How Chiropractic Helps You Sleep Better

Sleep is an altered state of consciousness where we have limited interactions with our surroundings and are relatively quiet and still (depending on the stage of sleep). Contrary to our quiet physical state, the brain is very active during sleep, carrying out many important functions. Sleep is essential to every process in the body, affecting our physical and mental functioning the next day, our ability to fight disease and develop immunity, our metabolism and chronic disease risk. Sleep is truly interdisciplinary because it touches every aspect of health.

But here is the thing, a good night's sleep is something that evades most people and is a very common symptom that we see in our practice? Why is that?

For your body to ‘switch off’ and remain ‘switched off’ your nervous system needs to go into a state of relaxation, this is associated with the Parasympathetic Nervous System, a part of our Autonomic Nervous System housed in the top and bottom of our spines. This is also the area where we most commonly find subluxations in, so it is no surprise that one of the most common changes people note when first getting adjusted is that they sleep better. In fact studies have shown that one third of adults and 40% of children sleep better when they are under chiropractic care.

What I think is important to remember is that people have trouble sleeping because their brain and in turn, their bodies, are acting as if it is in a state of constant threat. This causes an increase in a number of things like heart rate, blood pressure and cholesterol and in the long term will make you sick.

When you think about it like this, your sleeping problem is not just a ‘sleeping problem’ but a sign that your whole body needs help.