A fair question to ask since the most common reasons people work with a chiropractor are headaches, neck pain, back pain, and joint pain. The reason certain types of chiropractic care can help your thyroid problem has to do with how certain types of chiropractic care affect the function of your central nervous system. Your central nervous system, in case you were wondering, controls and coordinates the function of all your parts, pieces, and sub-systems – including your thyroid function!
Did you catch the “certain types” of chiropractic care in the previous paragraph? This is an important point because of the various types of chiropractic care only a select few have the ability to have a long-term impact on your central nervous system. Upper cervical chiropractic is the type of chiropractic that has the biggest impact on central nervous system function and therefore upper cervical chiropractic has the most potential to help improve your thyroid problem.
When you have a thyroid related health problem you have two basic options;
- Work with a medical doctor and to manage your symptoms with medication (for the rest of your life)
- Work with a holistic minded doctor (naturopath, chiropractor, acupuncturist, etc) to resolve the root problem(s) and actually improve your thyroid function***
(*** In some situations thyroid medication may be necessary depending on how much damage the thyroid gland has sustained before the thyroid problem was diagnosed and properly treated. A patient might need to work with both a holistic doctor and a medical doctor, but chances are the patient will require much less thyroid medication and experience far fewer side effects of both the thyroid disease and thyroid medication.)
Of the primary causes of thyroid dysfunction (poor diet, excess stress, toxin overload, underlying infections, and poor neurological regulation) the upper cervical chiropractor can directly help the neurological aspect and indirectly help (via providing information, support, and dietary supplements if needed) with the rest of the causes.
What about genetics? Yes, genetics can play a minor role for some thyroid diseases, but having a problem in your genes means your more susceptible to developing a problem, but it’s not certain – other factors such as diet and lifestyle play more of a causative role that genetics.
When you work with a holistic minded doctor they will usually order a complete thyroid panel on your labs, not just TSH like most medical doctors. Thyroid physiology is rather complex and problems can arise in your gut, liver, and kidneys that don’t affect your TSH levels but still affect your thyroid hormones and how you feel day-to-day.
When you work with a doctor from The Specific Chiropractic Centers you can rest easy knowing that all aspects of your thyroid problem will be evaluated and every possible avenue for getting you well again will be explored. Even though upper cervical chiropractic may not be the most obvious choice when it comes to treating thyroid problems it just might be the best choice!
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