How Can An Adjustment Possibly Change My Brain?

Chiropractic as a profession has been around since 1895, and is well known for its ability to help relieve pain, most commonly in the spine. When most clients first come to us, most of the time it's because they have back pain. But very few understand what an adjustment actually does in the body, and why would you? Even today researchers are still trying to understand exactly what happens, and the wider benefits that getting regularly adjusted can have on your body.

Today I want to share with you some of the most up to date research, and hopefully give you a better understanding of what's happening in your body, and why we work the way we do.

Have you heard of the prefrontal cortex? The answer is probably no, unless you have some background in human biology. The prefrontal cortex is the most anterior portion of your brain, and sits right behind your forehead. It is responsible for a lot of things, including impulse control, focusing attention, planning and problem solving, memory, personality, and motivation. The prefrontal cortex also helps regulate your limbic system, another part of your brain that is responsible for behavioural and emotional responses, including fight or flight.

If our prefrontal cortex isn't working properly, then our limbic system is left unchecked. When we are stressed, the function of our limbic system increases further, and it activates our sympathetic nervous system. This triggers our fight or flight response leading to reduced regulation on blood pressure, breathing rate, heart rate and heart rate variability, as well as reduced resilience and sleep, and increased inflammation and gastrointestinal problems. Sounds nasty, right?

When we are stressed, we get stuck in that viscous cycle: prefrontal cortex shuts down, the limbic system goes into overdrive, and our fight or flight response is triggered. We need to get the prefrontal cortex switched back on to help break this cycle. Research has shown that chiropractic adjustments can significantly increase the activity in our prefrontal cortex. We are exposed to stress every single day, even if we don't realise it. Stress comes in many different forms, chemical, physical, emotional to name a few, and our brains can't tell the difference between them. It sets off that same chain reaction of events every time it perceives a stressor as a threat. This is why we don't just see our clients for a few sessions to temporarily help their back pain. All of our clients are under care for a minimum of 3 months, as we dont just want you to feel good now, we want your brain and body to be functioning well too, so that you can continue to feel good in the years to come.

If you’ve been feeling stressed recently and want to find out more about how that stress is changing the way your brain is functioning, why not get yourself booked in for a free discovery visit with our team!