Posted By: Dr. Jessica L.Caruso
Recently I have had a lot of patients coming into our office with complaints of runny nose, sinus pressure, scratchy throat, cough and body aches. Many people associate these symptoms with the cold weather, not the summer months. However, we are susceptible all the time to the germs and bacteria that may cause these types of symptoms. When our immune systems are strong they can ward off these germs.
I’ve asked each of my patients during their visits if they could think of any reason why their immune systems are lowered and not working at their best potential. Most answers I get are related to stress, changes in routine, poor sleep, eating poorly (like at all those BBQs), busy with kids out of school, travel — just plain feeling overextended. I remind patients of the 3T’s of subluxation: Trauma (this includes poor posture), Toxins, and Thoughts. For those of you who do not know: SUBLUXATIONS are misalignments in the spine that cause nerve interference, not allowing the body to function optimally, thus, not allowing the body to achieve optimal health.
Most of the answers I received from my patients could fit into at least one of the 3T’s categories. Since chiropractic adjustments remove subluxations, it makes perfect sense to get adjusted when you feel “run down” or like “you’re fighting something off”. Subluxations interfere with your nervous system’s ability to work at 100%. Your nervous system tells everything else in your body how to perform, including your immune system. So, a healthy nervous system equals a healthy immune system. We all have an innate ability to heal. We just need to provide an environment conducive to healing optimally. This means getting good sleep, watching your posture, eating well, taking your vitamins (I take, as well as highly recommend to my patients, Doctor Greens’ vitamins and supplements because they are 100% organic), good stress management practices such as yoga and meditation, listening to the signs your body is sending you, and GETTING ADJUSTED.
Research performed at New York Medical Institute by Dr. Pero (a medical doctor) showed that people under regular chiropractic care had immune systems 200% stronger than those not under chiropractic care. Pretty amazing research about the power of chiropractic!