Skeletal Position Affects Muscle Function

Doc
Mar 25
5 min read

Updated: Apr 16

How Chiropractic Helps Your Brain and Muscle Function Better, Together

Written by: Doc, Dr. Aschia Florvilus Rodby | Published on: March 27, 2025

Most people think of their muscles as the engine behind movement. But here’s the truth: your muscles only work as well as your bones are positioned and your brain is connected. The way your body moves, feels, and performs relies on more than just strength — it depends on the communication between your brain, your spine, and your muscles.

Here's where chiropractic care comes in. When your spine is in a state of subluxation (a restricted or mispositioned joint that’s affecting neurological function), it doesn’t just hurt. It disrupts how your brain and body talk to each other. Over time, this impacts muscle strength, posture, balance, and even your ability to recover from stress and injury.

Skeletal Position Is the Foundation of Movement

Think of your bones like the frame of a house. If the frame is tilted or off-center, the doors don’t open smoothly and the floors may creak or crack. Your muscles work the same way — they pull on bones to create movement. But if the bones aren’t where they’re supposed to be, muscles have to work harder, often unevenly, just to keep you upright.

Here’s what can happen when skeletal position is off due to subluxation:

Some muscles become tight and overworked (muscle compensation and imbalance)
Others become weak or shut down
Your posture suffers (Decreased joint stability)
You lose efficiency and strength (altered proprioceptive feedback)
You increase your risk of strain, overuse, and injury

Researchers found that even small dysfunctions in spinal movement could cause delays in how the muscles activate during simple tasks, like bending or walking (Haavik & Murphy, 2012). These delays don’t always cause pain right away — but over time, they wear the body down.

Your Brain Is the Boss and It Needs Clear Signals

Your brain controls everything your body does — how it moves, reacts, balances, and heals. To do that job well, it depends on constant feedback from the body. That feedback comes mostly from your spine and joints. But when those joints are unable to produce the proper movements or subluxated, the signals your brain gets become jumbled or incomplete. That leads to problems like:

Delayed reaction times
Poor coordination
Faulty muscle patterns
Increased physical and mental stress

Your brain relies on accurate, timely sensory input to make decisions about movement. This data comes from mechanoreceptors and proprioceptors embedded in your joints, fascia, and muscles — especially those in the spine.

Brain imaging research has shown that spinal dysfunction affects how the brain processes movement and decision-making (Lelic et al., 2020). In particular, it changes the way the prefrontal cortex — the part of your brain responsible for planning and focus — handles information from the body.

This means that spinal health isn’t just about your back — it’s about your brain’s ability to run the whole system efficiently.

The Sense You Didn’t Know You Had, Proprioception

Proprioception is your body’s ability to sense its own position and movement. It’s how you touch your nose with your eyes closed, or walk down stairs without looking at your feet.

This system relies heavily on your spine and joints. When those joints are subluxated, your body’s internal GPS can get thrown off. You may feel:

Clumsy or off balance
Stiff and uncoordinated
At risk of falling or tripping

Foundational research by Riemann and Lephart (2002), proprioception is essential for functional joint stability and motor control. It keeps the nervous system aware of where the limbs and spine are in space. It also helps the body respond quickly to changes in posture, motion, or load.

Chiropractic adjustments enhance proprioception by restoring motion in spinal joints and helping the nervous system recalibrate. This is especially important for athletes, older adults, and anyone recovering from an injury.

Chiropractic Changes the Brain (in a Good Way)

We now know that the brain isn’t hardwired. It adapts and reshapes itself based on the input it gets from the body. This process is known as neuroplasticity—your brain’s incredible ability to rewire and adapt throughout life. Chiropractic care, by improving communication between the brain and body, can help guide that rewiring in a healthier, more functional direction.

When you receive a chiropractic adjustment, the spinal joints start moving more naturally, which sends clearer, more accurate signals to the brain. Over time, this consistent input helps retrain the nervous system and supports better overall function.

Here are some examples

Rewired movement patterns
Improved posture
Sharpened focus and reaction time
Decreased chronic stress or pain signals, and so much more

In 2019, researchers used brain scans to show that spinal adjustments can increase activity in areas of the brain tied to movement and executive function — helping you move and think more clearly (Holt et al., 2019).

Chiropractic = Whole-Body Optimization

You don’t have to be an athlete or a fitness fanatic to benefit from better movement and brain-body communication. Chiropractic care helps anyone who wants to, feel more balanced, move with less effort, get stronger without injury, recover faster, and age gracefully.

Chiropractors aren’t just “back doctors.” They’re nervous system specialists. Their work goes far beyond pain relief. By addressing spinal subluxations, they help restore the natural, intelligent flow of communication between your body and brain. When that system is optimized your muscles, joints, and nervous system all perform at a higher level.

Your skeletal position sets the stage. Your muscles respond to that structure. Your brain orchestrates it all.

When one part of that system isn’t working well — especially when the spine is restricted or in a state of subluxation — the whole operation suffers. But with regular chiropractic care, we can restore motion, realign communication, and optimize the way your body functions.

Chiropractic is about more than feeling better. It’s about functioning better.

Haavik, H., & Murphy, B. (2012). Subclinical spinal dysfunction affects sensorimotor integration: a somatosensory evoked potential study. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 22(5), 768–776.
Lelic, D., Niazi, I.K., Holt, K. et al. (2020). Manipulation of dysfunctional spinal joints affects sensorimotor integration in the prefrontal cortex: a brain source localization study. Brain Sciences, 10(6), 355.
Holt, K.R., Haavik, H., Murphy, B. (2019). Spinal manipulation can modulate cortical and cerebellar motor processing: A crossover study using transcranial magnetic stimulation and somatosensory evoked potentials. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 13, 14.
O’Sullivan, K., Caneiro, J.P., O’Keeffe, M., O’Sullivan, P.B. (2021). Cognitive and motor control impairments in low back pain: Emerging evidence for a new direction in intervention. The Spine Journal, 21(6), 890–899.
Riemann, B.L., & Lephart, S.M. (2002). The Sensorimotor System, Part II: The Role of Proprioception in Motor Control and Functional Joint Stability. Journal of Athletic Training, 37(1), 80–84.