Why Your Spine is Misaligned - The 3 T’s Part 1

As a chiropractor I spend a lot of time assessing and addressing misalignments in the spine. I look for areas that are stuck, rotated, not positioned properly and causing interference to the powerful nervous system which utilizes the spine to send messages throughout the body. My practice members often ask me, “why is my spine out of alignment?”. What a brilliant question! Let’s dive into what we call the 3 t’s and how your body intelligently adapts to stress.

The 3 t’s are the different categories of stressors we encounter on a regular basis. These stressors are what our nervous systems have to adapt to in order to stay healthy. Dysfunction in the body occurs when the impact of these stressors is too great for our system to handle.

The 2 questions to ask yourself are, “how can I limit my interaction with the 3 t’s?”, and, “how can I increase my capacity to handle the 3 t’s?”. 

Let’s break down the 3 t’s, how to avoid them and how to become more resilient to them. In an effort to make these posts bite-sized, we will only dive into the first “t” today.

The first “t” is trauma. Trauma refers to physical stressors. Traumas can be micro-traumas or macro-traumas. A micro-trauma would be something like a repetitive movement, having poor posture, sitting all day, looking down at your phone or a minor bump or bruise.  A macro-trauma is a major destructive incident such as a motor vehicle accident, sports/gym injury or a big fall.

You can minimize physical trauma by creating an ergonomic workspace, using proper form when you move and by stretching regularly. But let’s face it, you can’t completely avoid all physical stressors! No one intentionally gets in an accident or injures themselves.

You can improve your ability to cope with physical demands by taking care of your body. Chiropractic care is one of the best ways to do this! Not only does chiropractic create more balance and alignment in the musculoskeletal system, but it also improves nervous system function which affects your proprioception aka your spacial awareness (more about that here ) and your body’s ability to recover after a challenge. The overall effect is that you are able to move more effectively during activity, and heal more effectively during recuperation.

In the next 2 blog posts we will discuss the other 2 “t’s”. For now, be mindful of the physical trauma in your life. What small changes can you make to minimize the impact? Can you get up and walk around every 45 minutes? Can you make time to stretch more regularly? Can you hold your phone up to eye level? Can you incorporate more supportive self care such as massage or hot baths? And are you getting chiropractic care to support your body in healing and staying aligned?