February is National Heart Awareness Month

This month we paid some extra special attention to the way our hearts function in our body as a whole, because February is Healthy Heart month. Heartland Wellness and Chiropractic Center recognized healthy heart month as a way to spread awareness on all the different factoids in your life that constitute healthy living.

The health of your spine can have a domino effect that overall runs down the way our bodies can function. People usually visit the chiropractor for relief of back and neck pain, and even pain in your lower/ upper spine. Chiropractors main purpose is to relieve our patients of pain however, many chiropractors also double dip as educators as well. Cliché as it sounds; everything in your body is connected. Therefore keeping your spine happy and healthy, overall improves your quality of life as well as how well your body functions. In scientific terms, the outer most layer of your heart is called the pericardium. This layer of your heart surrounds the core components of your heart’s major blood vessels. This part of your heart is attached to your spinal column, and your diaphragm through ligaments.

This is why any sort of injury to your spinal cord can be heavily associated with increased risk of heart disease in most patients. Spinal nerve damage can not only cause patients to have a higher risk of cardiovascular complications, but other long term problems may include thromboembolism or autonomic dysreflexia. This is not to say that if you do not see a chiropractor, your body will deteriorate and you will develop all of these things, but more so to bring awareness to how important it is to take care of your body the right way if you’re experiencing existing pain or discomfort.

People go to the chiropractor for a number of reasons; typically those that see a chiropractor on a consistent basis are visiting because they have some of the following:

• Chronic pain
• Fatigue
• Lack of energy
• Digestive problems
• Muscle aches
• Numbness
• Tingling

One of the most common chiropractic problems amongst patients is correcting subluxations. A subluxation is any kind of misalignment in one’s spine. A misalignment in your spine can overtime cause changes in your bloods chemistry which occurs in the part of your brain called your hypothalamus. If you don’t get these misalignments or subluxations corrected, you have a higher change of releasing stress hormones into your blood stream.  Subluxations can be caused by car accidents, trauma, sports related injuries, slip and fall injuries, and more. Your bodies stress hormones are responsible for the physiological reaction called “fight or flight syndrome” which is what you go through when you suffer from an unpleasant circumstance when you become upset, stressed or scared. When your body reacts to something and it shows itself as frightened or upset, it works harder to bring you down to a level where you can manage the stress. Therefore your body is working harder, and your sympathetic nervous system works harder to fight off the unpleasant feeling. When you undergo a series of unfortunate events, this puts stress on your heart which eventually causes cardiovascular troubles such as heart attack, heart disease or strokes. Receiving an adjustment from your chiropractor can ground you, quite literally. Chiropractors having the abilities to adjust any misalignment, and pull the stress away from the areas in your body that are providing you with discomfort. Leading to an all around happier, healthier lifestyle, and heart.

For more information on how to keep your heart healthy and happy through chiropractic care, call Heartland today!