Keeping Your Spine Healthy With Hydration

Visiting the chiropractor will make sure that your spine is properly aligned and your nervous system

communicating properly with the rest of your body. However, staying hydrated can go a long way in

promoting proper spine health when you’re in between chiropractic adjustments. Keeping hydrated is a

crucial piece to overall wellness, since our bodies are comprised mostly of water.

The spine is no different, and relies very heavily on hydration. If you’re dehydrated, it can impact your

mobility and flexibility. We most often recognize this in the form of muscle cramps or headaches, but all

of those symptoms of dehydration are directly related to your nervous system and spinal health.

Keeping hydrated not only keeps those symptoms at bay, but it also allows for your spine to better carry

the proper messages from your brain through the rest of your nervous system.

How Does Water Help?

Simply standing up and walking around puts pressure on your spinal column. As you walk and twist and

move around, the discs move and shift between each vertebra. Those discs get their flexibility from

water, and that water can be squeezed out as the discs are compressed from movement. This is a

natural process that happens through movement and the effects of gravity on your spine. If those discs

don’t have proper hydration throughout the day, it can result in limited mobility, discomfort, or pain.

There are a number of different ways your body can become dehydrated. Along with physical activity,

your body also can lose hydration through stress, improper diet, and drinking alcohol. Stress introduces

heightened levels of adrenaline, which can prevent your body from regulating its hydration levels. With

your diet, salty foods can absorb fluids, while carbohydrates can boost hydration levels. Since alcohol is

a known diuretic, it moves the water through your system before your body can properly absorb it. Even

some prescription medication can flush out your system before the body can get hydrated. All of these

factors can come into play, causing your hydration level to be lower than you might think.

How Does Chiropractic Help?

Keeping hydrated is a part of getting your spinal adjustment. When your spine is misaligned, it can cause

toxins to remain trapped in the body. Once proper alignment has returned, your body will release those

now unlocked toxins as proper communication is restored. Since these spinal adjustments are centered

around getting your body to communicate optimally, staying hydrated allows for that communication to

last longer by keeping those toxins at bay.

Regular visits to your chiropractor can make sure those lines of communication are wide open, and your

chiropractor can help offer solutions to make sure you’re staying hydrated. Maintaining proper

hydration is particularly important in Colorado’s higher elevations. The thinner air and dry climate lead

to an increased rate of breathing, which causes the body to use up fluids more quickly when compared

to lower elevations. For more information on how hydration can help build up a healthier lifestyle, and

how chiropractic can help, reach out to Dr. Morgan Sheridan today.