One of my favorite movies of all time is Office Space. My favorite scene that never fails to make me laugh is when the consultants are asking all the employees what their job is and how they are helping the company. When they get to Dom, an employee who obviously doesn’t contribute in any way, they ask him: “what would you say, you do here?”

I get this question a lot. “What does chiropractic actually do?” Well, instead of being completely useless like the character in Office Space, chiropractic does A LOT! In fact, I would argue that chiropractic is the best modality you could implement to get your body to functioning at its highest ability.

Most people hear chiropractic and immediately think of back pain or neck pain. They ask me, “can you crack my neck?” or start telling me all about their lumbar MRI. While back pain is something that chiropractic can be extremely effective in helping with, it is not the main goal of chiropractic. It’s barely even the tip of the iceberg!

Allow me to explain: The movement of your joints influences the sensory input to your brain. When the joints in your spine do not move the way they are supposed to, pain signals can misfire and actually send information that lead to issues like, back pain, neck pain, headaches, shoulder pain, and vertigo.

The main job of a chiropractor is to restore proper function and movement of the spine. When there is proper function, pain will disappear. This is why chiropractic adjustments can be so effective in reducing back pain, but it’s actually just a side effect of a better functioning spine and brain!

Daily stress leads to 80 percent of all chronic illness

Your body’s ability to adapt to daily stress dictates your overall health. When I say stress, I am talking about physical, emotional, and chemical stress. All three of these stressors can lead to pain, sickness, and poor mental health.

Imagine if your body was able to handle more stress and actually thrive. In order for this to happen, you need to have an optimally functioning nervous system. Stress by itself is actually not detrimental to your health; stress becomes a problem when your body is unable to adapt. This is what most people deal with.

How chiropractic care helps your body adapt to stress

As I mentioned earlier, the movement of your spine is vital for proper nervous system function. When you do not have the correct movement in your spine due to “stuck joints,” there is a misfiring of information going to your brain. Over a long period of time, this can get your body in a chronic fight-or-flight state. In this state, it is very hard to heal. In fact, it is impossible to fully heal and have optimal health when you are stuck in fight-or-flight! Your nervous system simply cannot relax.

A chiropractic adjustment puts motion in a joint and fires good information into the brain, ultimately leading your nervous system to a more relaxed, rest-and-digest state. When your body is more relaxed and at rest, it can heal. Being in this healing state for extended periods of time is when you truly overcome illness and eventually you will no longer have pain. The truth is, pain is just a warning to your body that something is not functioning correctly. It doesn’t always mean what you think it means.

Why chiropractic care is a better choice

Hopefully you are starting to see that the goal of a chiropractor is not to get you out of pain. The goal is to get your body to function at its highest ability and be able to adapt to the stress that you undergo every day, which will ultimately lead to being pain-free. Because you will simply be functioning better, you may notice improvements in your sleep, athletic performance, energy levels, and other general body functions. This approach is not only more effective than taking drugs, but a much more sustainable long-term solution.

So, would you like your body to function at it’s highest ability?

If so, please contact one of our doctors at Atlas Chiropractic to set up an appointment. Call 303-442-5911 or simply fill out the webform below.