Top 5 Signs You Should See a Chiropractor
Your body is talking. Are you listening?
We push through long days at desks, chase after kids, haul groceries, sit in traffic, and try to ignore that familiar ache in our neck or stiffness in our back. But the truth is—your body isn’t built to just survive. It’s meant to thrive.
At Ruach Chiropractic, we believe your health isn’t a luxury—it’s a foundation. If your body has been dropping hints, these might be the signs it’s time to give it the attention it deserves.
1. You’re Living with “Normal” Pain
If you’ve caught yourself saying things like,
“It’s just my back acting up again,” or
“That shoulder always does that,”—stop.
Pain is not a personality trait. It’s a signal.
Chiropractic care doesn’t just mask symptoms. It addresses the root of misalignment and dysfunction so your body can begin to heal itself, naturally. You don’t have to settle for “normal” that includes pain.
2. You Sit Most of the Day
Desk jobs, remote work, and long commutes are part of modern life—but they’re not exactly spine-friendly. Prolonged sitting compresses the lower back, tightens hip flexors, and weakens your core.
Before it turns into chronic pain, sciatic issues, or postural problems, an adjustment on a semi regular basis can help realign your spine, relieve pressure, and restore mobility. Think of it as hitting the reset button on your body.
3. You’re Not Sleeping Well
Sleep is when your body does its best repair work—but when you’re in pain or discomfort, your body can’t relax enough to recover.
A well-aligned spine supports better brain/body balance & function, circulation, nerve function, and muscle relaxation—all of which are essential to deep, restorative sleep. If you’re tossing, turning, or waking up stiff, it’s time to listen to what your body’s trying to say.
4. You’re Stressed or Run Down
Your spine isn’t just a stack of bones—it’s the ladder to the command center (your brain) for your nervous system. When your spine is out of alignment, it WILL disrupt the flow of energy and information through your body, leaving you feeling drained, foggy, or overwhelmed.
Chiropractic care helps regulate the nervous system, creating balance and resilience that allows you to handle stress more calmly and clearly. It’s SELF-CARE with long-term benefits.
5. You’re Prioritizing Everyone But You
We get it—you’re busy. But here’s the truth: you can’t pour from an empty cup. When your body is out of sync, everything becomes harder—work, relationships, rest, joy.
Investing in chiropractic care is an act of self-respect. It’s saying, “My health matters. My comfort matters. I deserve to feel good in my body.” And you do.
Final Thought: Don’t Wait for a Wake-Up Call
You don’t need to “hurt more” to justify taking care of yourself.
You don’t have to be in crisis to deserve healing.
You just need to listen to your body—and decide it’s worth it.
If any of these signs resonated with you, let that be your nudge. Stop treating your car better than the body you reside in & depend on to survive.
Let this be the moment you choose to transition from surviving to thriving.
📞 Ready to realign your life?
Schedule your new patient visit with Ruach Chiropractic today.
Your body will thank you.
With love,
Christopher Rhoten, D.C
Chiropractic & Mental Health: The Mind-Body Connection
Have you ever noticed how physical tension can affect your mood—or how stress can cause aches and pains? That’s the mind-body connection at work, and it’s a big part of what we see every day in our chiropractic practice.
Let’s break it down: your mental health and your physical health are deeply intertwined. When one is off, the other often follows. But here’s the good news—chiropractic care can help bring both back into balance.
1. Stress Lives in the Body
When we’re stressed, our muscles tense up. Over time, this can lead to misalignments in the spine, tension headaches, and chronic pain. It becomes a loop—pain causes stress, and stress causes more pain.
Chiropractic adjustments help relieve that physical tension, giving your nervous system room to breathe and reset. Many of our patients report feeling lighter, more relaxed, and even sleeping better after an adjustment.
2. The Nervous System Connection
Your spine houses your central nervous system, which communicates with every cell and every part of you—including the brain. When there’s a misalignment, those messages can get a little scrambled, and the connection is not as efficient as it can be. Restoring alignment supports better nervous system function, which can help regulate mood, energy, and focus.
It’s not magic—it’s just the science of a better functioning body.
