Chiropractic Techniques: Nervous System Regulation

Chiropractic care is uniquely positioned to support nervous system regulation. Through targeted adjustments, gentle techniques, and nervous-system-focused modalities, chiropractors help the body restore balance, improve function, and enhance overall well-being.

In this guide, we’ll break down the different types of chiropractic adjustments and modalities that help regulate the nervous system, explaining how each approach works and who can benefit.

Understanding Nervous System Regulation

Before we dive into chiropractic techniques, it’s important to understand why nervous system regulation matters. Your nervous system has two main branches:

1. Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) – Often called the “fight-or-flight” system, it prepares the body to respond to stress, danger, or intense activity. Chronic overactivation can lead to anxiety, muscle tension, high blood pressure, and poor recovery.

2. Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) – Known as the “rest-and-digest” system, it promotes healing, digestion, recovery, and relaxation. When the PNS is functioning optimally, your body can repair tissues, reduce inflammation, and regulate mood and energy.

General Impact on Nervous System Regulation Across These Modalities:

• Autonomic Nervous System Balance: Many of these techniques focus on stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps to lower stress and promote healing. This balance is crucial for reducing anxiety, improving digestion, and fostering a general sense of well-being.

• Improved Communication Between the Brain and Body: By adjusting the spine and other parts of the body, chiropractic care facilitates better communication along nerve pathways, ensuring the brain can effectively control bodily functions.

• Reduced Stress Responses: Regular chiropractic adjustments can reduce the activation of the fight-or-flight response (sympathetic nervous system), enabling the body to switch to a more relaxed, restorative state.

• Emotional and Energy Balance: Techniques like BGI and Network Spinal Analysis go beyond physical adjustments and also address emotional or energetic blockages in the body, helping to regulate not just the physical nervous system, but also emotional and energetic health.

Chiropractic adjustments target the spine, pelvis, and other parts of the musculoskeletal system to remove interference that may disrupt nervous system function. By improving alignment, joint mobility, and nerve flow, these techniques can restore balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, allowing your body to operate at its highest potential.

Common Chiropractic Techniques for Nervous System Regulation

1. Diversified Technique

• Purpose: This is one of the most common chiropractic techniques and is aimed at restoring proper motion and alignment to the spine.

• Impact on the Nervous System: Helps remove interferences to the nervous system by addressing vertebral subluxations, improving communication between the brain and the body. This can support the overall functioning of the autonomic nervous system, including both sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.

2. Activator Technique

• Purpose: This technique uses a small handheld instrument that delivers a gentle, low-force impulse to specific areas of the spine.

• Impact on the Nervous System: The gentle force is particularly helpful for individuals who have a more sensitive nervous system or are unable to tolerate more forceful adjustments. It helps to balance the nervous system and stimulates the parasympathetic response, encouraging relaxation and stress relief.

3. Gonstead Technique

• Purpose: Focuses on precise spinal adjustments to correct vertebral subluxations. It involves careful analysis of the spine, often using x-rays to pinpoint misalignments.

• Impact on the Nervous System: By adjusting specific vertebrae, particularly in the cervical and lumbar regions, it can help regulate the autonomic nervous system, improving overall nervous system communication and stress resilience.

4. Thompson Drop-Table Technique

• Purpose: Utilizes a specialized chiropractic table that "drops" a section of the table during the adjustment, allowing a quick, gentle thrust into the spine.

• Impact on the Nervous System: The drop mechanism allows for more effective spinal alignment, reducing pressure on nerves and improving nervous system function. It can assist in resetting the body’s natural balance and relieving stress-induced sympathetic nervous system dominance.

5. Network Spinal Analysis (NSA)

• Purpose: Focuses on spinal segments in a gentle manner, often using light touch and breath work. The goal is to engage the body's inherent healing abilities.

