Your nerve system is a critical and often an overlooked component in ensuring your sex drive is where you and your partner would like it to be.

I know this is a sensitive topic. After all the hormone testing, heart rate monitoring, blood pressure, vascular testing, and counseling, where do you turn? I hope not to Google because that will just likely leave you overwhelmed and depressed.

Research over the last 50 years. . .  

Dr. Alf Brieg a Swedish neurosurgeon discovered that when your spine, skull or pelvis is misaligned it will cause tension on your central nerve system and that tension will interfere with the nerve supply to your organs. Whether you feel pain or not.  

Lower back pain and sex drive?

There are two big red flags when low libido (sex drive) accompanies low back pain.

Other than the obvious discomfort that physical intimacy can produce in a sensitive lower back, the nerves from the lower back in both men and women supply the reproductive organs and adrenals.

And according to Dr. Brieg’s research the tension on the spinal cord can cause havoc with your reproductive organs.

So the bones that are designed to protect the delicate nerves actually interfere with them. They not only can cause back pain, but can also interfere with sex drive and organ function.

Pain in the butt or feels like a kidney punch?

If your lower back pain travels down into the buttock (and one or both legs) then that’s your #1 warning sign that the nerves to the reproductive organs can be at risk.

If you feel your pain is more in the area of your kidneys, a spinal misalignment could be impacting your adrenal glands.

The reason your adrenal glands are so important in sex drive is because your adrenals main job description is hormone production.

How does this happen?

The question that I often get in my office is, "how did this happen to me”? More and more I’m talking to people about how much sitting they are doing. Whether it’s at work, in the car, on the couch or at the dinner table, we are sitting for more hours than ever.

Most people assume that spinal problems only happen with car accidents, sports or work injuries. But more commonly we are seeing daily lifestyle habits contribute significantly to spinal imbalance and nerve system problems.

Hey doc, I’ve got to tell you something. . .

I still remember the day when an older gentleman pulled me aside during a busy shift and in a hushed tone said that he wasn’t suffering from erectile dysfunction anymore and he wanted to know if it was from the work we were doing to restore his nerve system.

I responded by saying that it made sense based on the areas of his spine that we were working on. Then I asked, “why didn’t you tell me about your ED before”? His response was fairly matter of fact. "Why would I, what’s a chiropractor got to do with that?"

And yes, he’s right. Today’s chiropractic has nothing to do with erectile dysfunction, low sex drive or infertility. But as a nerve system specialist, a chiropractor goes after the block to the nerve that supplies those organs. AND on the way to beating your neck and low back pain, we get to see the body heal.

And sometimes in dramatic fashion.

Co-management is the key

If you are struggling with low sex drive and you feel you’ve tried everything, then maybe it’s time to see how your nerve system is performing.

Co-managing your care with a qualified chiropractor is a very smart decision.

Many chiropractors have taken extensive training in the area of neurology and structural correction and have experience co-managing hormonal and low libido cases.

It’s worth asking around to find a chiro that can add this level of expertise to your health care team.

This column is brought to you by Dr. Graham Jenkins of Lighthouse Chiropractic.  

"I am a chiropractor with over 20 years experience in private practice. I am research driven so that bleeds through into the way we practice at Lighthouse Chiropractic.

"Restoring health is not easy, but it should be logical, so our goal is to separate out the noise in healthcare today so our clients can see their way clear to great and lasting health."

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