On the surface, it may seem that chiropractic is limited to helping the spine, muscles, and joints, however, this is not always the full case. It must be remembered that the spine's function is to provide protection to the spinal cord, which is a direct extension of the brain. When people think of the brain, they picture only part of the brain. They only picture the part that is contained within the skull forgetting to include the spinal cord. The brain and spinal cord are complex, delicate and responsible for running and maintaining all the systems and functions of the body. Some functions include the ability to use your:

• muscles

• touch

• perception of pain

• perception of temperature

• breathing

• the flow of blood through the blood vessels

• control of proper digestion

• elimination and controlling the body's immune system

You can think of the spinal cord as the wires that enable the brain to communicate

with all parts of the body but this is only the partial picture. The spinal cord has

certain functions within itself that does not rely on the brain, reflexes are an example

of a function that occurs entirely in the spinal cord and does not involve the brain

itself. While the brain is encased in the skull, the spinal cord has a "casing" too.

Nature's answer to this challenge is the 24 movable bones called the vertebrae.

The vertebrae afford protection to the delicate spinal cord, while allowing for a full

range of motion. The spine is made up of several joints, each one of these joints must

be moving entirely and properly in all of its ranges of motion. If even one of the joints

is not moving properly, it disturbs the balance and alignment to some degree. The

lack of proper movement of these vertebral joints is called spinal fixation.

When a vertebral joint is not moving properly and this imbalance disturbs the nervous

system, this is called a subluxation. Both a subluxation and/or spinal fixation can result

in other joints having to move more excessively to pick up the slack, which causes

irritation and can also result in pain. Pain is often a result of disturbed spinal balance

and it is usually the last thing to come and the first thing to go with the onset of

subluxation or spinal fixations. It is not necessary to get to the point where your body

is in pain. If the spinal motion and balance is restored and then maintained, pain can

be avoided altogether. A chiropractor is trained to correct subluxations or fixations of

the spine through a process known as the chiropractic adjustment. After an

adjustment, immediate relief can be experienced. If the underlying imbalance has

been there for quite some time, it can sometimes take longer to achieve complete recovery. The question arises, "Why, once I'm adjusted do I have to keep getting adjusted?” To answer this, here is an analogy: When a person's teeth are crooked they get braces. After the teeth have straightened out, the orthodontist puts in a retainer. The reason that the retainer is used when the teeth are already straight is because the canals that surround the teeth are still crooked. It takes time for these retaining elements (the tooth canals) to straighten out. The spine also has retaining elements. In the spine, however, these are not canals but are muscles, ligaments, and tendons. When proper mobility and balance is restored to the vertebrae, the correction must now be maintained so that the muscles, ligaments and tendons can compensate themselves back to normal.