Manual Neurological Care
Directly addressing the autonomic nervous system
The Autonomics are the main communications network between the brain and the heart, the organs, the digestive tract, the lungs, and as well as immune system and hormonal regulation.
Early signs of Autonomic Dysfunction include headaches, heartburn, intestinal distress, fatigue, dizziness or lightheadedness. It is also the inability of the brain to properly regulate the heart, blood pressure, blood sugar, digestion, temperature, lungs, hormones, and sleep cycles. The Autonomics also coordinate our emotionality and how intensely we react to stressors, and are tied to the cellular damage that creates anxiety, depression, PTSD, and Autonomic disorders.
The Sympathetic branch is responsible for energy expenditure (“fight or flight”) and the Parasympathetic branch is responsible for energy conservation and restoration (“rest and digest”).
If the Sympathetic commands are disrupted people feel tired, crave salt or sugar, or get anxious. People may get heart palpitations, tingling or numbness, disrupted night vision, varicose veins, erectile dysfunction, stiff necks and shoulders, headaches and insomnia.
If the Parasympathetic commands are disrupted they affect the intestinal tract (heartburn or constipation), immune system (autoimmune disorders), and produces chronic pain syndromes. People may get sleep apnea, “restless legs”, morning nausea, night sweats/hot flashes, or power surge sensations when they should be at rest, and non- restorative sleep.
Neurologically based chiropractic care utilizes the structure as a conduit to the cerebellum and the nervous system. This is achieved with the ARTHROSTIM and the VIBRACUSSOR. They are specifically designed instruments by IMPAC, Inc. They use gentle percussive forces at specific frequencies to trigger mechanoreceptors, proprioceptors and nociceptors around the joint complex (the motor unit). Those receptors ‘wake-up’ the cerebellum and then trigger the cerebral cortex. There is a deep exchange of information and healing will start to take place. This creates an awareness in the upper motor neurons essentially making communication in the nervous system more efficient and every aspect of physiology will respond better to what life throws at it.
- reduced pain and inflammation
- increased range of motion
- accelerated functional recovery
- faster healing of broken bones and skin wounds
- faster recovery from surgery
- improved general health enhanced capillary formation
- increased tensile strength in ligaments
- reduced tissue necrosis
- accelerated nerve regeneration
SUMMUS Platinum Class 4 Medical Laser:
Photobiomodulation (PBM) is the use of red and near-infrared light, which is absorbed by endogenous chromophores, triggering biological reactions through photochemical or photophysical events, leading to physiological changes. Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) is the therapeutic application of PBM which initiates a compounding beneficial metabolic response deep beyond the cells of damaged tissues, helping the patient heal quickly from a variety of conditions:
Increased leukocyte activity. White blood cells are part of the body’s immune system, and this causes acceleration of tissue repair and decreased pain.
Increased macrophage activity. These are a kind of white blood cell, the first cells at the scene of infection. Macrophages are a major mechanism used by the immune system to remove pathogens.
Increased neovascularization. This results in growth of new blood vessels.
Increased fibroblast activity. These are the most common cells of connective tissue production, and this speeds tissue repair.
Keratinocyte proliferation. These are epidermal cells, resulting in decreased skin healing time and early epithelialization, the covering of wounds.
Increased tensile strength. This helps to prevent re-injury.
660nm: Irradiating an area with 660nm, a wavelength where melanin in our skin absorbs very well, will ensure a large dose to the superficial region. Since light can both inhibit bacteria and promote cell growth, laser therapy has incredible results in wound healing and scar tissue regulation.
800nm: The enzyme determining how efficiently the cell converts molecular oxygen into ATP has the highest absorption at 800nm. Regardless of the enzyme’s molecular state, when it absorbs a photon it will flip states. Photon absorption will accelerate the process and increase cellular ATP production.
905nm: The quicker oxygen is released into the blood stream, the more fuel the cell has to carry out all of its natural healing processes. The peak of hemoglobin’s absorption lies at 905nm, and when this radiation is absorbed, more of this oxygen-fuel is made available to the cells.
970nm: Water in the blood transports oxygen to the cells, carries waste away, and absorbs very well at 970nm. The energy created from absorbing a photon gets converted to heat, creating a temperature gradient at the cellular level, stimulating micro-circulation, and bringing more oxygen-fuel to the cells.
Cranial Work utilizes the gentle moment of the cranial system to deeply affect the autonomic nervous system. This affects the dura mater. The dura mater is a tough, dense membrane surrounding the spinal cord. It joins the cranial dura at the foramen magnum and caudally forms the coccygeal ligament that attaches to the coccygeal vertebrae. Laterally, the dura mater extends over the nerve roots and blends with the connective tissue of the epineurium in the dural cuff region. In this region, spinal arteries, veins and lymphatics pierce the dura as they travel toward the spinal cord through the subarachnoid space.
In the optic canal, the dura mater attaches to the periosteum and accompanies the optic nerve as far as the orbit. It forms a recess, which is concave posteriorly, called the tent of the optic nerve, running from the sphenoidal limbus to the posterior clinoid process. The dural, pia and arachnoid sheaths of the optic nerve are continuous with the sclera of the eye. With trauma or infection, the dura mater can become fixated and fibrosed within the optic canal, and therefore limited in its physiological extensibility.
The dura mater is a thick, fibrous dual-layer membrane consisting of an outer periosteal layer and an inner meningeal layer. These layers are normally fused but can separate to form large venous channels known as the dural sinuses. The dura mater contains larger blood vessels that divide and subdivide into the minute capillaries of the pia mater. The dura mater can be thought of as an envelope surrounding the arachnoid mater. The dura mater aids in the support of the dural sinuses as well as dividing and covering a variety of central nervous system structures including the falx cerebri. The dura mater receives sensory innervation from the trigeminal nerve in the anterior and middle fossa and from branches of the olfactory, oculomotor, vagus, and hypoglossal cranial nerves.
Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression is a traction based treatment outcome for herniated or bulging discs in the neck and low back. Anyone who has back, neck, arm or leg pain caused by a degenerated or damaged disc may be helped by spinal decompression.
- Herniated discs, sciatic pain, facet syndrome, spinal stenosis, failed surgery, disc degeneration, and may other spinal conditions respond favorably to NSSD.
- Decompression – nutrition enhancement, centripetal effect, improved healing.
- Stretch – regional mobilization, stimulation and modulation of neurological receptors, generalized stretch of shortened structures.
- Directional preference – axial motion as a directional preference to create centralization effect.