Having two older brothers and being a child of the 90’s… it probably won’t shock you to learn Tommy Boy is in my Top 10 favorite movies of all time. And in the wise words of Big Tom… “You’re either growing or dying, there ain’t no third direction.” Yes, he was talking about auto-parts… but it got me thinking, this is the same thing in our bodies!
We can’t be in both a growth AND breakdown state at the same time. We’re one or the other – we’re either growing or we’re breaking down. Right, Big Tom?!
And when I’m talking about growing – I don’t mean in weight or size. When our body is in a growth state… it’s healing old injuries, it’s healing new injuries, it’s repairing damage, it’s growing new tissue to make us stronger. I’ll raise my hand to stay in that growth state!
When our bodies are more in the breakdown state – you guessed it… injuries and traumas become chronic, get worse and lead to other secondary issues. Our immune system is diminished, and we are unable to focus energy on healing. This leads to chronic pain, chronic fatigue, headaches, and chronic disease.
It’s such an important thing to know. Which side are you on… Growth? Breakdown? It’s something we focus on, because usually when people come into our office they’ve been in the breakdown state for a long time. They are seeing the chronic effects of their body not being able to heal and function well.
One test we use in the office is called Heart Rate Variability (HRV). This measures the time intervals 
betweenheartbeats. Heart Rate Variability is directly controlled by a part of our nervous system called the Autonomic Nervous System. This is broken down into two parts: the fight-or-flight (stress) response and the rest-and-digest (relaxation) response.
If the time intervals on HRV are relatively constant and have little variation, it will show up as low HRV and this is a sign that your body is stuck in the stress response or fight-or-flight state. On the contrary, if the time intervals show variation that’s a sign your body is able to switch gears easily, and has more resilience and flexibility. This is the sign of good balance between the stress response and the relaxation response. AND is when our body is in a GROWTH state. The chronic stress or fight-or-flight will inevitably cause a BREAKDOWN state.
Low HRV has been associated with anxiety, depression, and cardiovascular disease — a sure sign your body is in a breakdown state.
HRV is just one test we use before and during care at our office. A specific chiropractic adjustment gets us out of the stress response state and shifts the autonomic nervous system back to balance. This helps get us out of the breakdown state into a growth state.
If you’re interested in your HRV score and finding out if you are either in a growth or breakdown state – CLICK HERE to schedule a free consultation in our office and see!
