The news is full of talk of the latest virus that is going around. I thought this a good time to review how getting adjusted boosts your immune system so you can stay healthy.

If someone with an infectious virus was on a plane coughing, sneezing and touching their face then everything around them there is a chance some of the people on the plane would end up sick. It would not be all of them however.

So what protected the people that didn’t get sick? If you said their immune system, you’re right! Give yourself a gold star. Some of the people exposed to the virus would get it in their system but their immune system would be strong enough to fight it off without them having symptoms.

The people who did get sick were not able to fight it off. They then develop a fever, cough, runny nose etc. These are also all functions the immune system. Now that the virus has taken hold their body steps up the response to it and fights it off by raising the temperature of the body and flushing the system by coughing and sneezing. It’s very important to note these are completely normal responses of the body. There is no reason to take anything to reduce the fever or suppress the cough and sneezing.

Great you’re thinking, but what does this have to do with Chiropractic? I was hoping you would ask.

Your immune system, like all systems in your body, is under the control of your nervous system. There are many different organs and parts of the body that make up the immune system. The immune system and nervous system are so interconnected that some consider them to be one. Major immune organs such as your spleen and thymus have direct connection to the nervous system. Your lymph system a major component of your immune system is under direction of your nervous system. Even your bone marrow, which produces red and white blood cells, has a rich network of nerves.

All of these systems need healthy communication from your nervous system to direct them on how to function properly.

This is where Chiropractic care is so important. Chiropractic adjustments restore motion and alignment to spinal bones that are not moving properly. If the spinal bones and joints around them are irritated it will cause inflammation. This localized inflammation puts pressure on the nerves and decreases the energy of the signals they are sending. The Chiropractic adjustment restores the motion to the joints, reducing the inflammation and restoring the normal nerve flow. All of this in turn allows whatever the nerve is going to to function properly. In this case it will allow the immune system to function better.

So don’t wait until you are in pain to get adjusted. Chiropractic care is about making your body function at it’s peak not just pain relief.