A Dime’s Worth of Damage

The weight of a dime, 8-10 mm of Hg, that’s all it takes to drain normal nerve transmission to a trickle.  Stretching a nerve by as little as 6% can also decrease it’s signal strength by 70%.  So what does that mean for you?

Your Nerve System transmits the data of Life.  Depending on role, thickness, and sheath covering, some nerves can relay information from your brain to your body at speeds exceeding 200 mph.  If those impulses are communicating vital instructions like ‘how many times your heart needs to beat,’ or ‘how should your immune system respond to a precancerous lesion,’ you want those messages traveling at the highest possible speeds – with NO interference.  If those signals get blocked at the spinal level because of misaligned vertebrae (subluxations), damage to your health becomes imminent.

Sustained pressure and stretch on spinal nerves may not manifest symptoms immediately.  Detrimental effects usually grow silently until a crisis occurs.  That’s why it’s important to keep your spine in proper alignment with regular Chiropractic care – so your good health doesn’t stop on a dime.

References:

• Sharpless, SK Susceptibility of spinal roots to compression block. NINCDS Monograph 15, DHEW publication (NIH) 76-998, 1975, pp155-61.
• Konno S, Olmarker K, Byrod G et al: Intermittent cauda equina compression. Spine 1995; 20(1):1223
• Rydevik, BL: The effects of compression on the physiology of the nerve roots. JMPT 1992; 15(1):62
• Hause, M: Pain and the nerve root. Spine 1993; 18(14):2053. 5