Have you ever visited a chiropractor because you had pain in your neck or back? Many of us have. But that's not all chiropractic care is good for. In fact, you can reap a whole host of health benefits when you pay regular visits to your chiropractor.

CHIROPRACTIC CARE IMPROVES YOUR QUALITY OF LIFE
Chiropractic care isn't just about your spine. It involves the nervous system and every part of your body. The overall goal of chiropractic care is to improve nerve flow, which impacts your daily function and quality of life.

When a chiropractor improves your body's nerve flow, you start to experience a host of unexpected benefits. We've outlined a few of them for you.

Improved immune function
A healthy immune system keeps viral and bacterial infections at bay. Your nervous system regulates cell functions, but even the slightest misalignment can interrupt the process, and this has a ripple effect on your immune system's ability to fight off viruses.

Chiropractic care restores function to your nerves to ensure your cells are operating the way they're supposed to.

More energy
When your body is sore, joints and muscles tense up, resulting in inflammation. This tension and pain gets in the way of your well-being. But with chiropractic care, joint and muscle discomfort is reduced, and you experience a vitality boost.

Clearer thinking, concentration and memory
Did you ever have a day when your mind was extra sharp, thoughts and ideas came quickly or your memory was especially good? Ever have the opposite type of day? Well, your body chemistry determines to a great extent your ability to think, concentrate and remember. Body chemistry is controlled by your nerve system and your nerve system works better without any interference.

Lowered blood pressure
Studies show that a chiropractic adjustment targeting the nerves in your upper neck, which may be just as effective as taking blood pressure medication at lowering blood pressure.

Better digestion
There are probably hundreds of reasons why certain foods affect certain people. Most times, the cause can be traced back to the inability of the body to handle the food. If it was the food, then it would negatively affect everyone. There are many reasons why your body, in general, and your nerve system, in particular, may not work properly. One of those reasons, an interference in the nerve system due to vertebral subluxation, can be addressed by regular visits to the chiropractor.

More sleep
All sleep is not the same. Just because you get ten hours does not mean you are getting the kind of rest you need. At different times, we have all awakened refreshed, sluggish or tired from the same amount of sleep. How well your body is working will determine how much of your sleep is real sleep and not just "down time."

Greater value from your exercise
We all need to exercise regularly. Some of us just do not have the energy to get up off the couch to begin a workout, although that is an issue we have already addressed. Some of us have an interference in the nerve system that keeps the muscles of our body from receiving a full complement of vital life energy. It is like trying to exercise a paralyzed muscle. There is not enough energy going to those muscles. That is what happens when there is interference in the nerve system due to subluxation.

Healthier and easier pregnancies
It's been reported that chiropractic care may assist in healthier pregnancies and easier deliveries. Your body goes through momentous changes during pregnancy which impacts the nerve system. Weight increases in the body's core and ligaments in the pelvis loosen, placing increased stress on your spine and nerve system. Regular chiropractic adjustments can ensure both a healthier mother and baby.

Less stress
How can getting adjusted make your job easier or cause your kids to give you less problems? Well, it can't. But there is a difference between adversity and stress. Adversities are the circumstances of life. You cannot change them. Stress is the inability to handle those adversities. How well your body is working well determine to some degree how much adversity you can handle and how much stress you have in your life.

Enjoy life more
The bottom line is to have a happier and more fulfilled life. If you see improvement in the areas above, your life has to be more enjoyable. Even some of the things you do not enjoy now could become more pleasurable and rewarding. Visit your chiropractor this week!

Chiropractic Helps Boost Immune System
The majority of us understand that the spine/nerve system controls mobility in our body. If the spine is broken, we become paraplegic or quadriplegic depending on where it is broken. The nerve system which runs through your spine regulates all the functions of the body including your immune system.

Think of it like this, your spine is the superhighway of your body, it controls everything and like the interstate highways that are 2, 3, or even 4 lanes all going in the same direction, the spine can form clogs and congestion. Imagine the 3 or 4 lane highway squeezing to one or two lanes from an accident; our spine can also squeeze down the signals that run through it due to trauma from an injury or from stress of everyday life events that cause the spine to shift out of place interfering with those vital nerve messages.

How can you remove the congestion or block? Regular chiropractic adjustments can untangle the roadblock of your spine allowing the body's functions to receive the proper signals it needs to function appropriately and at it's best.

A close up look at the nerve and immune systems
The sympathetic nerve system (a lane on the super highway) is one of the processes that allows the nerve system to directly control the immune system.

Keeping the spine aligned provides an open lane for the nerve impulses to travel from one place in the body to another such as the immune system. It also allows the healing elements (white blood cells, macrophages, etc) to travel to the area of the body that needs them.

