Ask Dr. Trupo Of Cape Chiropractic

How do the Brain, Spine and Nerve Communicate?

In order to truly understand what chiropractic does, it will help if you understand how the nervous system works.

It all starts with the brain. It will help if you think of the brain as a computer that controls the body. The nervous system is the network that sends the messages from the brain to the rest of the body.

Now, here is where the spine fits in. The nervous system sends these messages via the spinal cord. The spinal cord is not your actual backbone (vertebra), but the cord that runs within the bones in your back. It contains threadlike nerves that branch out to every organ and body part.

When a message comes in to the brain, the brain then tells the body how to react. For instance, if you touch a hot stove with your hand, the pain message is sent to your brain, where the signal to quickly pull away is sent through the spine and out to the hand. All of this is done very quickly.

Although you can take several courses to understand the nervous system completely, all you really need to know is that every cell, tissue, and organ of your body is controlled by your nervous system through communication. When this communication is working correctly, you are healthy. When it is interfered with, this causes dysfunction leading to disease.

Since these nerves are so close to many structures and can be easily irritated by light pressure, they are extremely vulnerable. That is why you need a chiropractor!