Understanding the Chiropractic Connection to the Nervous System
By William Ormston, DVM
bove-Down, Inside-Out” is a statement of chiropractic philosophy. It means that the brain is the control center of the body; the “Above.” The control of the body then travels “Down” the entire body on the “Inside” and finally flows “Out.” It is a very simple phrase born at the turn of the 20th century to express a very complex process. It refers to the functioning of the nervous system and all its manifestations.
The more you know about the nervous system, the more you can appreciate the phrase. If we remember that healing comes from “Above-Down, Inside-Out,” then the importance of the spine becomes clear. The body was designed from day one for the brain to be in control of everything—from regulating movement to healing.
All but two nerves exit the brain at the back of the skull, and most of these go through the foramen magnum. Lack of motion causes “SHaRP,” a phenomenon every student studying to become a doctor learns. SHaRP is an acronym that stands for Swelling, Heat, Redness, and Pain. If this occurs at the base of the skull because of a subluxation at the level of the atlas, every nerve will be affected in some way.
When a spinal segment doesn’t move properly, it appears to influence how the brain perceives and responds to all other sensory information. Spinal function seems to be one factor the brain uses as part of its processing and integration of all information. This may cause some animals to be afraid of shadows, lights and noises that a subluxation-free animal would ignore.
Spinal adjustments can restore normal movement patterns in these spinal segments, which will restore a more natural pattern of input from the spine to the central nervous system. In turn, this will allow the spinal cord, brainstem, and brain to process incoming information in a more coherent and meaningful way. Therefore, seemingly unrelated events are corrected by the animal that is under chiropractic care.
This function is very important in our athletic animals. It has been shown that the number of muscle sensors are remarkably high in the deep, small upper-neck muscles (those around the atlas and base of the skull). These deep upper-neck muscles seem to act primarily as proprioceptive sensors in the body, rather than playing any significant role in actual movement of the head and neck.
White noise is a constant background noise or processes in the brain. With over three trillion bits of information reaching the brain every second and the conscious mind only handling about 50 bits per second, that leaves a lot of stuff going on in the background; things like breathing, cellular metabolism, blood circulation and immune system function. The subluxation of the atlas affects every function in an animal’s body.
The four key functions of the vagus nerve are: 1) sensory, 2) taste, 3) motor function for the muscles in the neck responsible for swallowing and speech, and 4) parasympathetic functions that control the digestive tract, respiration and heart rate.
The nervous system can be divided into two areas: sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sympathetic side increases alertness, energy, blood pressure, heart rate and breathing rate. The parasympathetic side (where the vagus nerve is heavily involved) decreases alertness, blood pressure and heart rate. It helps with calmness, relaxation and digestion. As a result, the vagus nerve also helps with defecation, urination and sexual arousal.
The vagus nerve communicates with the diaphragm. With deep breaths, an animal feels more relaxed. The vagus nerve sends an anti-inflammatory signal to other parts of the body. If the vagus nerve is overactive it can lead to the heart being unable to pump enough blood around the body. In some cases, excessive vagus nerve activity can cause loss of consciousness and organ damage. Proper vagal tone is important in lowering the heart rate and blood pressure.
The vagus nerve also sends information from the gut to the brain. This information is linked to dealing with stress, anxiety and fear. Heart rate variability (the evenness of the heart rate) has been shown to decrease with chiropractic adjustments. Lower heart rate variability indicates a more relaxed individual or animal.
Most animals are being brought to the clinic because they are having difficulty with some organ controlled by the vagus nerve. Therefore, it’s important to check the movement at the base of the skull to see if a chiropractic adjustment would benefit them.
Following the Above-Down, Inside-Out concept, chiropractic care may be just what is needed for patients in your veterinary practice.
- Haavik, H. (2016). The Reality Check: The Quest To Understand Chiropractic From The Inside Out. Haavik Publishing.
