Description

Studies show that over 40% of doctor visits are for gastrointestinal problems, with complaints ranging from irritable bowel syndrome, abdominal bloating, and diarrhea to constipation. Often there are no answers to these problems because of a lack of diagnosed anatomical or chemical defects.

How Chiropractic Care Relates to Digestive Disorders

The gut has so many nerve cells contained in the tissue lining of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine and colon, it is often referred to as the second brain or “abdominal brain”. In fact there are over one million nerve cells in the small intestine, a number equaling the number of nerve cells in the spinal cord. If we add the nerve cells of the esophagus, stomach and large intestine, there are more nerve cells in the gut than there are in the entire remainder of the peripheral nervous system. Nearly every chemical that appears in the brain has been identified in the gut, including hormones and neurotransmitters.

The brain communicates with the “abdominal brain” in the gut in a manner like that of interactive communication between networked computers. Sensory nerves in the gut carry information to the brain. These nerves run through the spine and pass through small openings called foramen. Information is transmitted from the brain back to the gut over this same pathway. Interference with these control signals can often be the result of neuropathy (changes in nerve pathology) caused by misalignment of the vertebrae that house and protect these delicate nerves.

Correcting the underlying cause, vertebral misalignment, with chiropractic adjustments can restore proper communication between the brain and the gut, and may reduce or eliminate many of these gastrointestinal problems.