How Chiropractic Care Boosts the Immune System

Chiropractic care is one of the best ways to boost your immune system. In addition to all of the other benefits, it keeps your immune system strong and keeps you feeling your best.

When you visit a chiropractor, you must let them know about your health concerns. A chiropractic adjustment will offer general health improvement. However, if you want to target a specific issue, such as immune response, your chiropractic can customize your treatment to your specific concern. 

How the Spine Affects the Immune System

Chiropractic treatments positively affect the immune system due to the link between the alignment of your vertebrae and your body’s ability to function. All functions are affected when your vertebrae are out of alignment. This includes immune system function.

When your vertebrae are misaligned, they interfere with the ability of your nerves to communicate with the brain. When your brain doesn’t receive the correct signals, it leads to malfunctioning, leading to a higher risk of injury and illness.

Chiropractic care restores the ability of your body’s systems to communicate properly.

When someone has a brain or spinal cord injury, they often suffer from weakened immunity. Their risk of getting sick is higher. When they get sick, their risk of the illness being severe is also higher. It’s more common for someone with a spinal cord injury to develop pneumonia because their body cannot fight the initial illness. 

Keeping your spinal cord as healthy as possible through chiropractic treatment helps you keep your immune system working at peak condition.

How Does Chiropractic Care Help Boost the Immune System?

Chiropractic treatments positively impact:

• T and B lymphocyte numbers
• NK cell numbers
• Plasma beta-endorphin levels
• Antibody levels
• Phagocytic activity

All of these are factors in your body’s immune response.

Your body’s central nervous system modulates your response to illness when exposed. It’s easy to see how you'll have a decreased immune response if your nervous system isn’t functioning as it should. 

Research Studies: Chiropractic Care and Immune Health

Several research studies show how chiropractic care affects immune health.

A study published in 2010 in the Journal of Chiropractic & Osteopathy examined the relationship between the central nervous system and immune response. It measured immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M before a chiropractic treatment and after. Study participants were divided into three groups. Those that underwent chiropractic adjustments had significantly higher immunoglobulin levels than those that did not. 

This wasn’t the only study that showed these results. A previous review of data published in the Chiropractic Journal of Australia in 1993 showed that chiropractic adjustments positively affect immunoglobulin levels.

These studies show that there is a connection between spinal cord health and the immune system, and chiropractic treatments can help you improve your immune response. When something negatively influences spinal cord health, it affects immunity. And immune response improves when there’s a positive influence, such as chiropractic adjustments. 

Conclusion

If you want to strengthen your immune system or are concerned that your immunity has been weakened for various reasons, chiropractic treatments can help. A chiropractic adjustment helps your brain and central nervous system communicate optimally. They ensure that there is as little interference as possible throughout the system in your body. This allows all systems within your body, including your immune system, to function at optimal levels.

Dr. Darren Faherty D.C.

In 2004, Dr. Darren Faherty graduated with a Bachelors of Science degree in Biology from UWEC - University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. Dr. Darren continued education at the highly esteemed University of Western States (formerly Western States Chiropractic College) where he obtained his chiropractic degree in 2007. He has been helping people recover from injuries and return to their normal lifestyles ever since.