Chiropractic Philosophy: What Is the Arc of Life and why is it important?
July 6th, 2009
CHIROPRACTIC PHILOSOPHY
What Is the Arc of Life and why is it important? The Arc of Life…what is it? Many think it is some religious image conjuring up some divine intervention or some alien force carrying a mystical fairy dust to the planet that will somehow heal all that ails us. Well, it is not either of these but is a very important structure that carries power that could be mystical or religious depending on how you perceive it.
You see the Arc of Life is the curve we all should have in our cervical spine (neck) and and is the structure responsible for protecting some very precious cargo… our central nervous system. Great you say, what’s so mystical about that!? Well, we all have and incredible life force that exists inside us. I (and other chiropractors starting with D.D. Palmer the founder of chiropractic) call this force our innate intelligence. This is our body’s ability to self regulate and self heal and is working at 100% in all of us. It exists in our brain and travels through our body via the spinal cord and our network of nerves. The only reason we wouldn’t realize the effects and power of this force is if it is blocked in some way (ever hear of subluxation?).
If our life force exists in our brain and flows to our body through the spine, then it has to travel through the Arc of Life before it can reach the rest of our body. Once we lose the curve in our neck we put endangering stress and tension on our spinal cord and spinal nerves…and of course this is the life line to the whole body.
Not only does loss of the Arc of Life cause nerve damage, but as we lose our curve, we start a dangerous process of spinal degeneration. You see the curve in the neck was created to be a built in shock absorber. Without it the bones and joints of the spine undergo abnormal pressure and start to wear out. You’ve heard of Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) and Osteoarthritis haven’t you? Well, these are caused in the neck from subluxation and loss of the neck curve!
In addition to degeneration, when your neck has lost its normal curve, the ligaments supporting your neck become stretched and lose their ability to maintain the curve. This can occur form a motor vehicle accident, chronic poor posture or uncorrected subluxations. Your neck and shoulder muscles attempt to hold your head in the proper position. Unfortunately they were not created for this and they tire easily. That is precisely when muscle spasms occur, and tightness begins in your neck and shoulders.
So how do we go about correcting our curve (I hear you thinking)? In our office we employ a few methods including spinal adjustments, traction therapy, postural exercises, anterior head weighting. Used in conjunction they mobilize the spinal joints, stretch the ligaments, strengthen the postural muscles and take pressure off of the nerves and spinal joints. If you are reading this and haven’t had the condition of your spine checked, you may be in a degenerative phase and not know it. This is because degeneration starts well before any symptoms show up. Don’t let it go unchecked until it’s too late! Come in and get checked right away. We offer a very low cost evaluation where you can discover the true essence of your spine and nervous system.
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