Everyone knows the unanswerable question of “what came first the chicken or the egg?” Well when it comes to the body and the question of what comes first, the symptom or the disease, you may be surprised at the answer!
Now everyone would agree that the Central Nervous System (CNS) is responsible for the complete control of all functions in the body. This includes everyday maintenance of homeostasis and the ever necessary immune system response to surprise attacks from viri and bacterian. With everything that goes on inside it is amazing that we don’t actually feel these things happening. But your CNS is also responsible for what you feel.
It may surprise you to know that it is only 10% of the nervous system that is responsible for you perceiving pain. For some, this is difficult to believe, especially when presented with excruciating pain. The other 90% of the nervous system is responsible for every function of every cell, tissue and organ in the body. Your actual life depends on this 90%, dictating how well your heart beats, lungs breathe, eyes see, how well you digest, hear, smell, and taste. Everything. The bad thing is that you can impinge 90% of a nerve and not feel it as pain. You will witness though the areas that the nerve innervates perform at a lower level. Then gradually, dis-ease will begin. Lastly you may feel pain from the decrease in function. But before you ever feel anything, the impingement must first happen.
This impingement of a nerve is called a Subluxation. Subluxations can be caused by a number of traumas beginning with birth and falls during the time we learn to walk and ending with car accidents and stress. These Subluxations, if left alone, do a great deal of damage to the body that you might not even feel until later on in life. I am sure you can easily see that by the time you actually feel something, you are already late.
Unfortunately, many of us do wait until we feel a symptom to get help. It is understandable then that if the Subluxations have been present for years, then it will take time to correct them and the damage that they have done. In this case one of two things can happen when you are under corrective Chiropractic care.
1. You can feel better immediately, but does this mean you are fully corrected? Not necessarily. Remember, if it took years to get that way, at least give it some months to heal, regardless of what you are feeling. This way you can be sure the problem will not surface late because the cause is taken care of.
2. You could feel worse or stay the same for some time. But does this mean you are getting worse? Not necessarily. If it took years to get that way, it will take some time to correct. Pain is not a good measure of the health of your spine. Have a little faith, we heal on God’s time, not ours.
Either way, the best thing is to correct the cause of the problem, not just rid yourself of the symptom or pain. We do want you to feel your best, but more importantly we want you to heal at your best level. And also of great importance, if you have taken the time to correct your problem, maintain your fine results. Your health is much more important than the oil you change every three months in your car!
Dr. Jeffry T. Vendsel, Advanced Chiropractic, holds an Advanced Certification of Competency Whiplash and Brain Traumatology Certificate from the Spine Research Institute of San Diego as well as being recognized as a Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician by the American Board of Chiropractic Sports Physicians.
