“Doc, let me ask you a question, did the muscles pull the bone out of place or did the bone pull the muscles?”
Pretty straight forward question, a common question in our office, and one that is deceptively simple to answer. And the answer to this chicken and egg question is, drum roll please, YES, YES, AND also NEITHER.
What?
YES muscles often misfire and put undo stress on a bone. YES bones can be mal-positioned due to wear and tear or trauma. But NEITHER of these is at the heart of the issue. Another drum roll please…your nervous system is at the root of the problem.
Your nervous system CONTROLS and COORDINATES every bodily function.
For example when a bear is chasing you, the blood rushes to your limbs and away from your digestive system, your heart rate increases, and your pupils dilate to make a get away possible. The nervous system does this automatically as it does a million other functions all at the same time. Maintaining this system is absolutely essential for health (and survival in this case.) If your heart works well and is not coordinated with the muscles of the legs, you will probably get eaten. Or at least snacked on.
If the nervous system is being interfered with and is unable to properly coordinate the inside world of our bodies (heart rate, blood flow, etc) with the outside world (the bear) your health and ability to perform normal functions is being compromised. So to answer the original question, the nervous system did not COORDINATE the common movement pattern necessary to execute a normal everyday task. Likely the muscle and bone both failed at just the right time to cause an injury. Here is the shameless plug, using the activator method of chiropractic, is the best way to help the body regain COORDINATION and to maintain it even when injury or symptoms are absent. Get adjusted when you feel good and prevent problems down the road.
Cheers
ks