San Francisco Chiropractor Comments:
Asthma affects 22 million Americans. Asthma can occur at any age, but is most common in younger adults (under 40).
I am often asked if chiropractic can help asthma?
Asthma is abnormal constriction of the airways in the lungs. Why does this happen?
Well, there are lots of reasons, including the nerves that control the bronchial muscles (bands of muscles that surround airways) telling them to constrict. Why would they do that? Well, a nerve signal is electrical and chemical. A nerve impulse originates in the brain, travels down the spinal cord, then over nerve pathways to the target cells.
The nerves that control the lungs exit from in between bones in the upper thoracic spine (mid-back). If those bones are out of alignment...what chiropractors call a vertebral subluxation, it can put physical pressure on the spinal nerve and alter the nerve signal. Subluxations can either cause a nerve to fire too much or too little.
If these are the nerves going to your lungs, specifically the bronchial muscles, it can cause them to constrict, which will result in the symptoms of asthma.
Most of the time asthma is treated with medication (inhalers such as Albuterol) to cause the bronchial muscles to dilate. These inhalers can cause all sorts of other problems with long term use (and side effects from short term use).
So, if the cause of the asthma is vertebral subluxation, and the patient is taking medication for the problem, this asthma could go on forever, the patient gets addicted to the inhaler, and could potentially develop a whole new set of health problems.
So YES...chiropractic can help asthma...if the problem is physical (vertebral subluxation).
In fact, if the problem is subluxation, the only solution is to remove it...which is the purpose of chiropractic.
So there you go...that's the simple explanation...but often times their is just a lot more to it.
What if the source of the asthma is chemical...say from allergies, environmental factors such as asbestos, or work toxins, or smoking, or other medications, or hormonal, or hereditary, or from a diet rich in animal protein (especially dairy products) that is known to cause inflammation in the body?
Well...you don't need vertebral subluxations along with it...and chemical stresses, along with mental stress and physical stress are the primary causes of vertebral subluxation.
And, a well informed chiropractor can help you modify your diet (plant foods are best) and steer you in the right direction as far as lifestyle choices are concerned that may be pro-inflammatory.
My best resource for plant based nutrition is Dr. John McDougall, MD in Santa Rosa, CA.
Children with asthma symptoms respond really well to chiropractic adjustments. I think it's because the chances are higher the problem is physical. But children heal quicker in general.
Would you rather have your child receiving natural, painless chiropractic adjustments, or medications they may end up using for their entire life?
Hey...I'm not suggesting chiropractic is a cure-all for everything...because it's not. I do recommend that parents use both complementary medicine and conventional medicine. In the SF Bay Area this is easy...as there are many clinics that offer both or are open to working together.
Anyway, the nervous system controls every function in your body. The bones of the spine house and protect the nervous system. When the bones lose their normal protective positioning (vertebral subluxation) they can offend and irritate the same nerves they were designed to protect. This can result in all kinds of health problems...including asthma.
So, this is why regular chiropractic check-ups for you and your family make sense. It's just the smart thing to do!
To find out if you are a candidate for care at Executive Express Chiropractic please call 415-392-2225 or fill-out our online intake form and schedule an appointment online.
Dr. Eben Davis is founder and clinic director of Executive Express Chiropractic. Dr. Davis is also the father of a 5 year old daughter.
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