• Impact on the Nervous System: Through subtle adjustments and breathwork, NSA helps shift the nervous system from a state of tension (sympathetic dominance) to a more relaxed, parasympathetic state. It encourages the release of stored tension and promotes deep relaxation and healing.

6. Sacro-Occipital Technique (SOT)

• Purpose: Focuses on the sacrum and occiput to correct imbalances in the pelvis and spine.

• Impact on the Nervous System: By addressing the sacral and cranial areas, this technique helps with spinal alignment, enhancing the body's ability to regulate the nervous system. It is especially effective in balancing the autonomic nervous system and enhancing bodily functions that depend on nervous system regulation.

7. Spinal Decompression

• Purpose: This technique involves gentle stretching of the spine to alleviate pressure from nerves, discs, and spinal joints.

• Impact on the Nervous System: By relieving nerve compression, spinal decompression can reduce inflammation and irritation of the spinal nerves. This process allows for improved nerve flow and contributes to better overall nervous system function, particularly for individuals with herniated discs or nerve interference.

8. Craniosacral Therapy (CST)

• Purpose: Though not a typical chiropractic adjustment, CST involves light touch and manipulation of the cranial bones and sacrum to release tension in the central nervous system.

• Impact on the Nervous System: CST works to release tension in the dura mater and other tissues surrounding the brain and spinal cord, promoting a state of deep relaxation and reducing nervous system overactivity, which can support emotional regulation and stress resilience.

9. Upper Cervical (Atlas) Adjustments

• Purpose: Specifically targets the atlas (the first cervical vertebra) and its relationship to the brainstem.

• Impact on the Nervous System: By aligning the atlas, this adjustment can positively impact the brainstem and central nervous system, which controls autonomic processes like heart rate, digestion, and breathing. It's particularly beneficial for people experiencing chronic stress, anxiety, or autonomic dysfunction.

10. Flexion-Distraction Technique

• Purpose: Involves flexing the spine and creating gentle traction to allow movement in the vertebrae, often used for disc issues.

• Impact on the Nervous System: This technique can reduce disc pressure on nerves and improve spinal mobility, allowing for better nerve function. It helps regulate both sensory and motor nerve pathways, leading to improved function and reduced pain.

11. Webster Technique

• Purpose: A specific chiropractic technique primarily used to address pelvic imbalances and misalignments, especially in pregnant women.

• Impact on the Nervous System: The Webster technique focuses on balancing the pelvis, which has direct effects on the nervous system by ensuring proper nerve function. In pregnancy, it helps reduce stress on the sacral and lumbar nerves, which can alleviate discomfort, reduce tension in the body, and improve autonomic nervous system function. It also helps create an optimal environment for the baby by reducing nerve interference that could contribute to breech or other positioning issues.

12. BioGeometric Integration (BGI)

• Purpose: BGI is a system of chiropractic care that integrates the biomechanics of the body with the energetic and emotional components of healing. It incorporates a multi-faceted approach to adjusting and balancing the body’s structure and energy.

• Impact on the Nervous System: BGI involves working with the body’s shape, alignment, and energetic fields to restore proper function. It is not only focused on the physical structure but also emphasizes the mind-body connection, addressing the emotional and energetic blockages that can impact nervous system function. BGI encourages deep relaxation and helps reset the body’s natural healing mechanisms, balancing the autonomic nervous system and releasing stored emotional trauma that could cause nervous system dysregulation.

13. Logan Basic Technique

• Purpose: This technique involves a gentle adjustment at the base of the spine (sacral area) using light pressure to promote alignment and balance throughout the entire body.

• Impact on the Nervous System: The Logan Basic Technique specifically targets the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation and calming effects. It can stimulate the vagus nerve and facilitate the body’s rest-and-digest response, helping to lower cortisol levels and enhance overall nervous system regulation.

14. Cranial Adjustments

• Purpose: Focuses on adjusting the bones of the skull and the sacrum, utilizing gentle pressure to facilitate balance in the craniosacral system.