3. Boosting “Feel-Good” Chemicals
Here’s a cool bonus: studies suggest that chiropractic care may help increase levels of dopamine and serotonin—the chemicals responsible for feelings of happiness and well-being. While chiropractic isn’t a replacement for mental health treatment, it can be a powerful complement.
Many patients feel more balanced, less anxious, and better equipped to handle life’s ups and downs with regular care.
4. Movement = Mood
If pain is keeping you from being active, it can quickly lead to a downward spiral. Chiropractic care helps you move more freely and with less discomfort—so you can get back to doing what makes you feel good, whether that’s walking, working out, or simply playing with your kids.
Movement releases endorphins. An adjustment releases endorphins. Endorphins lift your mood. It’s a win-win.
Final Thoughts
Mental wellness isn’t just in your head—it’s in your body, too. Chiropractic care offers a holistic approach that supports both your physical and emotional well-being. If you’ve been feeling out of alignment—physically or mentally—consider letting chiropractic be part of your wellness routine.
Your body and mind will thank you.
"When the spine is aligned and the body is at ease, the breath flows freely—and with each deep breath, the mind finds its calm."
RESPIRA - Because Healing Starts with a Breath.
With Love,
Christopher Rhoten, D.C
Ruach Chiropractic
Ruach Chiropractic: Breathing LIFE into Wellness
Ruach Chiropractic: Breathing Life into Wellness
The word Ruach might sound mystical, but at its core, it's about something incredibly practical—movement, breath, and vitality. In Hebrew, Ruach means breath or spirit, and that's exactly what we focus on at our practice: helping you breathe easier, move better, and live with more energy.
Think of your body like a complex system of highways. Just as traffic jams create stress and slowdown, misalignments/fixations in your spine can block your body's natural "traffic" of nerve signals and energy. Chiropractic care is about clearing those pathways, allowing your body's innate ability to heal and function optimally. When we talk about Ruach in our practice, we're talking about restoring flow—whether that's improved breathing, reduced pain, or enhanced mobility.
Our approach goes beyond quick fixes. We view each patient as a unique individual with specific needs. You are not in need of a quick fix, you are in need of lasting dedicated solutions that you have control over. Whether you're an athlete looking to improve performance, an office worker dealing with chronic back pain, or someone simply seeking to improve overall wellness, Ruach Chiropractic is committed to helping you find balance. We use a combination of precise spinal adjustments, targeted therapies, and personalized wellness advice to help you reconnect with your body's natural rhythm of movement and healing. The goal is to take you from stressed——to strong, resilient & to expand your nervous system to it’s highest efficient operating capacity.
-With love,
Christopher Rhoten D.C
The Importance of Spinal Health, Nervous System Regulation, and the Breath on the Flow of Cerebrospinal Fluid.
I’m often asked by new patients of mine, “why do Chiropractors care so much about spinal restrictions?” While there are many reasons for this, I often tend to give them my personal number one reason as to why we’re making sure these joints in your spine can share motion through their segments. That reason is cerebrospinal fluid flow. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a clear, colorless liquid that is produced by the ventricles in the brain & surrounds the brain and spinal cord within the central nervous system (CNS). It serves several critical functions: cushioning and protecting the brain and spinal cord from trauma, circulating nutrients, removing metabolic waste, and helping maintain a stable environment for the CNS. One essential function of CSF I want to focus on is the delivery of nutrients and the removal of waste products because when these functions are sub-optimal, stress presents itself, and more stress feeds into more dysfunction of these systems, so it basically becomes a hamster wheel you do not want to be on.
It is generally accepted that inspiration elicits a cranial (towards the head) movement of CSF, while expiration elicits a caudal movement (towards the pelvis). Excessive pressure in the thoracic part of your spine (middle back) can hinder optimal flow up and down the spinal cord, so the brain doesn't receive all it can with each breath. Irregular breathing will increase this pressure within the spine as well and cause a never-ending stress response. When the spine has restrictions in movement, the flow of CSF is absolutely altered in a negative way. For example, the sacrum bone, the triangle shaped bone at the bottom of your spine can be crooked. This is super common with so many people. Why this matters for CSF is the sacrum should normally pump forward & backwards with normal spinal movement, and if it’s misaligned that pumping action of the sacrum is severely limited. This misalignment can disrupt the normal pumping mechanism that helps circulate CSF between the brain and spinal cord, particularly in the lower spinal regions. As a result, CSF flow may become sluggish or blocked, leading to potential neurological issues, increased intracranial pressure, or poor waste clearance from the central nervous system, ie Brain Fog. Chiropractic adjustments aim to correct sacral & vertebral misalignments and to restore proper CSF dynamics, resulting in a more present & less stressed state of being.
