Here in Medicine Hat we have enjoyed an exceptionally mild winter. The same cannot be said for many of our patients we live to the north and east of the city. Although the calendar says it is spring looking at the thermometer and the snow on the ground this past week, we know that spring has not yet come to our part of the country. When the sun does shine however it lifts our spirits with more than just the expectation of warmer weather to come.
Sunshine has a very positive effect on our physical bodies. After a few cloudy days going out into the April sunshine just seems to energize a person. The energy does more than just lift our mental spirits. Did you know that every cell in the human body gets energy from light? Each cell has receptors that absorb the energy from light and convert that energy into the energy which runs the cell. So when light shines on the cells of our body, they have more energy to do what they need to do. They grow better. They heal better. When individual cells function better and are healthier, the tissues that are made up of those individual cells are also more functional. Ultimately the whole person is healthier.
While sunlight is very beneficial it is not always possible to expose tissues needing light stimulation to the sun. For instance injured joints or an injured spine may not be practically exposed to enough sunlight to have a therapeutic effect, particularly during a Canadian winter. The full spectrum, scattered waves of sunlight only penetrate a maximum of 1/2 inch into the body. Most times injured tissues are much deeper. So although sunlight has a therapeutic benefit, it is very limited.
To practically use light to stimulate healing in the body, requires the light to be focused rather than scattered and of wavelengths that can effectively penetrate deep into the body. The most effective sources of such light are lasers. Low level laser therapy (LLLT) has been developed specifically to stimulate the healing of the body. It uses specific wavelengths and powers that are most effective at energizing the cells of injured tissues. At the same time LLLT produces no heat and it does not damage any healthy tissues. Shining laser light on injured tissues is almost like plugging the cells into a power source to get them working. Once the cells are energized the injured tissues can quickly return to their normal function.
In our office we have found LLLT to be a very valuable adjunct to chiropractic adjustments. It speeds the healing process significantly. It reduces the sensitivity of irritated nerves. It improves circulation. It reduces inflammation. It normalizes the function of the body's healing cells. Chiropractic works with the natural ability of the body to heal and LLLT simple enhances the process.
Even though going out into the sunshine can have a very positive effect on the body, when it comes to stimulating healing, laser light is far superior.
A chiropractic adjustment is a very simple procedure. The chiropractor analyzes a patient's spine for an area that has lost its proper position and motion. Then a very quick, light thrust is applied in a specific direction to this area. This may be done to one or several areas of the spine and the patient's spine has been adjusted. Both the analysis and the procedure are quick and simple.
Most people visit chiropractors because of pain in the back or neck. It's easy for them to make the connection between pain in the spine and the benefits of adjusting the spine. But many of these people, who've come for relief of back and neck pain, find other positive things happen after receiving chiropractic adjustments. Some examples from my practice over that past few weeks are:
- the child who is no longer constipated
- the man who no longer gets heartburn at every meal
- the lady who now sleeps comfortably through the night
- the gentleman who no longer has constant hiccups
- the baby who nurses without vomiting everything back up
- the woman who can walk with her friends again without discomfort
- the fellow whose jaw no longer "cracks" so loudly that it annoyed his family
- the boy who no longer has chest pain and shortness of breath when he runs
There are many more examples I could list of positive, unexpected benefits patients in my office have experienced recently. In each case, the person was analyzed for spinal problems and given simple chiropractic adjustments.
That a chiropractic adjustment can produce such a wide range of positive effects can seem amazing. The power in the adjustment is not in the technique the chiropractor uses or even in the force that the chiropractor puts into the spine. The power comes from what the body does with that force. When areas of the spine have lost their proper position and motion it means that a Vertebral Subluxation is present. Vertebral Subluxations also involve irritation of the adjacent spinal nerves. Once the nerves are irritated, all areas of the body that depend on those particular nerves are negatively affected. A chiropractic adjustment applied to a Vertebral Subluxation restores normal position and motion which then results normalization of the spinal nerves. Once nerve function returns, truly amazing things can happen in the body. The body can again function the way it was designed to. The chiropractic adjustment can be likened to turning on a switch that gets the body working again. Chiropractic adjustments turn the nerves on. It's that simple. That's why chiropractic adjustments are so powerful!
