The human nervous system is an intricate, fine-tuned and magnificent marvel, much like a orchestra where each musician plays his or her specific part, yet all come together to create beautiful music. Two critical sections of this orchestra are the ‘sympathetic’ and ‘parasympathetic’ systems, parts of what is known as the autonomic nervous system who plays the conductor of your body’s unconscious processes.
How these Systems Work
Let’s take this metaphor a bit further. Picture the sympathetic nervous system as the violins in our orchestra, ready to kick-start our melody whenever needed. When danger is present, for example when a giant wasp flies toward you while enjoying a picnic, the sympathetic system kicks in like violins playing an intense and fast-paced tune. It directs your body to react swiftly, increasing your heart rate, expanding your airways to breathe heavier and faster, and dilates your pupils to let in more light, our sweat glands open in preparation to allow heat to disappear as quick as possible, and our muscles tighten to prepare us for our gladiatorial battle against our picnic intruder – all part of the body’s “fight or flight” response. It’s your own superhero inside you, getting your body ready and focused to either confront the danger or make a quick escape.
On the other hand, the parasympathetic system can be likened to the cellos of our orchestra, providing soothing, calming notes that bring balance after such a thrilling encounter. After the wasp has buzzed off, and you’re once again safe, the parasympathetic system begins to play its calming melody, like a lullaby to the body. It promotes “rest and digest” functions, slowing down your heart rate, constricting your pupils, and continuing it’s digestion of your picnic food – it’s like a cup of warm milk that helps your body relax and recover.
Now, imagine these two – the violins and the cellos – playing together in harmony. They’re not playing the exact same notes, but they complement each other, working in balance to produce a beautiful symphony that is your body’s response to the world. This harmony ensures your survival, allowing you to react to immediate threats while also ensuring you rest, recover, nourish, and heal your body.
How We Check It
The sympathetic and parasympathetic systems don’t work in isolation, much like how a single violin or cello cannot create a symphony alone. A normal orchestra will have several violins and cellos playing simultaneously. These two components of the autonomic nervous system are closely interconnected, always communicating with each other through your brain and spinal cord and adjusting their music to keep the body in harmony.
Picture it this way: if your body were a car, the sympathetic system would be the gas pedal, revving up the engine when you need to speed up while the parasympathetic system would be the brakes, slowing things down when you need to stop or to just cruise along calmly. They don’t work at the same time, but rather, they coordinate to let you navigate the roads of life safely.
One way we can easily see how each component of our orchestra is functioning is by testing what is called your ‘heart rate variability’. Using a wonderful piece of technology, we can check how these two components of your nervous system are functioning using your body’s own indicators such as your heart rate, skin temperature.
How does Chiropractic Help?
Imagine your spine as the grand concert hall housing this symphony of the nervous system. This structure provides the platform for the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems (our violins and cellos) to perform harmoniously. Sometimes thought, like all concert halls (or our bodies) it might suffer from minor issues, such as a squeaky stage floor, which could disrupt what normally is a beautiful performance.
In the context of our body, Chiropractors refer to these disruptions as subluxations. Subluxations are akin to misalignments or our “squeaky floorboards” in our concert hall example – the spine. These misalignments can interfere with the nerve signals or the beautiful music being produced by our sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, causing an imbalance in the body’s normal functioning. This is because there are many tiny little nerves that surround each part of the spine, not just the big main nerve that comes out of the spine, so the smallest misalignment or squeaky floorboard can negatively disrupt our concert.
Enter the Chiropractor – our skilled stagehand or technician. With their expert understanding of the concert hall’s architecture (the spine), they can identify where the squeaky floorboard (subluxation) is and fix it, ensuring the musicians (our nervous system) can perform at their best. You can read more about subluxations here: https://www.topchiro.co.uk/blog/subluxation/
When a chiropractor corrects a subluxation, it’s like oiling that squeaky floorboard in the concert hall. The nerve communication (the orchestra’s music) can flow smoothly again. This adjustment allows the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems to regain their balance, like violins and cellos resuming their perfect harmony. To make an appointment with one of our team, you can do so here: https://topchiro.neptune.practicehub.io/p/booking?lid=1&
Suppose the subluxation had been causing the sympathetic system (the violins) to play too loudly, constantly putting the body in a state of high alert. In that case, its correction would allow the parasympathetic system (the cellos) to come back in with its calming tune. If the parasympathetic system had been playing solo due to a subluxation, fixing the issue would let the sympathetic system pipe up again when needed, letting the body react appropriately to threats.
By removing subluxations (the disruptive squeaky floorboards) it enables our nervous system’s symphony to play as beautifully as it should, allowing us to dance through life to the rhythm of health and well-being.
References
- Moore, K. L., Dalley, A. F., & Agur, A. M. R. (2013). Clinically Oriented Anatomy (7th ed.). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
- Martini, F. H., Nath, J. L., & Bartholomew, E. F. (2012). Fundamentals of Anatomy & Physiology (9th ed.). Pearson.
- Lipton, B. H. (2008). The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles. Hay House.
- Murphy, D. R., Schneider, M. J., Seaman, D. R., Perle, S. M., & Nelson, C. F. (2008). How can chiropractic become a respected mainstream profession? The example of podiatry. Chiropractic & Osteopathy, 16, 10. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1340-16-10