Here is a common, terrible cascade of events that happens to teenage girls, which regular chiropractic care can help resolve naturally:

1. Starting to get headaches more than once a month, and probably medicating with pain relievers or prescription meds
2. Monthly cycle is very painful and they are getting irregular or heavy flow. Sometimes, may even skip cycle all together (hormone imbalance)
3. Hormone imbalance leads to loss of energy and decreased immunity, probably leading to more severe headaches, which could now be labeled as migraine headaches (which will probably be treated with prescription meds)
4. Starting to take birth control pills to help with pain from monthly cycles. (By the way, did you know that the most common reason young women take birth control pills is actually not for birth control, but for helping with cycle pain?)
5. Lastly, if left unresolved for months, anxiety or depression could set in from sustained cortisol increase and adrenal fatigue.

All of this is because the body is stuck in a state of sympathetic stress or dominance.

This cascade of events is what we call the chemistry flip. The body has 31 pairs of nerve roots exiting the spinal cord.  These nerves communicate with every single cell, tissue, and organ in the body and relay the info back to the brain.  If there is any interference or overload to the nervous system, then the body will increase its level of cortisol and turn on the sympathetic (fight or flight) system.  When this system is on, the body is in a state of defense, or running from danger, so long term adaptation, such as immunity and proper dopamine or serotonin uptake, are put on hold.

Basically, the body is saying that upkeep is not important right now – I just need to get away from danger, then I can go back to resting and healing. Now, this is not a problem, if the danger is removed and the body returns to regular balance.  For example, if you get pulled over by a police officer, you feel your goosebumps and heart rate go up; that is a normal sympathetic response. An hour later, you feel fine – though you may be mad that you got a ticket or happy you got out of it (my wife is awesome at that).

But what we are seeing in cases like these is a sustained sympathetic response that lasts for days, weeks, and months, because the cause is not so linear. In the teenager’s case, it’s stress from exams, getting into college, balancing sports, social media stress, and the age old teenage hormone changes themselves. If the system is not adapting well to sympathetic stress changes, then it will not return to balance, and cortisol will stay up, immune response will stay blunted, hormone changes will continue to be irregular, and happiness goes down because dopamine and serotonin stay down, leading to even more anxiety.

Now, medicine generally can have a symptom-masking answer. We have medications to increase dopamine levels, birth control pills to stop the cycle and therefore decrease a painful period, or headache medication to numb the pain nerves to the brain. The problem here is that none of those drugs fix the problem. The person is just drugged up so they don’t feel pain.

The reason I call it the chemistry flip is that when we provide the adjustment to the irritated nerve system, it decreases the stress response, signaling the cortisol to slow down, and therefore the dopamine and serotonin (love hormone or happy hormones) to go up, which will benefit the immune system. It has been known for centuries that positive people have stronger immune systems – this is why!

So when people ask me how the adjustment helps with all these things like immunity and hormone regulation, as well as getting rid of headaches?  Now you know: It’s the chemistry flip, and in our office we can measure it too!

We run sEMG, thermal, and HRV testing along with x-rays, to evaluate the cause, then retrain the nervous system to run efficiently with specific adjustment to restore sympathetic balance. Unfortunately, most parents do not know of these natural methods, and are only given drug options.

Having two daughters myself, I love helping other parents with these issues! Let’s talk – and help get your teen back in balance.