligned and positioned in conjunction with the force of gravity acting upon it. Regardless of whether we are sitting, standing or lying down, there is always a gravitational force that applies pressure on our ligaments, joints and muscles.

With ideal posture, an imaginary line should drop from the ear through the center of gravity of the body passing through the tip of the shoulder, the center of the hip joint, the center of the ankle joint and slightly behind the knee joint. Seen from the front or back we should obviously be straight. This proper posture is a sign that we’ve evenly distributed gravity’s force throughout our body so that no one part is fatigued or overstressed.

Your head should be directly on your shoulders, not leaning forward, hanging on tired muscles. If you have a loss of height, a slouching of the shoulders, rounding of the back or forward leaning of the head, then these are indications of poor posture. This impedes lymphatic drainage in the neck and causes strain on the posterior neck muscles. It also, worryingly, causes ‘tethering’ where the spinal cord pulls on the bottom of the brain. No wonder headaches and compromised immune systems abound. The extra weight on the discs will also inevitably lead to premature arthritis of the neck. Poor posture can also include a forward tilting of the pelvis leading to chronic lower back pain, weakness and pain in the legs and premature spinal arthritis of the joints and discs….or worse!  All this is usually avoidable but if the process has already started then luckily it is never too late to improve things.  But it certainly needs a call to action!

Poor posture can result from car accidents, sports injuries, loss of bone density and sitting or standing improperly. Nowadays our sedentary lifestyle is the main culprit. When we drive or use a computer, we frequently have the tendency to lean the head and neck forward, which causes the spine to round forward too. The weight of the head and upper body becomes heavy, and we must exert muscular energy and strain on the spinal ligaments to hold ourselves in this leaning position.

Awareness is the first step to correct this eventually disabling affliction. We need to be conscious of how we hold ourselves all the time. Take a look at the people around you when out and about. There is a direct relationship between posture and overall health.  If you see someone with an obviously poor posture then that person certainly has a stressed system and is moving away from health.

If you are unsure of what steps you should take for your particular posture problems, or if you feel pain in the neck and shoulders, you should definitely consider consulting with a chiropractor, the expert in these matters. He will help restore your proper body alignment and will provide suggestions and solutions for maintaining healthy posture throughout your daily lives.

After adjusting my friend’s 6 year old yesterday, the mother asked me “will this bring his fever down?” My answer had to be “I don’t know”. The truth is, it may need to go up so that his body will effectively destroy the bacteria and fight the infection more effectively. On the other hand, it may go down, being that his immune system just needed that little extra push over the hump. Either way, whatever happens after the adjustment, it can only be for the better. You might be thinking how I can be so bold as to say that. Simple. Fortunately, when we were created by the universe we were given the most amazing healing power within us. Once any interference to this intelligence is removed, the power released by the chiropractic adjustment releases the healing potential of the body. The body's response is appropriate EVERY TIME.

Being blessed with 7 year old twins, we see this evident in our house all the time. The body always wants to heal if it can. If it is respected and nurtured correctly then we can trust our innate intelligence to return us to a state of healthy balance.  This is ‘homeostasis’, and without it we are in trouble.