by Dr. David Pollack
We have all heard that a chiropractic adjustment is helpful for neck pain, back pain, headaches and so 
many more physical maladies. This is all true, but chiropractic care has come a long way. Often, as with other medical modalities, chiropractors are now finding sub-specialties within the discipline. One example of this can be found at Pollack Wellness Center, in Commack, where the focus lies more in functional nutrition.
Being that my practice specializes in functional nutrition, I generally don’t employ the power of the adjustment. I am entering my 10th year of practice focusing on digestive issues, thyroid disorders, autoimmune disease, and many other common and uncommon health issues. Despite my reliance on powerful natural supplements—like enzymes and herbal medicine, as well as the vast body of knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicine—the value and power of the chiropractic adjustment cannot be forgotten. Over and over, I have watched adjustments instantly stop heartburn symptoms and even heart palpitations. So many patients report immediate reductions in blood pressure. I have had numerous patients that after an adjustment were able to have a bowel movement for the first time in days. There have been several patients with urinary incontinence that when a very specific adjustment was done it would stop it for weeks. Many women report easier menstrual cycles following certain low back and sacral adjustments. The stories of such events could fill volumes. And the power of the adjustment lies in the fact that our nervous system controls all functions of the body, and there is nothing more powerful at immediately influencing the nervous system as the chiropractic adjustment.
Each spinal nerve that exits in our spinal cord has three major functions: sensory (feeling), motor (moving muscles) and autonomic (controlling organs). Each nerve provides all three functions. These three functions are not just carried by the nerve—the functions themselves are intertwined. This is the reason why a heart attack creates physical pain and tightness in the left shoulder and lower neck to between the shoulder blades. Every organ has such connections. The thyroid when poorly functioning can create neck and shoulder pain, even extending into numbness in the hands. The bowels tend to create low back, hip, foot or leg pains. Imbalances in the upper digestive tract tend to induce neck and mid-back pains, and even shoulder pain with potential numbness of the hands.
It’s a three-way street, and I would suggest that the reverse can happen as well: a physical injury to the neck (think disc herniation) can create imbalance of the thyroid, heart or digestive tract. This is the mechanism of an adjustment’s help as well. The adjustment stimulates the spinal nerve and can improve an organ’s function. Now to be clear, I am not suggesting to just use the fantastic ability of the adjustment to heal a severe visceral condition; it should be used as part of an overall wellness plan to repair the body’s function.
Source: Dr. David Pollack, of Pollack Wellness Institute, located at 66 Commack Rd., Ste. 204, Commack. For more information, call 631-462-0801 or visit PollackWellness.com
