Similar to Movement Deficiency Syndrome (MDS), which we talked about last week, we are living in an epidemic of Segmental Movement Dysfunction (SMD). SMD takes the same principles as MDS and relates them to the joints or segments of the body. Each and every one of your segments are designed to move throughout their full range of motion every day to stay healthy.
Adverse effects occur when these segments:
- don't move
- become fixated
- distort the proper alignment
A toxic or damaging sensation is then sent to your brain, resulting in:
- a decrease in the normal functions of your body
- increasing your body's stress response
- increasing muscular tension
- degeneration and disease
Your most essential segments are located in your spine, protecting your central nervous system and your upper neck region where your brain stem is located.
Why is this daily movement through a correct and full range of motion so important? Believe it or not, the only way joints receive nutrients in and push waste out is by moving. There are no blood vessels within joints. Therefore your joints need to move fully each and every day to maintain themselves, or else they start to decay.
Seems simple enough, right? But when joints become fixated or displaced from their proper alignment, it becomes more complicated. One of the major reasons we develop fixated, immobile, or shifted segments and joints is physical trauma.
Physical traumas come in two fashions. One is a sudden trauma, like a car accident, falling while learning to walk, or a difficult birth. The second is repetitive postural micro-traumas, such as sitting or working for long periods in poor positions. Both types of physical traumas cause spine segments to distort, shift, lock, and create a cascade of brain dysfunction and the body’s immediate structures.
Regular spinal hygiene in the form of chiropractic care is necessary to maintain these segmental joints throughout a lifetime. Chiropractic, at its most basic level, is all about motion and how that motion creates homeostasis (balanced function of your physiology) in the body.
At Platinum Chiropractic, our focus is to reduce the SMDs in your body through our Neuro-Structural Corrective care. This is precisely what we are doing when we check and adjust your body. We are restoring your body to its normal movement so that it can function as it was designed.