• Impact on the Nervous System: Cranial adjustments work directly with the craniosacral system (the brain and spinal cord's protective membranes and fluid) to improve the flow of cerebrospinal fluid. By removing blockages or restrictions, cranial adjustments can improve nervous system function, reduce stress, and promote parasympathetic activation, supporting relaxation and emotional balance.

15. Chiropractic Neurology (Functional Neurology)

• Purpose: This approach blends chiropractic care with functional neurology. It focuses on understanding how the brain and nervous system control movement, sensation, and overall health.

• Impact on the Nervous System: Functional neurology uses targeted adjustments to influence brain activity, helping to re-establish proper brain-body communication. This can be particularly effective for conditions involving neurological dysregulation, such as anxiety, ADHD, concussion recovery, and other disorders. By improving brain function and spinal health, this method helps optimize the autonomic nervous system’s functioning and reduces overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system.

16. Koren Specific Technique (KST)

• Purpose: KST uses a handheld instrument (called an Arthrostim) to perform gentle spinal adjustments, specifically designed to address nervous system interference.

• Impact on the Nervous System: KST focuses on specific vertebral subluxations or imbalances, using light-force adjustments to reduce interference with the nervous system. By balancing the spine, KST encourages optimal nerve function, facilitating communication between the brain and body and promoting relaxation of the nervous system, particularly the parasympathetic response.

17. Applied Kinesiology (AK)

• Purpose: AK uses muscle testing to identify areas of imbalance in the body, which may include spinal misalignments or organ dysfunction. The chiropractor can then adjust specific areas to correct the identified imbalance.

• Impact on the Nervous System: By using muscle testing as a biofeedback mechanism, AK helps detect nervous system interference and restores normal function. It is particularly helpful in addressing complex neurological conditions where there is dysfunction in the communication between the nervous system and body. The adjustments can help regulate both the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, optimizing overall health and well-being.

18. Segmental Adjusting

• Purpose: This technique involves focusing on specific spinal segments that are misaligned or restricted in movement. The chiropractor uses precise adjustments to restore motion to individual spinal joints.

• Impact on the Nervous System: Segmental adjusting can release tension in the spine, helping to reduce nerve interference in specific regions. This promotes more balanced nervous system functioning, reducing the body’s stress response and improving autonomic regulation. This can also have a positive effect on both sensory and motor nerve pathways.

19. Torque Release Technique

• Purpose: This technique uses a combination of gentle thrusts and a special instrument called the Integrator to adjust the spine and restore proper nerve function.

• Impact on the Nervous System: The Torque Release Technique focuses on correcting subluxations in a gentle, low-force manner. The adjustments restore proper communication between the brain and body, improving the body's ability to self-regulate and heal. This technique is designed to reduce sympathetic nervous system dominance and encourage parasympathetic activity, promoting relaxation and a balanced stress response.

20. Subluxation-Based Chiropractic Care

• Purpose: The primary focus of subluxation-based care is to correct misalignments in the spine, or subluxations, which are believed to cause nerve interference.

• Impact on the Nervous System: By removing subluxations, this approach aims to improve the function of the nervous system by restoring proper spinal alignment. This leads to better communication between the brain and body, ultimately regulating the nervous system, reducing pain, and supporting emotional and mental health.

Conclusion

Your nervous system is the command center of your body, influencing your physical, emotional, and energetic health. Chiropractic care, through a variety of techniques—from Diversified and Activator to BGI and the Webster Technique—supports the nervous system by reducing interference, promoting alignment, and enhancing brain-body communication.

Whether you are seeking relief from chronic pain, support during pregnancy, recovery from injury, or deep nervous system regulation, chiropractic adjustments offer a pathway to optimize function and restore balance.

At Electric Life Chiropractic, we take a nervous-system-focused approach to care, combining advanced chiropractic techniques with holistic modalities to help you feel better, move better, and live fully. Because when your nervous system is balanced, healing happens here—and Naptown heals one spine at a time.