Nervous System Roadmap
“The purpose of a roadmap is to visualize how you plan to meet your objectives. No matter how they look, roadmaps need to show where you are going and how you’re going to get there”
I became a chiropractor because of how getting adjusted impacted my birth (cesarean to VBAC) and then how it impacted my kid’s health (no more constipation or asthma), and then how it impacted my husband’s health (decrease in headaches and neck tension). In fact, I started in the chiropractic program without really understanding what chiropractic was. I was so fascinated with how the health and wellness of my family changed, that I just decided that I wanted this to be my profession without really comprehending it fully. I guess I figured that’s what school is for.
I’m not really sure when in my training I learned about this spinal nerve chart (or as I’m calling it here - roadmap), but I remember the light bulb moment. When saying “the nervous system controls all the functions of the body” actually made sense to me. But then I remembered that my own chiropractor told me this before I even started in school. She used this chart as part of her patient education in helping people understand how adjustments help the body function better. Sometimes we see things a million times or we’re told things a thousand times, but it really just takes one time, one moment, where the light bulb can light up – where it all starts to make sense.
So here’s what I tell patients during their first visit: We process our entire world through our nervous system. The brain sends the nervous system signal to every cell, tissue, and organ via the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system. It’s a two-way highway. Whatever that destination is, it’s also sending info back up to the brain about what’s going on in the body. Why do I ask about major slips, falls, and traumas? Because those can impact that nerve signal coming out from the brain as well as that nerve signal going back up to the brain. However, it’s also those small repetitive tasks that we do day in and day out that can also impact that nerve signal. It’s the 5 T’s - thoughts, traumas, toxins, technology (posture), and tribe (microbiome). When we have that disrupted nerve signal, that segment that isn’t lined up and doesn’t move as it should, that’s what we call a subluxation in chiropractic. That’s what I’m really working on in the office, how your nervous system is functioning.
“a roadmap is a strategic plan that defines a goal or desired outcome, and includes the major steps or milestones to reach it”
Chiropractic isn’t a cure for all disease. I would even say that it doesn’t cure anything. I would say that it allows your body to heal. It allows the brain to communicate optimally to the body and vice versa. It allows our body to adapt to stressors so that we can heal. Your body is doing the best it can with the tools it’s given. These subluxations can interrupt the roadmap and cause a detour that is not ideal or healthy. Is chiropractic care the end all be all? Will getting adjusted immediately fix all that’s wrong. Sometimes one adjustment is all it takes. Other times, we’ve got a lifetime of trauma to unwind. But I do know that each adjustment makes a difference. That each adjustment brings us closer and closer to optimal function. That each adjustment is important, impactful, and makes a difference.
This roadmap can begin to explain why some folks who come in because of headaches start to sleep better, have less anxiety, have less sinus pressure…..because when we assess where the person has subluxations, and we make adjustments to the appropriate segments, the nervous can function better which is evident by the reduction in headaches and all those other wonderful side effects I just mentioned. I guess what I’m trying to say is, you’re worth it. Your overall health and wellness matter, and getting adjusted can be a step in the right direction towards optimal nervous system function and ultimately a step towards healing.
~ Dr. Shannon