Tired of Chasing Symptoms?
I hear this all the time when people first come into the office, “I just want to get rid of this neck/back pain, headache, vertigo or a variety of other symptoms”. Or “As soon as i get rid of this pain something else shows up, if it’s not one thing it’s another.” Oftentimes that is our first instinct when we experience discomfort is to find something to counteract the symptoms. Now don’t get me wrong, felling better is a great thing. It is a goal we strive for all of our patients, however it’s the approach we take that matters most.
Symptoms are a sign that the body is going through a healing process and there is a possible dysfunction present. So when we just focus on counteracting a symptom that the body is using as part of healing process then we are actually working against ourselves. The body will often respond by bringing the symptom back, sometimes stronger or it shifts and a different symptom process arises.
For example when there is neck pain resulting from very tense postural neck muscles due to a subluxation (misalignment in the neck); if you were to take a pain reducer, muscle relaxer, stretched or just got a massage you may notice a reduction in that pain and tension temporarily. However the pain and tension would eventually return because the nervous system had those muscles active to try and correct and support the misalignment. Often in this situation the body increases the tension higher than it was initially due to the symptom relief method working against it. A better approach would be to adjust the misaligned area making sure it is the root cause and allow the nervous system to reduce the tension after the spine has stabilized again with the spines alignment being corrected. If further work was needed to reduce the muscle tension or strengthen other areas, this would be the appropriate time.
When we shift the focus to supporting the body’s natural processes of healing and address the root issue and source of pain or dysfunction that is when we achieve true health and wellness. Work with the body, support what the systems are trying to achieve with the processes that are occurring.
We can find ourselves in a state of chasing our tails or chasing symptoms when we just look for symptom relief. It’s not always strait forward but many symptoms that we experience can related when we look at the nervous system and find dysfunction. Our nervous system controls all parts of the body down to every cell. When one area is affected it is rare that it is isolated, our entire body is affected and responds.
Our mission at Bloom and Flourish family Chiropractic is to adjust the cause not the symptom. We want to bring greater health to the Mercer community by helping you to not only feel better but heal better. Jump start that healing by getting adjusted today!
As always if you have any questions reach out to us. Share with someone that you think would benefit.
-Dr. Josh Stearns
