You’ve probably been to the zoo as a child, or taken a child there. At some point, the question probably came up. “Daddy, what would happen if that tiger got out?”
You definitely did NOT look down at that child and say, “Well, first, I’d give you high blood pressure medication. Because running for your life will make your heart rate and blood pressure go up–and high blood pressure is a bad thing.”
While it isn’t healthy to have high blood pressure under normal circumstances, our body needs to adapt to the situation in which it finds itself. When there is a threat, the body responds with various symptoms. The symptoms of being chased by a tiger should be elevated heart rate and blood pressure…and maybe even some blisters from running fast and far!
Dr. Ryan Dopps, Dopps Chiropractic NE in Wichita, KS, calls this adaptive physiology, which he heard from Dr. Pete Sulack, of StressRX. We can see many obvious examples of how a body can adapt to accommodate not just outside threats, but also the interior ones like pregnancy, chronic illnesses, parasites, or hundreds of extra pounds. And still, the body can on functioning. What is more or less visible, is how well the body is functioning in that situation.
We need to remember is that not every threat to our body is as visible as a tiger. Every day, small and large symptoms point to the ways our body is trying or failing to adapt. When the threat is from nerve interference, a subluxation, the body adapts with symptoms including immediately decreased function. Eventually, the body uses pain to try to signal that it can’t adapt or function well. Chiropractic can reach the source of this interference, restoring the body’s ability to function normally, with slower heart rate and a steady blood pressure. Not many could slow their heart rate while staring face to face at a roaring beast! But remove the tiger, and everybody can calm down. Eventually.
On the other hand, treating the symptoms chemically with medication or aggressively with surgery, won’t remove the source of why the body was stressed. Given the support and tools it needs (including chiropractic care, good nutrition, high quality nutritional supplementation, exercise, and vital rest), the body can innately do marvelous things to heal itself. Read more about it in this post on innate intelligence.
Health and full function at the source can be pursued on in various ways depending on each individual body’s needs. A great way to start is a chiropractic consultation with Drs. Ryan and Denise Dopps. Dr. Ryan says that it is his job is to listen to the body and figure out the where the threatening nerve interference/subluxation is and to remove it with precision. Read about his diagnostic practices here.
So listen to your body as it tries to adapt to the stressful situations in which it finds itself. And run away from tigers.
Check out this video of Dr. Ryan Dopps, talking about this subject with his daughter and a tiger!