The Science of Chiropractic

Chiropractic science recognizes the foundational role the nervous system plays in health. When there is interference in the communication between the brain and the body, we are not able to adapt to stress effectively. Finding, measuring, and helping the nervous system reorganize these areas of interference is the primary goal of chiropractic care.

This begins with movement. Areas of the spine that do not move normally do not move effectively. The energy bound in these areas can show up as muscle tension, stiffness, reduced range of motion, or pain. Movement, especially within the spine, is a vital nutrient for the brain.

Without free and integrated movement, the quantity and quality of information from the body to the brain is reduced. The picture the brain has to work with becomes less rich and detailed. Its ability to regulate normal baseline function in the organs is affected.

What follows is a change in tone. Tone is the energetic signature that all cells, tissues, and organs have. All muscles in the body must maintain tone in order for the body to work properly.

Beyond the “musculoskeletal” system, when we recognize that muscle tone determines the flow of blood and the release of hormones from every gland in the body, we can appreciate the physiological fact that the health of any part of the body is intimately connected to the state and tone of the nervous system.

Dysfunction, dis-ease, and disease are downstream effects of the insult and interference within and through the nervous system. Chiropractic calls this interference subluxation. The chiropractic adjustment is an invitation to help the nervous system re-member, and in so doing liberate the self-healing and self-organizing power of the body.

(More) Heart Rate Variability

Heart rate variability (HRV) measures the time intervals between adjacent heart beats. When you sit down for the 3 minute reading in our office, the HRV instrument reads your pulse and the skin temperature of your hand. From this data, the computer is able analyze how your autonomic nervous system is functioning. By looking at both resilience and the balance between sympathetic (fight/flight) and parasympathetic (rest/digest) tone, this reliable, non-invasive, and quick scan provides some really important information about how you have been and are currently able to adapt to stress.

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) coordinates the vital functions of your body, such as heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and sweating. The ANS has three branches, two of which are easily mapped to the spine: sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sympathetic nervous system is activated when we encounter actual or perceived danger - this is the fight/flight response we feel when distressed. This part of the ANS originates in the thoracic spine (where your ribs are). The parasympathetic nervous system regulates rest and repair and originates in the upper neck and lower back (sacrum).

HRV measures the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic tone. Like the gas and brake pedals in your car, both are important and neither should be activated all of the time. We often consider stress as having a negative connotation. What may be stressful for one person is energizing for another. I think it depends on the person and the context. Running for exercise because you want to is different than running for exercise because you are forced to, which is also different than running away from a bear. Eustress refers to “good stress” - activities which are taxing to the body and mind, but that contribute to health. Whether we consider an event or activity as eustress or distress depends largely on how well balanced the ANS is and how much energy is available to adapt.

When talking about the ANS, the energy available to adapt to stress is called resilience.

Resilience is the reserve energy in our bodies that allows us to prepare for, recover from, and adapt in the face of stress, adversity, trauma, and challenge.

Resilience varies based on the the environment and how adaptive and flexible your nervous system is. HRV measures the resilience of the ANS, which is why it is such a useful tool for chiropractic. Chiropractic facilitates the flexibility, adaptive capacity, and resilience in nervous system by directly addressing areas in the spine that are limiting the flow of energy between the brain and the body. Chiropractic is one of the ways you can positively influence your HRV. My 2021 blog post about HRV contains references and goes into more detail about this technology, as well as six ways to support the nervous system.

Two years and many scans later the most important things I have found both professionally and personally to improve HRV are meditation/contemplative practice, regular chiropractic care, and time in Nature. Our ability to adapt to the inevitable and increasing stressors that life presents depends on the tone and tension of the nervous system. HRV reflects our capacity to adapt to stress. Being able to measure this capacity is an invaluable tool. It provides a window into health and a way to track progress over time.

To learn more about this technology and how it relates to the work we do in the practice, click here.

The Foundation is Tone

“The principles of Chiropractic should be known and utilized in the growth of the infant and continue as a safeguard throughout life.”

— D.D. Palmer

At the turn of the last century, D.D. Palmer, the founder of chiropractic, proposed that tension (too much or too little) on the “neuroskeleton” altered the function of every organ and system in the body. He found through decades of hands-on work and study of the the various healing modalities of his time that adjusting the spine had a direct and predictable impact on the function and health of the people he saw.

The principles of Chiropractic outline a vitalistic and salutogenic approach to health and healing. The body is a self-healing organism. The body’s ability to regulate normal function depends on clear communication in and through the nervous system. Interference to this communication is often manifested as subluxations (local areas of stress and restricted movement) in the spine. Adjusting these areas and their associated patterns of tension allows the body to develop, repair, and adapt with greater ease and efficiency.

These principles apply to all humans, including and especially young ones. The “safeguard” referenced above is about the opportunity to allow a developing nervous system to be free from unnecessary physiological stress. It refers to the immeasurable benefit of supporting the innate capacity to adapt. It is a powerful way to help “prepare the child for the road,” recognizing that “uncertainty is chronic…instability is permanent, and disruption is common.”

The reason I am such a strong proponent of these principles is that I see them in practice every day. I learned them by experience as a chiro kid and I witness them now as a papa. It is the tone we set now that becomes the foundation of what is to come.