By: Dr. Anthony Odney, D.C.
A baseball team keeps nine players on the field when it is that team’s turn to pitch. If something happens to one of those players, an alternate player is sent to take that person’s place on the field. As a unit, the team works to accomplish the task of getting all of the batters out in one way or another.
The body’s immune system works in much the same manner as a team of baseball players. How is this so?
During a game, the initial goal of the pitching team is to keep as many batters from gaining access to the field as possible. However, it is expected that batters will eventually make it on base. Once a batter does make it on base, that does not mean that a complete run has been gained for the running team. The defensive team can still get the running batter out before he or she crosses the home plate.
The human body is equipped with multiple methods for keeping out infection, disease, and illness. As the outermost layer of the body, the skin is often considered the body’s first line of defense against disease and infection. Mucous membranes, airways, and the digestive tract are a few of the body’s other natural defense barriers. Life naturally brings us to easily ingest or acquire harmful bits of the world in which we live.
A pitcher and his teammates can do everything right, and a batter will still get a hit. When a ball is put into play by the batter, the nine players must work together to retrieve the ball and use it to get the player out. How the baseball team plays will depend on the skill and determination of the players, time spent in practice, and the ability of the team to communicate effectively.
The immune system also has more than one chance for recovery. The body’s power to protect itself is incredible, but not quite impenetrable. We do get injured and sick, requiring the body to invoke its natural ability to begin healing — often before we are even fully aware there may be an illness underway.
When this happens, our bodies must begin to fight each individual matter from the inside. How well this happens will depend very much on our immune system’s health and ability to send information efficiently through the body.
How Does Chiropractic Boost Your Immune System?
A team may have amazing players, but if they have not learned how to understand one another’s hand signals and verbal cues, enjoying and winning the game will be far more difficult. Players must be able to communicate if they wish to achieve the secondary goal of getting the batter out.
In much the same manner, it is imperative for even the tiniest portions of the body to communicate via their highly intricate methods. Slight misalignments in the body can cause an interruption to the natural communication signals in the body. Chiropractic care empowers the human immune system with one of the most powerful defense mechanisms available: the ability to send messages.
When the ability to send messages through synapses to the brain is hindered or lost, the effectiveness for which wellness in the body can be retained is altered. Chiropractic care techniques work to restore this natural power from within the body.
Chiropractic care fosters a cooperative defensive team within the body’s natural mechanisms for health. Preventative and recovery care overlap in their techniques. Yet, the results are similar in that once communications are retained, wellness is better retained within the tiniest hidden portions of the body.
A seasoned baseball player may seek to inform another player through hand signals that get jumbled or missed. Perhaps a player’s vision becomes blurred, causing him to misinterpret signals. This will affect the outcome of the next play in the game. Something must be done to improve communications in order for the team to improve their game.
Like improving the vision of a player, chiropractic improves the nervous system’s ability to “see” and interpret signals that are sent through the body. Care of the spine and nervous system helps to improve the effectiveness of the information superhighways that run through the spinal column. In turn, the body receives a higher level of properly functioning tiny parts that may assist in keeping it well.
Chiropractic and White Blood Cell Counts
Chiropractic adjustments serve as a series of gentle communication reminders for the body. These reminders help to reintroduce a sense of focus for nerves as they work to provide healing and wellness in the body. Manual adjustments to the spine and joints help to hone the focus of the joints as they work to help the brain and body communication efficiently.
Chiropractic adjustment(s) work to bring the vertebrae back into proper positioning, relieving pressure on the spine and restoring signals that are needed through the central nervous system. When this happens, white blood cells set about thwarting illness, ailments, and physical conditions that may cause pain and discomfort. In somewhat of a snowball effect, wellness can help us breed wellness within our bodies. When we are healthy enough to enjoy some exercise, we increase our ability to be well.
According to Kate Gilbert in Psychology Today, studies show the relationship that white blood cells have with chiropractic adjustments is positive. A study by the National College of Chiropractic in Illinois found that white blood cell counts are elevated following a spinal adjustment. Intentional care for the spine brings the immune system’s fighting power to an improved level of function benefiting the body throughout.
The relationship between the human immune system and chiropractic is clear. The immune system, as well as the rest of the body, loves the attention and care that chiropractic offers.
Dr. Jonathan Verderame of the Digital Journal echoes this, noting the nervous system’s ability to control the immune system as shown by Musculoskeletal Science and Practice.
It is clear that the effects of chiropractic on the immune system are quite desirable. A team that operates with all of its powers and capabilities may bring a winning season, in part, due to good communication!
Doctors of chiropractic may be viewed as a collection of coaches silently bringing beneficial communications back into the immune system for the benefit of the patient.
Dr. Anthony Odney, D.C. is a graduate of Southern California University of Health Science where he earned his doctorate of chiropractic. In addition, he has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and kinesiology. Originally from Norway, Dr. Odney became a chiropractor because of his belief that the human body is a marvelous machine that can be “fixed” by chiropractic care. At Better Health Chiropractic & Physical Rehab, he continues to use a scientific-based chiropractic approach to help patients resolve their medical conditions.
