Chiropractic Can Help You with Boosting Your Immune System

           Chiropractic treatment for boosting the immune system is reasonably well known, and is a welcomed option when there are so many other treatments out there that don’t actually help. Unfortunately, patients can spend years with a compromised or weakened immune system without knowing why or how to improve it. Having a weakened immune system can not only cause you to be sick more often, but also prevent the necessary flow of blood and nutrients. The tension caused by misalignment of the spine places stress on the body including the immune system making a person more susceptible to a multitude of conditions.

The Immune System & Chiropractic

            Although it may seem to some patients that chiropractic treatment may be unrelated to the immune system, they could not be more wrong. The immune system is actually directly related to the spine as the nervous system communicates with the body through the spinal cord. When patients come in with a misaligned spine, the communication to the rest of the body is interrupted not only causing pain but increasing risk of illness or injury. Additionally, chiropractic treatment aids in lowering cortisol which compromises immunity, and improve mobility and function in the spine. Treatment will bring oxygenated blood to the organs to ensure optimal function and quality of life.

Benefits of Boosting the Immune System with Chiropractic:

• It allows the patient to get through sickness more quickly

• Increases the ability to fight off viruses or bacteria

• Possibility of getting sick less frequently

• Heal properly and more quickly from wounds and injuries

• Recover properly and more quickly from illness

In addition to rectifying spinal misalignment, chiropractic care will also improve nerve function as they go hand in hand. Additionally, the state of having a misaligned spine can have a patient in a non-stop stress state from the discomfort, and make them more susceptible to disease. Chiropractic care looking at the body as a whole rather than each individual discomfort to improve joint function and boost the abilities of the nervous system.

Although for some patients it’s hard to understand that immune response issues can be treated with chiropractic, once we as their providers explain how the body operates holistically, it makes logical sense. Any type of misalignment or dysfunction in the body will throw off the immune system sending it into overdrive to fight that off.

Lifestyle Changes to Boost the Immune System

            In addition to chiropractic treatment, making lifestyle recommendations are really the way to round out the patients’ treatment plan in boosting their immune system. The body functions best when the patient takes the step to not only have chiropractic treatment, but to make strides in protecting the body from environmental issues and implementing healthy living.

Lifestyle Changes:

• Quit smoking – smoking will compromise the balance of the immune system putting the patient at risk for a multitude of immune and autoimmune diseases. Also, nicotine is an immunosuppressive which reduces the body’s ability to fight infections.

• Regular exercise – inhibits the release of cortisol, and white blood cells and lymph fluid are circulated more rapidly. Additionally, the body temperature increase may help deter bacteria from growing.

• Eat a diet rich in fruits & vegetables – these foods are rich in antioxidants which are beneficial against harmful pathogens in addition to fighting free radicals. Also, the body absorbs vitamins more efficiently through food than through supplements so the best way to support the immune system is to eat healthy.

• Hydrate – the blood and lymph need water to circulate through the body, so it is essential that our patients know what their daily water intake should be.

• Get sufficient sleep – the connection between sleep and immunity are closely tied in the way of being more susceptible to illness.

• Minimize stress – this is the sneaky one that sneaks up on patients without realizing they have affected their immune system. Additional stress can lead to other issues that cause decreased immunity like lack of sleep, tendency to eat unhealthily, decreased water intake, and decreased exercise. Therefore, it is vital that patients determine where stress is coming from, and that we work with them to determine how to mitigate that stress.

• Stay current with vaccinations – essentially, vaccines are the way for our immune system to work smarter and more efficiently by recognizing and fighting those illnesses.

There are many small studies that indicate positive results in chiropractic for increased immune function such as one conducted in 2021, The Potential Mechanisms of High Velocity, Low Amplitude, Controlled Vertebral Thrusts on Neuroimmune Function. This study found there to be “biologically plausible direct and indirect mechanisms that link High Velocity Low Amplitude controlled vertebral thrusts to the immune system.” This suggests that this type of chiropractic has the potential to modulate immune function, but more larger scale studies need to be done. By combining chiropractic care, full-body therapy, and lifestyle changes, it will increase our patient’s overall health and boost the immune system.