Osteopathy/Chiropraxy   [back to the Category]

USA Chiropractors job, Nerve interference   [read the french version]

Author :   Errol Toran, D.C

You think and your body responds. If there is any interruption of the communication between your mind and your body, the expression of your dance will suffer. 100% connections are needed so that the muscles, ligaments and bones grow, rest and repair in response to the demands of dance. The tissues of the body need the guidance and coordination that the nervous system provides. This is the very essence of how chiropractic can help a dancer.

You want to tendue and your leg moves forward as your toe points. The thought begins in your brain and is transformed into a series of electrical impulses. The impulses are sent down the spinal cord and out the nerves to be interpreted by the muscle or organ where they terminate. This nerve supply will determine which blood vessels in your body will know just how much blood to deliver to the working muscles. The nerves will also ensure the appropriate tissues of your body get all the nutritional requirements needed for rest and activity. Just think what would be the effects to your dancing if your working arms and legs received reduced nutrition or the muscles moved the limbs independently.

Just such a barrier to the nerve flow can arise when there is irritation around the bones of your spine. The vertebrae (as the spinal bones are called) are surrounded by tissues highly supplied with nerves. When there is injury to the area nerves will fire. Often the greater the injury, the more nerves will fire. Areas of poor spinal movement will eventually lead to injury. Many of the pre-injury symptoms are muscular spasm, dull pain and stiffness in the morning that takes a long time to warm up, reduced range of motion, etc.

The nerve interference occur in one of two ways. First the vertebral bone can physically press on the nerve and cause distorted nerve flow, either high or low. The result will be distorted function in whatever tissue the nerve terminates. The second way nerve interference can occur is similar to static on a telephone line. Static will prevent the people on a phone line from clearly understanding the message communicated. A high number firing nerves caused by vertebral injury will result in an overflow of signals and disrupt normal nerve transmission between the brain and muscles. Even a small number of firing nerves, not perceived as injury, will send continuous low grade static that over time can cause tissue dysfunction. A larger number of nerves firing will cause greater static and hence greater tissue disruption.

Your nerves need to function at 100% for optimal performance and a chiropractors job is to ensure that this is the case. The chiropractor will evaluate the biomechanics of your spine and evaluate the state of the nervous system. The chiropractor will find, remove and help you manage any areas of injury as well as areas of potential injury. The chiropractor's hands will gradually and gently rehabilitate the injured areas and reduce the nerve static restoring normal function.