The Vital Role of the Spinal Cord

When asked to name the most vital parts of the body – those most crucial to your health – most people might name the heart or the brain. But your spine and spinal cord may in fact be just as vital to your overall state of health and well-being.

Though it’s the brain that generates the impulses that control the activities that run your body, such as making sure your heart keeps pumping, these impulses reach the body by traveling along a bundle of nerves that make up the spinal cord, which runs through and is protected by the spine. You are usually not conscious of most of these messages, because they are part of the autonomic nervous system, which controls your reflexes and the unconscious actions that keep your heart beating and other vital organs functioning.

If your spine is damaged by injury or becomes misaligned, the nerves along the spinal cord may become pinched and unable to transmit vital messages to and from the brain properly. The result can be perceived as pain and distress, and not just in the back and neck. A pinched nerve caused by a misplaced joint in the spine may be experienced as pain, weakness, or distress elsewhere in the body, and may affect respiration, digestion, your ability to move your arms or legs freely, walk, or cause even more serious dysfunctions.

Misalignments of the spine may happen in many ways. Physical trauma such as that caused by slips and falls or accidents, or pain caused by overdoing things while exercising are the easiest sources to identify, because you can usually trace the onset of any distressing symptoms to the event that immediately preceded its appearance. However, other spinal misalignments may build up over time as the result of small stresses and injuries that you didn't notice at the time, but that have combined to create a larger problem. The result may be a general feeling of being unwell, tired or sluggish.

If you are experiencing headaches, pain in the back, neck or extremities, or any general lack of well-being, you might consider seeing a chiropractor. Chiropractors specialize in detecting and correcting the imbalances and misalignments in the spine that may cause these conditions. Their approach is holistic – free from drugs or surgery – and aims at treating the whole person, not just the individual symptoms. Many patients have received chiropractic care to relieve pain following an accident, only to find that their overall health and sense of well-being improves drastically. Not only does the pain disappear, but they feel a new sense of vitality and health as their now properly-aligned spine no longer "gets in the way" of transmitting messages to and from the brain.

To make an appointment, feel free to call our office: 317-600-3070.  You can also learn more about how chiropractic can help you get rid of your aches and pains by visiting our website:  www.avonchiropracticclinic.com