To answer that we’ll first start with the definition of health. Dorland’s Medical Dictionary Defines Health as “… a state of optimal physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmities.”

It’s a fairly simple definition but in reality obtaining maximum health is a little more complex than that. To elaborate we need to take into consideration the impact stress has on our health.

There are three main types of stress: Physical, Chemical, and Emotional. Each one of these types of stress can have an impact on your overall health. To understand how different types of stress can impact your health let’s first understand how and why the body malfunctions. There’s some basic information you need to know about the body. I’ll keep it simple and as short as possible.

Your nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and all the nerves that branch off the spinal cord) controls EVERYTHING in your body. This includes muscles, organs, glands, tissues, cells, immunity, hormones, etc. Let’s put it another way – there’s nothing that occurs in your body without the brain
controlling it.

The nerve system is the “life force” of the body. It literally supplies life to the muscles, tissues, glands, and organs. Without this life-supplying nerve input, your tissues disease and eventually die. Ever see what a spinal cord injury does to a person? That’s a pure example of a deadened nerve system.
Insults to your body, in the form of physical stresses, chemical stresses, or emotional stresses can “blow fuses” and irritate the nervous system. This causes abnormal signals to reach the tissues, organs, and glands. Let’s break down these types of stresses and how they relate to musicians:

  • Physical stresses: (things that physically stress your body) Bad posture while playing your instrument, prolonged playing times without breaks, playing in one position (sitting for example) for a long time, previous car or motorcycle accidents, birth injuries (as a baby), quickly ramping up practicing times due to an upcoming gig or recital, being out of shape & overweight, sitting at computers for a long time, playing computer games hour after hour.
  • Chemical Stressors: (things to knowingly, or unknowingly put into your body), drugs and alcohol, prescription drugs, fast food, vaccines, toxic chemicals in your environment (like chemicals you’re exposed to by work or at home), a bad water supply.
  • Emotional stressors: (stuff you’re thinking about) getting that recording contract, composing and finishing songs by a deadline, record company execs being a pain is the ***, family stresses, relationship stressors, job stresses other than your music career, death of loved ones, relocating, being on tour without family or loved ones nearby, and finally your negative thinking AKA “stinkin’ thinkin'” I bet you never thought that all these things mentioned have a direct impact on your body!

Continued physical, chemical, and emotional stressors will short-circuit your nervous system and lead to things called “spinal subluxations”. “A spinal what?” you ask? A subluxation is a misalignment of a spinal bone(s) that exerts stress on your nerve system. This leads to malfunction of the tissues that affected nerves supply, in some cases muscles, in some cases organs, and in some cases, both!

These continued stressors will eventually lead to symptoms due to repeated stress on the nerve system. Prolonged, uncared for stresses will lead to disease, disability, and eventually a shortened life-span. Physical, Chemical, and Emotional stressors affect how the body functions. They affect the NERVOUS SYSTEM, which controls and coordinates every cell tissue and organ in the body. These three stressors also affect the tone of the soft tissue, especially the muscles, which support and provide movement for the spinal column. Without proper support the body begins the process of degeneration.

Chiropractic care improves health by restoring proper function in the spine and the nervous system. Because it improves the bio-mechanics of the body and, as a result, function of the nervous system, chiropractic care can have an effect on the whole body. The end result is a longer and healthier lifestyle.