Researchers discovered the importance of the connection of the sympathetic nerve system in 1987 when they discovered norepinephrine in the immune system organs such as the lymph nodes. [1]

In 1989 Ronald Pero, Ph.D., chief of cancer prevention research at New York's Preventive Medicine Institute as well as a professor of medicine at New York University followed up that discovery. He found over a three year study looking at the immune system of the following patient types: people receiving chiropractic care, some having cancer and additional terminal illnesses, and the general public not under chiropractic care that patients under chiropractic care for 5 years had a 200% boosted immune system compared to those who were not under chiropractic care. [2] [3]

A 2015 study shows that the brain and the immune system are the two chief adaptive systems in the body. The two speak to each other to preserve homeostasis and health. [4]

As you can see the nerve system and immune system are intricately intertwined and keeping the nerve system free of interference will help keep the immune system strong. Of course there are other things that can help too: getting adequate rest, drinking plenty of water, reducing sugar, exercising, eating a good diet, and having a positive mental attitude also play a role.

[1] "Felton DL, Felton SY, Belonged DL, et al." "Noradrenergic sympathetic neural interations with the immune system: structure and fucntion." Immunol Rev. 1987 Dec;100:225-60.

[2] "Pero R." "Medical Researcher Excited by CBSRF Project Results." The Chiropractic Journal, August 1989; 32.

[3] "Enhancing Your Immune System For Better Health" November 8, 2014 by Dr. Tony Jensen

[4] "Elenkov IJ, Wilder RL, Chrousos GP, Vizi ES" "The sympathetic nerve an integrative interface between the two supersystems: the brain and the immune system." Pharmacol Rev 2000;52:295-63.

How to catch the coronavirus:

Eat a poor diet. Make sure your body lacks the vitamins, minerals, enzymes and micronutrients needed for optimal health.

Avoid adequate rest. Stay up late and rely on sugar, tobacco, coffee and energy drinks as needed.

Become dehydrated. Reduce the effectiveness of your natural defense mechanisms by shunning adequate water.

Stop exercising. Reduce the efficiency of your lymphatic system, which depends on movement to circulate this vital germ-fighting fluid.

Rarely wash your hands. Use your dirty hands and fingers to rub your eyes, pick your nose or wipe your lips.

Think negative thoughts. Worry that you'll be a victim. Closely monitor news reports about outbreaks, fearing a pandemic.

Skip your chiropractic adjustments. Handicap your nerve system, the master system that controls your entire body. Wait until symptoms are present before doing anything.

The only way to catch anything is to make yourself a hospitable host.

The germ theory of disease is a common belief. This belief, like many in the health arena, causes all kinds of strange behaviors.

Many will wear flimsy, ill-fitting paper masks. However, the perforations that permit breathing are huge compared to the single-cell virus they are trying to strain out.

Many will avoid Chinese restaurants. Or drink Corona beer.

Many will apply all manner of disinfectants in the hope that killing enough germs will cause health to manifest.

Meanwhile they set about the business of compromising their immune system, which if vibrant, would be more than capable of keeping them disease free.

Fed by the 24/7 news cycle, the fear mongering is the perfect way to attract more eyeballs that can be sold to advertisers. Which these days are increasingly to pharmaceutical companies.

What many forget is that Louis Pasteur, the father of the germ theory, recanted his assertion on his deathbed. "It's the soil, not the seed," he observed. In other words, without a hospitable host, germs can do very little. Too late. By then the meme had been released and the rest is history.

The human immune system has successfully shunned the black plague of the Dark Ages, the Spanish Flu of 1918, polio, measles and many others. If the germ theory were true the human race wouldn't still be around to worry about it!

Germs are a lot like seeds. In fact, when seeds begin to grow, we refer to it as 'germination.' If you've ever tried to start a new lawn from scratch, you already know that conditions have to be just right for the grass seeds to germinate.

And it takes a lot more than just the seeds (or germs) to become a seedling (or a disease). For example, if you were to spread grass seed (germs) on your living room carpet, it wouldn't become a new lawn. The necessary conditions for growth - soil, water and light - wouldn't be correct. Same with germs. The conditions have to be just right for germs to cause disease.

Try to rise above the hysteria and mob mentality. Be a voice of reason and composure. And the truth.

Bill Esteb has been a chiropractic patient and advocate since 1981. He is the creative director of Patient Media and the co-founder of Perfect Patients. He's been a regular speaker at Parker Seminars and other chiropractic gatherings since 1985. He is the author of 12 books that explore the doctor/patient relationship from a patient's point of view. patientmedia.com

1. Better coordination - when your spine is aligned and positioned optimally, your whole body is more coordinated. Better coordination improves body performance.

