by Dr. Scott Briggs

Many of the last blog posts have been focused on nutrition and finding healthy food sources. This information is very valuable and necessary, but I would be remiss if I did not return to the value of chiropractic care and your health.

Patients in pain, that is what brings most people through my office door. Chiropractic care is frequently successful at reducing or eliminating pain, but is pain management all Chiropractors have to offer? My answer to that question is a resounding no!

Chiropractic health care is, at its foundation, all about improving the function of the nervous system. If you have survived high school biology you may remember the nervous system consists of the central nervous system (the brain and the spinal cord) and the peripheral nervous system (all nerves that have left the spine and travel through out the body). The nervous system is a large and very complex system that is honestly under appreciated by most people. Quietly, the nervous system goes about its work and is rarely talked about unless there has been a catastrophic spinal cord injury. I suspect, and this is truly just a suspicion on my part, that if I were to ask 1000 people their thoughts on the most important system in the human body, most answers would pertain to the heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular system). Although the cardiovascular system is critical to life, I believe I can make a very strong argument for even greater importance of the nervous system.

Let’s look at some embryology. Sperm and egg come together become one cell each providing half the genetic information that will become a new human being. That single cell then begins to divide creating two cells, then four, then eight, continuing this division until there is a ball of cells called the blastocyst. During the second week of development a structure called the notochord is seen. The notochord gives rise to neural tissues and becomes part of the intervertebral discs of the spine. Early in week three of development the neural plate forms which gives rise to the neural tube. The neural tube becomes the brain and spinal cord. During week four there is initiation of the heart beat. I realize this time line is very basic and lacks many of the day specific embryologic developments, but I hope this makes evident that the beginnings of the nervous system are well on their way before the heart ever begins to beat. I am a person who is fairly linear in my thinking which leads to my understanding that the structures that formed first must control the subsequent structures. The nervous system controls every aspect of the body, everything.

If you desire health in this life I think it only makes since to improve the function of the system that controls all other cells, tissues, organs and systems of the body. The best way I know of to improve the function and performance of the nervous system is through regular and consistent chiropractic care. It is this understanding that makes it so important to me that I evaluate and provide care for every infant that I can. You want to see an infant eat better, sleep better, and poop better, take them to a chiropractor and watch what happens.

Who needs chiropractic care? Everyone does. How often does everyone need chiropractic care? As often as they possible can. Two times per month would be good, I believe that once per week would be even better. Why so often you may ask? In my mind, the simple answer is stress. Our lives are full of stress, whether it comes from emotional and mental issues or the food we eat, the water (and other beverages) we drink, or the air we breath, and sometimes there is even a physical stress like falling off a ladder or hitting the gym too hard. Stress comes in many many forms but every form has the same result. All stress leads to dys-ease of the systems of our bodies and if left untreated, dys-ease becomes disease and nobody wants that.

If you have a chiropractor, go see them today. If you have never been to a chiropractor, I can’t think of a better day to start.

Wishing you great health,

Dr. Scott

DIG DEEPER: Want to find out even more how chiropractic care can help you…. here is a great book that will explain more on how this type of care can be beneficial: The Chiropractic Way: How Chiropractic Care Can Stop Your Pain and Help You Regain Your Health Without Drugs or Surgery

Dr. Scott Briggs is the owner of Briggs Family Chiropractic in Converse, IN. He has been a chiropractor for over 15 years. He has invited everyone to join him in his health journey for 2022. You can visit the first post on this to receive free helpful downloads. Click HERE to find that post. You can also follow us on Instagram (@briggsfamiychiropractic).