Our central nervous system is comprised of the brain and spinal cord.
These organs are responsible for every single conscious, subconscious and
unconscious action in our body. Think of it as our command and control, as it tells us what to do. The brain stores memories, formulates thoughts, sends and receives sensory information, and motor commands to the body with the help of the spinal cord.
There are 31 pairs of spinal nerves coming off of the spinal cord, this is our peripheral nervous system. These
nerves connect the spinal cord and brain to all the muscles, organs, and glands
in the entire body.
Our skull and spinal column protect our sensitive nervous system. The skull
protects our brain, of course and our spine protects our spinal cord. Our spine
is made of seven cervical vertebrae, the neck, twelve thoracic vertebrae, the
mid-back and five lumbar vertebrae in the low back.
Each vertebra in the spinal column is connected to the one above and below it
by a set of spinal joints. It is these joins that allow us to twist, turn, bend
and extend. The spinal joints are the joints we adjust when you come in for your
care. Separating each vertebra in the spine is an intervertebral disk, which
acts as a shock absorber.
Getting back to the spinal nerves; they exit the spinal canal between the
vertebrae at the level of the spinal joints. In other words the nerves coming
off our spine lie just in front of the spinal joints. Lying on top of the spine
are our muscles. These muscles are responsible for making us move. If the
muscles are working properly, the joints will be working properly and therefore
the nerves will not be interfered with.
If the spine is subluxated, then the muscles will not be working properly,
our spinal joints will tighten down causing a loss of motion and then the nerves
become irritated and interfered, causing decreased nerve signal transmission.