2. Increase in sensorimotor function - The better your brain can see the position of your body, the less likely you are to have an injury. Improve sensorimotor function = less injury.

3. Improved focus - for obvious reasons. Finish like a beast! Greater focus yields greater possibilities.

4. Greater muscle force - research has shown up to a 13% increase in explosive force in lower extremity muscle groups. Imagine the impact with squats, clean and jerk, and snatches!

5. Less fatigue - a better coordinated body costs you less energy. It's simple economics. Increased stamina to complete your workout!

Chiropractic is best utilized as a habit for a lifetime to improve your quality of life.

Interested? Of course you are. Give us a call and Dr. Kori will be happy to give you a 15 min phone consult. 805-364-3223 Check out our website www.drkori.com for membership options.

What controls the heart, lungs and every other organ, cell and tissue in the body?

If you guessed the brain, you're right.

But how does the brain tell all those important functions what they need to do, and when to do it? The nerve system is responsible for that vital communication.

From Stressed to Stabilized.

This master control system has two modes:
1. Sympathetic - in charge of the fight, flight, or freeze response.
2. Parasympathetic - in charge of growth and healing.

Stress causes the sympathetic nerve system to take over and puts a child into a state of imbalance.

This can look like:

• Chronic illness
  
• Clinical emotional/behavioral diagnosis
  
• Meltdowns
  
• Sensory sensitivity
  

At Dr Kori - Chiropractic in Santa Barbara, we offer solutions for ADHD, autism spectrum disorders and chronic illnesses naturally.

Chiropractic care stimulates a child's parasympathetic nerve system. When it functions optimally, their body will too.

Contact us today to find out more about enhancing your child's well-being, naturally! We offer complimentary consultations that can be done by phone.

Many chiropractors are perplexed as to why chiropractic has become associated with bad backs, stiff necks and other musculo-skeletal problems. The first chiropractic patient was deaf and he, in fact, did not even go to the chiropractor for his deafness. (Since chiropractic had not yet been discovered there were obviously no chiropractors at the time). The patients name was Harvey Lillard and he was a janitor in the office building where Dr. D.D. Palmer had his office. Dr. Palmer was a drugless healer, what we call "alternative health-care practitioner" today. Palmer theorized that the bump in Lillard's neck that had appeared when he became deaf was a bone out of place and if it could be put back in place, the janitor's hearing might be restored. The rest is history.

What happened on the September day in 1895? D.D. Palmer did not cure deafness. Although the janitor's hearing was restored, Palmer had simply corrected a vertebral subluxation, he allowed the innate intelligence of the body to normalize the function of the nerve system and the result was that Lillard's body healed itself of a hearing problem. For the last 124 years, thousands of chiropractors have been doing the same thing to millions of people, that is, removing interference to allow the innate intelligence to better express itself. Some of those patients have had medical problems, from a very minor ailment like the common cold to something very serious like terminal cancer. Some of them got well and some did not. It was not because chiropractic succeeds in some people and fails in others. The objective of chiropractic is only to correct the nerve interference. Only the living body heals itself. Sometimes it can, sometimes it cannot. However, the body is always more capable of healing without the nerve interference caused by a vertebral subluxation.

As a result of those millions of adjustments, some children did better in school, some were better athletes, and some grew into more productive adults. Some probably were able to get into better colleges and some probably got better jobs because the mind thinks and the body works better with a good nerve supply. As adults, some of those people probably lived longer, healthier lives. Some of them were able to work better, miss less work, and reduce injuries. Some of the women undoubtedly had healthier pregnancies and gave birth to healthier children. All of them were able to fulfill more of their potential in every aspect of life because of their adjustments. You see, when the body is free of nerve interference, every organ, gland and cell works better. The body's chemistry is more perfectly balanced and the body has more life giving energy to do everything it was designed to do. Chiropractic impacts every aspect of life of every person who receives care.

How is it then that so many people think chiropractic is just for bad backs and stiff necks? How is it that the average person does not know that it is not about your back, it is about your life? The real objective of chiropractic, to allow the body's innate intelligence to express itself more fully in every man, woman, and child, may be the most closely guarded secret in the health care community. That simply cannot continue. It is up to the chiropractic profession and those who regularly receive chiropractic care and know what it is all about to share that knowledge with the rest of the world.

