Chiropractic is one of the pieces in the jigsaw of maintaining a balanced and vital sense of health and well-being. Pain is a warning sign. On some level it is signalling a disconnect. Pain is the nervous system's signal that our physiology is over compensated and in trouble - imagine a big empty bucket eventually overfilling because too many habitual stressors are being trickled in over a life time; or steadily poured in over a short period of intense stress and imbalance. When the human bucket is full and spilling over, our reserves are overstretched, quite probably we are living on our nerves, stress hormones such as cortisol spike erratically in the body; it's time to do something before the bucket gives us a kick!  

Pain is the warning sign that something must give, before our health breaks down. It is when our body systems are overloaded that we are more likely to injure ourselves. With imbalanced homeostasis and therefore inefficient body physiology our bodies are more likely to be in a pro-inflammatory state leading to pain.

The neurological control of our musculoskeletal system if it is sub-optimal may not be reacting quickly enough to prevent an overuse injury when repetitive movements of daily living occur.  If opposing muscle groups are not being controlled and co-ordinated effectively;  if they are not switched on and off efficiently over time they may atrophy and weaken.

Typically soft tissue injuries to muscle, ligament, tendon and nerve are more likely when we are overloaded, we eventually become injured, de-compensated and in pain. Irritation and inflammation around nerve roots and along the branches and tracts of larger nerves is more probable when the body's physiology is out of whack, compromised and inefficient.

The musculoskeletal system, the nervous system, the cardiovascular system and the immune system have to operate within the strict laws of the body's physiology. Homeostasis keeps it in check through negative feedback. This is the body's natural way of bringing us back into balance, when life's stressors are trying to knock us for six and we are just hanging on for a rough ride.

The chiropractic adjustment potentially assists with nudging us towards a more balanced physiology and therefore homeostasis through removing interference on aspects of our nervous system often through specific spinal, pelvic, cranial, extremity and myofascial adjustments.

Although you may be seeking treatment for back pain, the goal of chiropractic is not to treat back pain per se but to identify and correct imbalance / dysfunction in the neuromechanical / biomechanical / musculoskeletal systems.

Living in the north of Scotland, we have the added challenge of having low levels of sunshine for most of the year and as most people work and relax indoors, we are subject to low levels of Vitamin D production in our bodies.

The “Scottish Effect” of world ranking levels of chronic disease may be as a result of low serum levels of 25(OH)D3 (inactive Vit D - blood test value) and therefore active 1,25(OH)D3 serum levels. Chronic inflammation can run riot when there are insufficient levels of Vitamin D3 production from the sun on skin; this happens especially in the winter months and early spring. At such a northerly latitude, Scotland for much of the year round cannot generate enough UVB for us to have all year round benefits of the Sunshine hormone, unlike countries closer to the equator.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble hormone so we can store it up in our fatty tissues if we get enough healthy sun exposure from April to September. We can also source it from foodstuffs such as oily fish, eggs and dairy (lichen supplements if you’re vegan). Vitamin K2 is often combined to ensure the calcium we absorb goes into our bones and teeth and doesn’t deposit and harden our blood vessels. Magnesium and calcium citrates (not the chalky carbonates) appear to be important co-factors to help fully activate the benefits of the Vitamin D hormone.

During the winter once our body’s Vitamin D stores are depleted, unless we are getting a regular source from our diet and often needed supplementation, our blood serum levels drop becoming deficient which can then trigger a cascade of pro-inflammatory changes in the body including muscle stiffness and joint pains, fatigue, low mood and behavioural changes (depression, SAD and de-motivation).