The work of the spine is critical. The spine is the backbone – it holds us up and keeps everything together, and acts as the neural highway from your brain to all other parts of your body. There’s a reason why breaking your spine can lead to a loss of function in your limbs, and that’s just one of the ways the spine is critical to your body’s overall health.

The spine plays two important functions: keeping the body straight and upright, and protecting the most important system in the body, the central nervous system (CNS).When the spine is in ideal health – absolute alignment – your whole body is in proper balance, and the signals between your brain and the body can travel at their most efficient speed throughout the central nervous system.

The central nervous system monitors all parts of the body, from the smallest body tissues to the largest organs. The brain sends electrical impulses that travel along the spinal cord to various parts of the body; these impulses include everything from painful sensations to movement commands.

However, there are many ways that the ideal health of your spine can be injured or damaged, causing subluxations (damages in the alignment, or misalignment) to your spine. Car accidents, sports injuries, overextended bad posture, overworking and more can all cause misalignment. From the most traumatic incidents to the smallest everyday things – your spine could be injured and you might not even know it.

When the body is knocked off balance and spinal misalignment occurs, certain areas of the body become pinched or suffer extra tension. This forces other areas to go into a kind of overdrive, compensating for the loss of function or efficiency in the affected areas. These symptoms also occur as a result of the central nervous system no longer functioning at ideal levels.

Modern life makes it especially difficult to take care of the spine, as there are many ways that we can cause misalignment to the spine without meaning to. Here are some easy ways you can take care of your spine:

Lift With Your Legs – For inexperienced laborer's, or people who aren’t accustomed to much physical activity, it might make sense to naturally lift with your back, as the back can more easily generate the power you need to lift heavy objects. However, lifting with your back puts huge strain on your spine, leading to spinal injuries from all the tension. Instead, it is recommended that you lift with your legs.

Sit Only When Necessary – Working in an office, driving in a car, watching television or playing computer games: all of these involve sitting. We sit for the majority of the day in an upright position, but this position isn’t very healthy for the spine. When sitting, we are putting extra tension on the lower discs in the spine, and when you sit for an extended period of time and begin to slouch, this tension only increases. Try to stand as much as you can and sit only when you have to.

Wear Comfortable Shoes – The posture of your foot actually has a huge role to play in the condition of your spine. As the foot is the base of the body, this acts as the initial area of support for the spine, so keeping the base comfortable will keep your spine properly supported.

If you feel that your spine is misaligned, Chiropractic is the perfect way to give care to your spine and body right away. At First Choice Chiropractic, our veteran Chiropractors assess your spine and apply the proper Chiropractic techniques to return alignment to your spine, improving your overall health. With this non-invasive and reliable form of medicine, we have helped thousands overcome back pain, spinal alignment problems and more.

Take advantage of our New Patient Offer by booking your appointment today! Experience everything a Chiropractor has to offer for a fraction of the cost, and see what your spine is missing out on.