Chiropractic patients are divided into two general categories. The first category includes a large number of patients who utilize chiropractic to enable their bodies to work better so that they might heal themselves of some condition or symptom. They understand that the chiropractor is not treating the condition or attempting to alleviate the symptom but that if he or she can correct the vertebral subluxation, the body will have a greater capacity to heal itself. They come in to have their subluxations corrected and find that their bodies work at a higher level, quite often high enough to get well of the physical problems they had when they arrived. Thousands of people have had their health restored because when nerve interference is removed at the vertebral level, the principle that heals and runs the billions upon billions of cells in the body is free to work a little better. Sadly, though, many of these people do not fully utilize chiropractic care.

The second group of people realize that the same principle that enables the body to get well can also keep it well. They do not use chiropractic care merely as a way of regaining their health but as part of an overall, health-maintenance program. They come regularly whether they feel good or not. They know that being adjusted well enable them to express more life in numerous ways, some we cannot even imagine. We do know that you can have more energy, better coordination, more flexibility, a greater ability to handle stress, and a greater benefit from the food, exercise and sleep that you get. All of this from regular adjustment? Absolutely! Which of the above is not affected by your nerve system? Logically, a better nerve system, one free of interference, has to help accomplish all the above. How much benefit depends upon you, but everyone will have a better functioning body with a good nerve supply. Not only do these people come regularly but they also bring their families in and refer friends and relatives for chiropractic care. They know that it is far better to get someone under care while they are still healthy than to wait until they manifest the symptoms of a lack of health. They want everyone to experience some of the benefits listed above.

As a health care facility, our desire is to see primarily the second category of patients. We obviously would not turn away a patient with a medial condition who wanted his or her subluxations corrected so that their body had a greater potential for healing. Everyone needs chiropractic care, people with medical conditions of any kind need regular adjustments as much as people with no medical problems, even if they need medical care at the same time. What we really desire is to see hundreds of people who are concerned enough about their health to come in regularly with their families to receive adjustments and stay healthy. We hope that it is your desire to be one of these type of people. If there is ever something about chiropractic care that you do not understand, please ask us. It is our desire and pleasure to make you aware of all the benefits of being subluxation free.

How often have you heard people say, "One day I felt fine, and then the next day I was just..."? Probably enough that you do not even recognize the absolute absurdity of that statement. Except for severe traumas, such as car accidents, major falls, gunshot wounds, poisoning, etc., people do not suddenly become ill. Disease does not occur spontaneously. Small traumas, long-term abuse and negligence, though unnoticeable at first, take their toll on the body over a period of time. By the time the first symptoms appear, the body has already been malfunctioning for some period of time - often years.

This is the primary reason to have children under regular chiropractic care. Studies have shown that 80% of children receive their first subluxation during the birthing process. Many of them will go 20, 30, or 40 years or possibly the rest of their lives with that interference in their nerve system. Even those who are not subluxated upon birth will have a variety of stresses put upon their spines as they grow. How many times does a child fall while he or she is learning to walk? And after they learn to walk, don't they run, skip, stomp, jump, and hop? Don't they fall out of bed, fall out of trees, fall off their bikes, fight with their brothers and sisters, stand on their heads, play football, basketball, hockey, dance, gymnastics, and on and on and on?

Any one of these things is enough to cause a subluxation. Left uncorrected, these will also begin to take their toll on the body. Lowering the ability of the body to be well will make it less able to concentrate, less able to fight off disease, less able to coordinate and harmonize, less able to make the food that is eaten into usable form, and less able to clean the blood of toxins. It will make it less able to make the proper chemicals in the proper amount to control all the body's functions, and less able to be strong, flexible and healthy.

It is important to note that the mechanism that originally brought two cells together and created the miracle that is you is still at work in you as it is in every other living being. It continually creates new tissue and maintains you in existence. The very mechanism by which we are able to be well is the same mechanism at work in the child. It is no less effective in the child than it is in the adult. Therefore, if it is important for you to be adjusted to remove interference in your nerve system, isn't it equally important to have your children checked for the same interference?

Many people are concerned about the forcefulness of an adjustment for a growing child. That would be a legitimate concern if all people received the same adjustment. Thankfully, they do not. Each person is adjusted according to their age, their size, their health condition and their subluxations. Men may not be adjusted as women, the same as children, the same as older people, the same as tall, or short people, or a mother-to-be. No two adjustments on the same person are even necessarily the same, let alone on two different people. Children, on the whole, require far less force than adults, mostly because time and the results of abuse and negligence have not yet taken their toll. Who better than children to be under regular chiropractic care? Who could profit more than those who have not yet developed problems?

