Have you ever wondered why doctors or your parents have told you, in the past, to make sure and get plenty of rest when you aren't feeling well?  There's good reason for it.  Your body does its best healing when you are asleep.  You may have also heard of that goofy expression that we only use 7-10% of our brains.  Obviously, that is NOT true - you consciously might only use that much of your brain, but the unconscious part that is responsible for all those bodily processes that you don't have to think about is used all day, every day of your entire life.  And it is when you shut off the conscious part of your brain that the unconscious part has 100% use of it and can really go to work on healing your body. 

For that reason, I want talk about sleep today.  I recently read a study about how chronic insomnia, however mild it may be, has a direct correlation with lower life expectancy.  Whether it be trouble going to sleep or trouble staying asleep or not feeling well rested after you sleep, the risk of death is up to three times greater for those that are unable to get enough sleep (or enough good quality sleep).  It's pretty common to be included in one of the above categories...and if you are, then it's likely that you've been dealing with it for quite a while. 

Put simply: If you don't get enough sleep, you won't live nearly as long. 

The reason for the above is simple.  Sleeping allows you to recharge your batteries, so to speak.  Internally, there are an infinite amount of processes going on that responsible for keeping you alive and well.  There are trillions of cells in the body that each undergo hundreds of thousands of chemical reactions every split second.  Your "awake" part of the day involves a lot of external processes.  Similar to how a plane alters its course when there is stormy weather, your body diverts a lot of attention from the vitally important internal processes throughout the course of a day to deal with the external pressures that are involved in every day life.  Work stress, personal life drama, and mental and physical exertion toward your activities of daily living are all external demands.  When you lay your head down on the pillow at night, close your eyes, and drift off into la-la land, that is when your body can re-direct its attention to the internal stuff once more. 

So, you see, not getting the proper amount of sleep even one night can start a vicious cycle of the body not being able to fully recuperate and heal on the inside.  Very much like spending more money on a credit card than you are able to pay off at the end of the month can spiral into a situation of accumulating a lot of debt, not getting enough sleep one night can leave your body in a weakened state.  One night turns to two nights...two to three...three to a week...a week to a month...and the next thing you know you're so chronically exhausted that your body is breaking down rapidly. 

Many will then turn to medications to get them to sleep better.  There are a lot of such easy habits to make sure you get to sleep that end up being not so good in the long run.  These aren't a long-term solution, but a quick fix with a lot of long-term implications.  Like it or not - no matter your opinion on the matter - medications are, in fact, a chemical that your body has to deal with internally.  If a medication is strong enough to make you fall asleep, then there is no doubt that it will give your body plenty of things to do that will distract it from healing you and "recharging your batteries." 

I'll tell you one thing about Upper Cervical Care from personal experience...it has a lot of side-benefits.  One of the things that typically happens for patients once they get under care - and I fall into this category - is that they are able to sleep better.  When your brainstem is properly able to route the electrical signals between the brain and the body (and from one part of the brain to another), your Reticular Activating System that controls your sleep cycle has the opportunity to return to normal function.  Trust me, it's nice...

Spread the word...

Thinking good things for you, as always...

Dr. Chad