Ding, Maintenance Required

As I got on the freeway the other day, the service indicator on the dashboard of my car dinged, time for a B1 service. Wouldn’t it be great if our bodies, like our cars, had dashboard indicators? Only instead of A12 or B1 we would get a “massage required” or “book an appointment with the chiropractor” notice. 

We regularly service our cars to prevent break downs and expensive, time consuming repairs. Like our cars, our bodies, too, need preventative maintenance.

Modern life is hard on our bodies. We are more sedentary than we should be, we do not spend enough time outside and we are hunched over our computers and phones too many hours of the day. Like your car, the best time to take care of yourself is before something goes wrong and to prevent being sidelined by injury and disease.

I am a big believer in preventive care and use chiropractic regularly as part of my “maintenance plan.” I love it because it is a drug free, non-invasive, easily accessible health tool. Over the last 18 years I have used chiropractic care to treat the occasional back and neck pain as well as sciatica and post-pregnancy lower back and hip pain. In terms of prevention, I get an adjustment from the chiropractor at least once a month. And, I find it great after a lot of plane travel.

Despite my long history with chiropractic and my passionate belief in its efficacy, I realized during a recent adjustment I did not know much about the underlying philosophy. So, I asked my chiropractor, Dr. Seth Labott at Café of Life in Mill Valley, to sit down with me. I wanted to educate myself and get his perspective on chiropractic as part of a healthy life strategy for women in midlife. 

I hope you read this conversation with an open mind! 

What is Chiropractic and how does it help?

Dr. Seth: Chiropractic supports the neurological connection between the body and the brain. It works to restore the flow of communication between the brain and the body to support the health of the entire nervous system. It seeks to correct misalignment and restore mobility in the body. This reduces compression in the joints leading to less tissue damage and less inflammation. This in turn results in less pressure on the nerves, which ultimately means less pain and better health.

The primary mode of treatment is through spinal adjustment (no, it does not hurt!) and manipulation of other joints to facilitate the body's natural ability to heal itself. Chiropractic believes in the body’s ability to heal itself and it works to support this innate ability.

Can you talk about your approach to chiropractic care?

Dr. Seth: The purpose of my work is to support people as they age and to promote longevity. At Café of Life, my practice in Mill Valley, CA, I use chiropractic to help address issues that arise from a person’s genetics, environment, and lifestyle. 

Patients come to see me for preventative care and to address specific problems. If it is a physical problem, the pain the patient is feeling is a result of disrupted communication between the brain and the body. This means the brain cannot send messages to the body and the body cannot send messages back to the brain to solve the issue. While the chiropractic adjustment I perform may seem to directly relieve the physical pain, I am relieving their pain by restoring the flow of communication between the body and the brain through the spine. 

Where does Chiropractic care fit as part of a healthy living strategy?

Dr. Seth: I look at 3 categories of stressors which result in poor connection between the brain and the spine: physical, mental / emotional, and chemical. Each of these may show up in different ways at different points in your life, manifesting as misalignment and injury. This in turn disrupts the communication between the body and the brain.

Chiropractic is an excellent tool to prevent disruption from these stressors. Once a disruption occurs, chiropractic can help return the body to a healthier state of being. This is often a better strategy than only popping a pill and not addressing the underlying issue. 

Misalignment of the spine or joints that do not move freely can lead to nerve pressure which can result in pain and potentially a worsening of the underlying condition. This pain is a signal that the brain and body are not effectively communicating. 

All joints have receptors which measure motion and pressure. When you get adjusted manually or with an instrument, the adjustment triggers these receptors to send messages up the spinal cord to the brain, saying, “hey, this is more like it!” The brain then sends back messages signaling other positive physiological effects of well-being. 

Adjustments facilitate greater mobility in joints, create healthier tissues, less inflammation, and less nerve pressure. This results in fewer muscle spasms, which leads to less pain and guarding, higher functionality, greater range of motion, and healthier tissues.

Can you talk about the body’s nervous system, why caring for it is critical for living a healthy life, and how chiropractic care can support it?

Dr. Seth: Your Central Nervous System is composed of your brain and spine. Your Peripheral Nervous System is all the nerves which branch off the spine to all the other parts of your body. Ninety percent of the information taken in by the brain comes through the spine. Interestingly, only about 10% of our nerves are devoted to sensing pain. The rest are tied up with the Autonomic Nervous System which regulates our breathing, heart rate and function of our organs. 

Think of it this way…the brain connects to the spinal cord, which connects to every cell in our body. What happens to the spine impacts the function and physiology of the entire nervous system! Keeping a healthy connection between the brain and the spinal cord is important for the health of the whole body. 

In sum, to be healthy you need a healthy nervous system. To have a healthy nervous system you need a healthy spine. To ensure a healthy nervous system you need strength, flexibility, a strong core, AND a health strategy for your spine and nervous system. Regular chiropractic care is a great strategy to help maintain the health of the spine and help your entire body function in an optimal way.

What are some of the typical reasons you see women in midlife seeking out chiropractic care?

Dr. Seth: As we age, we must work harder to maintain our physical health. It is more difficult to maintain our mobility and posture and it takes longer to recover from working out and injuries. Some of my patients recognize they need to work harder and seek out chiropractic in midlife to maintain the good health they have. 

Unfortunately, most people wait until they are in some sort of pain to seek out chiropractic. For women in midlife this is often related to upper body issues like forward head posture (aka text neck), upper cross syndrome (rounded shoulders and a forward angled head) and exaggerated kyphosis (a hunched back from tight shoulders and weak lats). To give one example of why this is so deleterious to the body, the average head weighs 10-12 pounds when upright, in the text neck position it is exerting upwards of 50 pounds of pressure on the neck and upper back…ouch!

I also tend to see people with lower body issues like sciatica and degenerative discs in the lower back, especially the L4 & L5 discs. Sciatica often results from degeneration in the spine or from a nerve being pinched by the Piriformis. Degenerative discs are the result of years of compression, not stretching, tight IT bands and hip flexors. Discs in our spines do not have great blood supply and require good movement (which our modern lifestyle does not necessarily lend itself) for nutrition and to release toxins.

Chiropractic can bring relief for all these conditions. 

Parting Thought

In Seth’s words, “choose chiropractic care as part of a healthy lifestyle strategy, like sleep and eating well. If you want to live your physically healthiest life, chiropractic can help ensure you perform at your highest level.” In my words, “I hope you give it a try as I know you will find it a helpful tool for adventuring through midlife in your best form.”

To experience the wonders of chiropractic care (my words, not Dr. Seth’s), you can find Dr. Seth at Café of Life in Mill Valley, CA. He is an Exercise and Sports Science graduate who began his practice in Colorado before moving to Marin County, CA to help his patients achieve peak performance. In addition to traditional chiropractic, he also offers Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression. This scientific based technique can help those suffering from Bulging and Herniated Discs, Sciatica, Facet Syndrom, Chronic Degenerative Arthritis of the Spine, Nerve Pain and Stenosis.

See you next week…