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There is an old saying, "Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die to get there." A similar statement could be made concerning health. In almost any survey taken asking people what they wanted most out of life, good health is one of the top three things on the list. The only two things that ever top it are happiness and good family relationships. Yet how many of us allow other less important things to keep us from attaining maximum health? Like happiness, health does not come by luck. It is true that hereditary factors are important to good health but most people can be healthy in spite of hereditary weakness. Conversely, hereditary strengths will not overcome a failure to take care of yourself.

Most people who come into a chiropractic office indicate a desire to be healthy. Unfortunately, they often do not realize that it will take some effort on their part. The average person's experience with medicine has led them to believe that they will be made healthy by what the doctor does to them or what he gives them. They can just sit back, do nothing or at most, remember to take their medication every four hours. While this approach may be relatively effective in the treatment of disease, it has virtually nothing to do with health. For the most part, disease treatment is a passive activity. Health maintenance or health restoration is largely an active endeavor. Therein lies the problem. Sitting back and doing nothing will not promote or maintain health. Hoping or wishing for it will not make it happen. It must be actively pursued. A choice must be made. Good, nutritious, health-promoting food is available, but then so is junk food. You must make the decision as to what kind you are going to eat and then make extra effort to get it. Exercise is not a passive activity. You cannot get it by just watching P90X videos.

Chiropractic is not a passive activity either. While it is true the practice member lies on the table and relaxes, it is the body that makes the adjustment. The chiropractor introduces a force to the spine and the body's muscles actively move the bone to exactly where it belongs. Further, the benefits of chiropractic care occur after the adjustment, like exercise and eating, they are far reaching and unlike treatments, they are not designed for short-term, immediate effects. It is true you may feel good after eating a good meal or after a good workout. You may also feel good right after a chiropractic adjustment, but the real benefits are the long-term ones. When the body is working better it can actively promote health and well being and add years to life.

There is another aspect that makes chiropractic care an active approach. The practice member must make the commitment to care. The chiropractor cannot give you a bottle of adjustments and say, "Take one every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the next six weeks." The practice member must make the willful decision to come in, be regular and follow the program. The chiropractor cannot follow you around or take you by the hand.

Do you really want to be healthy? Sadly, too many people do not want to pay the price which is time, money and effort. Happiness does not come by accident. Fame and fortune are not a matter of luck. Similarly, you cannot expect to have good health unless you do those things necessary to attain it. Every individual has to establish his or her priorities. Is watching television more important than exercising for your health? Is saving money by eating poor quality food more important to you than spending the few dollars for good food? Is doing whatever you do that interferes with regular chiropractic adjustments more important than your health? Only you can answer these questions and how you decide on these and other relative questions could very well determine your health, your happiness and your life. Do you really want to be healthy?

Too often we just do not take advantage of good things that are available to us. We may stay at a hotel and never use the pool or exercise room because we do not have time. We may never use the cruise control on our car because we only ever drive around town. We may feel like we have wasted money staying at a hotel with those features or buying a car with extras that we may never use. But the real tragedy is not taking advantage of something because we just don't know about its advantages. Imagine having a television set that you could turn on and off but having no idea it also had a channel selector. You would never get the maximum enjoyment out of a television with an 181-channel hookup if you did not realize you could get anything more than C-Span! I usually cannot handle more than 10 minutes of C-Span so that would be a real tragedy.

Not utilizing its full potential is exactly what some chiropractic patients do. They go to a chiropractor for a back problem and never realize that chiropractic is so much more than a mere treatment for a musculoskeletal problem. When a vertebra becomes subluxated, probably the least important thing that happens is that back pain may result. It may be important to the person with pain, just as C-Span is important to someone who enjoys that type of programming, but there is a whole lot more to television than that one channel. Likewise there is a lot more to chiropractic than problems with the back. Chiropractic addresses the vertebral subluxation which interferes with the vital messages that travel over the nerve system between the brain and every organ, tissue and cell in the body. This interference seriously impairs the body's ability to carry on all its normal and natural functions. The body's chemistry is upset, organ function is affected, resistance is lowered and all coordinated activity is decreased. The digestive system does not work 100%. You cannot think clearly and you can not get all the benefit from your rest and exercise that you should. Even the food you eat will not be utilized properly by the body if there is nerve interference. When a vertebral subluxation occurs, the body begins to function in an abnormal manner. The individual in this state may be totally unaware of what is happening in his or her body. Unless someone tells them about the benefits of regular chiropractic care, they may never know until it's too late to regain their health. If all you could ever watch on television was C-Span, you could just find other forms of entertainment, like reading a good book. Unfortunately, there are no alternatives to correcting vertebral subluxations and keeping the life channels open so your body's nerve system works at its maximum. Consequently, it makes sense to have your spine checked on a regular basis and to have vertebral subluxations adjusted whenever and wherever they are found.