ALLERGIES IN Grand Rapids MI

Do you suffer from allergies in Grand Rapids MI? To begin to understand allergies, it is important to have knowledge of what their fundamental cause is. A large majority of the population in America is under the misunderstanding that allergies are caused by a specific substance such as; milk, peanuts, animal dandruff, pollen, seafood, etc. If this were the case, and these substances were the root cause of allergies, wouldn't everyone that is exposed to them has an allergic response?

We all know that this doesn't happen, but the question then becomes why. If these substances are not responsible for the life-threatening symptoms of allergies such as; hives, sneezing, wheezing, constriction of the air passages, and more, then what is? Our team at Knapp Family Chiropractic hopes this article will be helpful for you and your family.

What are Allergies in Grand Rapids MI?

First of all, it must be understood that our brain controls all activities and structures in our body through the communication pathways in our spine. These nerves, originating in the brain, exit through spaces in the spinal column to supply every structure in your body. If the communication is blocked by any factor, most commonly misalignment of bones in your spine, dysfunction of that structure supplied by that nerve occurs.

In the case of allergies, the nerves supplying the immune system have been damaged by the bones in your spine causing them to be hyperactive. Where a person with a healthy/aligned spine would be able to adapt to a stressor such as an allergen, a person with nerve interference due to a vertebral misalignment views it as a threat and is unable to adapt. This helps explain why one person eating seafood at a restaurant may break out in a rash or have a wild fit of sneezing, and another person eating the same food simply enjoys their dinner.

To understand this concept, we can use the analogy of filling up a bucket. The bucket will represent our ability to accommodate, react, and adapt to the various stresses in life. As everyone knows, a bucket is made to hold only so much water or in this instance stress. To fill our buckets, chemical, emotional, traumatic, and allergic stressors all contribute. As long as our nerves are communicating with our immune systems properly, we can continue to adapt to these forms of stress and our buckets should never reach a point where they overflow. However, in some people, their nervous system is functioning improperly, and as a result, their immune system overreacts to normal stresses causing allergic reactions.

How can I keep my bucket from overflowing?

Our chiropractors at Knapp Family Chiropractic have been trained not to directly treat allergies, but to locate these areas in the spine that may be causing the interference that is contributing to the development of the symptoms. Through a careful evaluation of the spine, our chiropractors will locate the specific abnormalities and carefully adjust them to attempt to restore proper nervous system function. As many chiropractors have said, the people that don't understand how chiropractic can help conditions such as allergies, are the ones who have actually never been to one for care.

If you are interested in addressing the cause of your allergies in Grand Rapids MI and the possibility of eliminating the potential for a life full of antihistamines and allergy shots, please contact our Knapp Family Chiropractic office today.