If you’re a client of ours, you would have noticed we introduced some new equipment to our toolbox in October last year. At EBC we’re constantly striving to provide the best service and results possible for you and your family’s health, which is why we are continuously adding to our repertoire.
We introduced a new piece of equipment called the Insight Adaptation Station or as we simply call it, the neuro scans. These are performed on every new client we start with and retaken at progress reviews and reactivation appointments to objectively track and monitor a person’s health. We have always been and will always be focused on the health and function of your body’s nervous system and we now have the tools to look deeper to get to the root cause of underlying health complaints.
A quick recap on the nervous system and why it’s so damn important. Your nervous system is the master control for literally EVERYTHING in your body. What you feel, how you move, how you sleep, how you digest food, how your body fights off bugs and viruses, how it heals and repairs, the list is endless. There isn’t a single function or process you could name in the body that doesn’t fall under the control of the nervous system. Sounds pretty important right? Well it is. And it’s even more important that it functions well so your body can perform to its fullest potential.
We’ve known for a long time that by adjusting Subluxations within the spine and nervous system it has a positive impact on nervous system function and therefore overall health. This technology now allows us to look deeper into the effect of these subluxations and nervous system distortion to then help you to your greatest being!
The new technology is comprised of 3 different parts:
1. Thermal/Thermography Scanner:
This measures the temperature of the skin either side of the spine looking for any erratic shifts or imbalances. This is important because the temperature of your skin is controlled by the same part of your nervous system that controls all your background functions in your body like the control of hormones, organs, immune system etc. The Autonomic (Automatic) nervous system.
We know that normally the body will regulate skin temperature in an orderly and balanced manner. The Right side of the body should work in harmony with the left. If we can see large shifts in temperature control, it indicates an imbalance in the way that the Autonomic nervous system is regulating the body, which has implications for those other mentioned systems and how they impact the rest of your health and well-being. Chiropractic adjustments help to restore balance and order to the Autonomic nervous system to help the body run smoothly inside and out.
2. Surface Electromyography (sEMG) Scanner:
This measures the motor/energy output of the body. A system in balance and harmony should have an efficient and well-balanced use of energy. We measure this by looking at the postural muscles and how efficiently your body can sit up against gravity. Again, normally the right side of the body will work in harmony with the left. It is also well documented as to what the normal ranges of energy should be to maintain posture against gravity. This Scanner allows us to see how well balanced and efficient the energy output and muscles control within the body is. A balanced system has the highest chance of dealing with life stressors, healing and living the fullest life. Chiropractic adjustments help create balance and efficiency within the nervous system so that it can perform as best it can.
3. Heart-Rate Variability (HRV):
HRV has to be my favorite of these three scans and it is certainly the most meaningful for a lot of people. HRV is used by a variety of different health professions across the planet ranging from GP’s, to neuroscientists, obstetricians, elite sports teams/coaches and of course chiropractors. It is essentially a measure of how well your body can adapt to and deal with stress, and how well balanced your survival and healing functions are.
Stress is not limited just to emotional/mental stress. It may also be physical (posture, trauma, sports/exercise etc.) or chemical (junk food, takeaways, smoking/drinking, sugar and processed foods etc.). Stress is essentially any demand on physical or mental energy and can be a good thing for us providing we can adapt. But if the effects of stress accumulate too much our body will begin to suffer.
Our body has two ‘gears’ if you like. We have our Sympathetic (Fight/Flight/Stress) response, and our Parasympathetic (Rest/Repair/Reproduce) response. These two branches our of Autonomic nervous system work in harmony with each other alternating in which one is dominant depending on the needs of the moment. Our stress response helps us deal with acute stressors in the moment (with body changes such as increased heart-rate, increased blood pressure, quicker reactions, more blood flow to the muscles) and our repair response helps us heal and recover (Immune system, digestive system, reproduction and healing/repair are all prioritized). The stress response is fantastic for what it is, but due to the wide variety of stressors we face today it can be stuck on for too long which causes our bodies to burn out because our rest/repair gear never gets a chance to switch on.
If you notice things like irritability, injuries that don’t heal, trouble conceiving, digestive issues, getting sick more frequently and longer than usual, it’s likely your body may have gotten stuck in its survival/stress gear which was only ever meant for short bursts.
Your chiropractic adjustment helps to restore balance to these branches of the Autonomic nervous system so that your body can use its stress and repair responses in the appropriate setting and help your body be as healthy as possible.
The application of these three scans helps us to get a deeper look at why a person may be experiencing what they’re experiencing as well as guide them to greater levels of health they may not have known were possible.
If you haven’t had a scan yet or want to know more, make sure you ask your chiropractor or contact us to see how we can help you improve your health!