During the cold and flu season, it’s important to keep your immune system strong and healthy. There are many different methods to naturally prevent illness such as good hygiene, eating fresh fruits and veggies while avoiding processed foods, and exercising frequently. In addition to all of these methods, can chiropractic care help to strengthen your immune system?
What is the immune system?
The immune system’s job is to prevent you from getting sick and works to prevent infections. It is the body’s defense mechanism against viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens. Interestingly, the immune system teams up with the nervous system to be able to fight against intruders. The nervous system acts as a messenger in relaying messages to and from the brain to the entire body. The brain is able to communicate with the immune system and its members through the nervous system. Thus, the nervous system is essential for the immune system to be able to perform its job properly.
Can chiropractic care strengthen your immune system?
How can chiropractic care strengthen your immune system when it only works to improve the skeletal function of the body? Chiropractic care focuses on the spine. The spine protects the spinal cord which is part of the central nervous system. The spinal cord is what allows the brain to communicate with the rest of the body through corresponding nerves. When the spine is in balance, the brain can communicate freely with the body. Problems arise with there are subluxations throughout the spine. A subluxation is a slight misalignment which can block nerves from being able to pass on important information to the brain. Chiropractic adjustments realign the spine and subsequently allows the brain to send messages to the rest of the body. Thus, when the spine and the nervous system are able to function properly, the immune system is able to perform its job to the best of its ability.
A real-world example from history.
In 1918, the world was experiencing one of the worst epidemics in human history. Influenza spread like wildfire and eventually killed over 50 million people across the globe. Doctors struggled to treat this new disease since they didn’t know much about it. Chiropractic care was a relatively new form of treatment, and people suffering from the flu visited chiropractors. Surprisingly enough, chiropractic patients faired much better than their traditional medical peers. According to a study by Dr. Walter R. Rhodes, cases of flu treated by medical methods in Iowa in 1918, out of 10,000 people, 950 died. While in the same area at the same time, only 25 people in 10,000 died using drugless methods and chiropractic care. In Oklahoma, chiropractors were given charge of 233 patients whom doctors had given up as a lost cause and saved all but 25 of these patients.
Regular chiropractic care can strengthen your immune system, and help your body prevent and fight off infectious diseases and illnesses that plague our world today. Schedule your appointment with Midvale Chiropractic today!