Does Chiropractic Treat More Than Just Back Pain?

By Dr. Ryan Lee

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Have you only associated chiropractic care with treating back pain and posture?

You wouldn’t be alone.

That’s a very common perception, or should we say misconception.

Because it couldn’t be farther from the truth!

So what does chiropractic care treat?

You’d be surprised!

A primary goal of chiropractic care is improving your body’s nervous system.

On each vertebra in our spine, we have nerves that come off of the spinal cord and attach to our organs and muscles throughout the body.

Together, the spinal cord and these nerves, make up your body’s nervous system.

Working properly, these should aid your body in it’s natural healing processes.

However, when the vertebra become locked or fixated (also known as subluxations), they put stress and pressure on those nerve roots that can cause health issues to the corresponding organs.

Chiropractic care focuses on fixing these subluxations in order to restore the connection between your brain and the affected nerve roots, which can have a ripple affect on almost every organ of the body.

Interesting, right?

So, which organs correlate with which parts of my spine?

We’re glad you asked.

Let’s start from the top and work our way down.

But first, here is a chart to illustrate a little more clearly the 3 regions we will be referring to: cervical, thoracic, and lumbar.

Cervical Spine

(Base of your neck and up)

The nerves off of the cervical spine control the muscles of the face, neck, and shoulders as well as the blood vessels in the neck and face.

When there are fixations in the cervical spine we often see neck and shoulder tension/pain as well as headaches and migraines.

Thoracic Spine

(Mid-back or rib cage area)

The nerves of the thoracic spine control some major organs, including the respiratory system, heart, stomach, pancreas, and liver.

When we have fixations in the thoracic spine, we can see issues with digestion, heartburn, and even breathing issues.

Lumbar Spine

(Tailbone to bottom of rib cage)

The nerves that come off of the lumbar spine and sacrum control the muscles of our low back, abdomen, legs and feet, as well as our bowel, bladder, and reproductive organs.

With fixations in the lumbar spine and sacrum, issues such a constipation, dysuria, bad menstrual cramps, sciatica, and reproductive issues can occur.

To summarize, there are COUNTLESS possibilities to the ailments that chiropractic care can treat!

If you are ready to get out of pain and back to spending more quality time with your family, and favorite activities, click the link below to schedule an appointment and learn more!