Help your patients achieve peak health
Help your patients achieve peak healthOur bodies are constantly adapting.
Daily movements, exercise and how we respond to stress are adaptive challenges to our nervous and musculoskeletal systems. We are always learning, adjusting and striving for balance. This ability to adapt is neuroplastic resilience—the combination of neuroplasticity and controlled, resilient stress that strengthens us over time.
Resilient stress embodies a balanced, science-backed approach to health through hormesis. We can create long-lasting resilience and longevity by integrating short bursts of resistance and adaptation into daily life through physical, mental and environmental challenges.
The power of neuroplastic resilience
The nervous system thrives on challenge. Intentional controlled stress encourages adaptation and strength. Think about standing on one leg. At first, there’s a wobble, but the body refines its ability to stabilize over time. This is neuroplastic resilience in action.
Neuroplastic chiropractic care enhances this adaptability with spinal alignment and joint mobility, ensuring effective nervous system response to these challenges. We engage gravity as a training tool by incorporating purposeful balance training, such as standing on one leg or navigating uneven surfaces. This strengthens core muscles and refines neuromuscular control.
Movement is key. Activities that require dynamic balance and rapid adjustments, such as playing pickleball, are powerful stimulators of neuroplasticity. The unpredictable nature of the game requires quick directional changes and precise coordination to track and hit the ball. This challenges the nervous system in ways that enhance reaction time, proprioception and fine motor control.
There’s a reason why people who play racket and net sports tend to live longer. Research has shown that these sports combine multiple health benefits, including cardiovascular fitness, high-intensity interval training and neurological stimulation.
Neuroplastic chiropractic, gravity and balance
Every day, we battle gravity. How we stand, move and react to forces around us shapes how well our bodies function. When misaligned, gravity amplifies our imbalances, leading to unnecessary stress on joints, muscles, discs and nerves. When properly balanced, we use gravity as a natural tool for strength and stability.
Neuroplastic chiropractic adjustments help restore alignment, ensuring the spine and joints move freely. Proper balance starts from the ground up. The feet are our foundation, supporting every step, shift in weight and movement. An unstable foundation creates kinetic chain compensations that ripple upward, affecting the knees, hips, spine and whole-body posture.
Custom orthotics play a crucial role in achieving dynamic functional balance. By supporting the feet, they help distribute weight evenly, absorb shock and promote optimal alignment. When the foundation is stable, the body adapts to gravity more efficiently, reducing strain and improving overall function. Whether standing, walking or engaging in sport, balance isn’t just about stability but also adaptability.
Adjust the spine, adjust the nervous system
Neuroplastic chiropractic adjustments are more than just structural realignments; they optimize nervous system function, including autonomic regulation. The spine houses and protects the spinal cord, the central highway for brain-body communication. When vertebrae become misaligned, nerve function can be disrupted, leading to pain, stress overload and dysfunction.
Lost vagus nerve function and heart rate variability
The vagus nerve is the body’s communication superhighway, connecting the brain to the heart, lungs, digestive tract and more. It regulates the parasympathetic nervous system—also known as the “rest and digest” system—and is the physiological bridge between the brain and gut health. Our patients have become overwhelmed by modern stressors, and many have lost vagus nerve function and its regulation of health.
Research studies indicate chiropractic adjustments can enhance vagus nerve function, potentially improving autonomic regulation. Correcting spinal misalignments through spinal manipulation restores neural communication, enhancing vagal tone and promoting a more balanced autonomic response.
Chiropractic care has been found to influence vagal tone, which directly impacts heart rate variability (HRV), a key marker of nervous system balance and adaptability. Higher HRV is associated with greater stress resilience, improved cardiovascular health and enhanced recovery.
A study on chiropractic adjustments and HRV found spinal manipulation led to significant improvements in HRV, indicating a shift toward parasympathetic dominance—the optimal state for recovery and stress resilience.
By improving vagus nerve tone and HRV, chiropractic care can:
- Enhance stress resilience and recovery
- Improve cardiovascular function and reduce heart disease risk
- Support digestive health by optimizing gut-brain communication
- Boost mental well-being, reducing anxiety and improving mood regulation
Integrating chiropractic with resilient health strategies
You can incorporate additional therapies to enhance patient outcomes:
- Myofascial massage releases tension and improves vagus nerve function.
- Neural balance training improves proprioception and reaction time.
- Corrective exercise strengthens weak muscles and stabilizes joints.
- Cold laser therapy reduces inflammation and accelerates nerve regeneration.
- Whole-body vibration therapy enhances neuroplastic adaptability, improving balance, strength and coordination.
Best home care strategies for patients
Patients benefit from at-home strategies that reinforce neuroplastic resilience and structural alignment:
- Balance training exercises: One-legged stands, wobble board exercises.
- Core muscle strengthening: Planks, bridges, controlled spinal mobility exercises.
- Mini trampoline rebounding: Safe neuroplastic functional movement challenges.
- Home vibration plates: Supports proprioception, muscle coordination and neuroplastic adaptation.
Final thoughts
By aligning the spine, supporting the foundation with custom orthotics and engaging in functional movement challenges, we enhance our ability to interact with gravity to promote strength, adaptability and longevity.
Peak health is about optimization, adaptation and resilience. Chiropractic care provides the structure and alignment needed for the nervous system to function at its best.
Through chiropractic care combined with strategic movement, balance training and purposeful challenges, you can harness the power of neuroplasticity and resilient stress to improve patient outcomes.
Dan Davidson, DC, is a Palmer College of Chiropractic graduate in Davenport, Iowa. He has been in practice for 40 years and owns the Back Resort and Peak My Health Center in Salem, Virginia. Davidson also hosts the Peak My Health Podcast, sharing tips on health, exercise, nutrition and posture. See his upcoming CE seminars for Foot Levelers at footlevelers.com/seminars.