When we can make sure pressure within the system (the body) is at an optimal threshold, nutrients get to the brain better, and metabolic waste is removed more effectively. This causes the lungs, brain, heart & spinal cord to work better, and the electrical signal from the brain to the body, back up to the brain to be faster & less impeded. This translates to a multitude of better functions for the individual including a more balanced state of being, ie LESS STRESS & PAIN & MORE PEACE & EASE. This is my goal at Ruach, to bring you to a more centered state of being & help teach you how to self-regulate your nervous system to keep you doing what you love.
If you’re feeling chronically stressed, and are not receiving chiropractic care, please reach out to me & let's get you in the office & discuss a plan to get you back to a body that is thriving!
With Love,
Christopher Rhoten, D.C.
Bone Out of Place? No. Why this outdated terminology is wrong, and what is actually happening in the spine.
If you have ever been to the chiropractor you have more than likely been told “you have a subluxation” or “this bone is out of place” because of a car accident or fall as a child 15-20 years ago. Here’s why that’s mostly a load of crap. Your spine is hyper resilient and it’s bones do not pop out of place without a fracture or dislocation, that is not how the body works and thank heavens that is not the case! Here is an excerpt from “The Reality Check” by Heidi Haavik, a world renowned neuroscientist and chiropractor studying the effects of chiropractic and why it is effective.
“The term vertebral subluxation was used by early chiropractors because these dysfunctional areas felt “out of place” when they were palpated. It was therefore described as a “subluxation”, which actually means a “partial dislocation” or the old fashioned concept of a “bone out of place”. With modern science, we now know that at the bone is not partially dislocated. We know that a better explanation is that some of the small muscles that attach to individual vertebrae have become tight due to a variety of causes including injury, postural stress and overuse. The tight muscles twist the vertebrae so that certain parts of the vertebrae are more prominent and palpate as “misaligned” or “stuck”. They are usually tender to the touch and often cause pain when the person moves in certain directions, although they don’t always experience pain at rest.”
If you have been seeing a chiropractor, and I do know a few of these guys here in Amarillo, and they tell you that you have a subluxation, and they mean a bone out of place, run. These bad actors will manipulate you into thinking that your spine is weak and is essentially broken without their help. I’ve seen them tell patients that they need to be adjusted 3-5x per week in order to “fix the subluxation” and if you can’t get in to see them that often, well, its just your fault if you continue to have issues. Its unethical and actually just incorrect to how the body works. Fixations occur in the spine frequently for a multitude of reasons, but your bone is not out of place & is fully articulating the bone above and below it, it just may be slightly stuck & not moving in all directions like it should be.
If this is you or someone you know, come down to Ruach Chiropractic. We embody a more nuanced and educated perspective on the body and how we can partner together to improve your health. I focus on empowering patients through treatment, movement education and holistic changes to a patients lifestyle, and will always be up front and honest with you. No scare tactics necessary. I hope to see you all soon.
-with Love,
Dr. Chris
Experience Holistic Healing at Ruach Chiropractic: Your Local Wellness Partner
It all begins with an idea.
We understand that every individual's journey to wellness is unique. That's why we offer a range of personalized therapies designed to address your specific needs, including:
Cupping Therapy: Experience the ancient art of cupping to relieve muscle tension, improve circulation, and promote relaxation.
Soft Tissue Manual Therapy: Our skilled practitioners utilize gentle techniques to release adhesions, improve mobility, and reduce pain.
Spinal Adjustments: Gentle and precise adjustments help restore spinal alignment, alleviate nerve pressure, and enhance overall function.
At Ruach Chiropractic, we believe in empowering you to take charge of your health. That's why we offer:
Tailored No-Commitment Care Plans: We'll work with you to create a personalized plan that fits your lifestyle and goals, with no long-term contracts or hidden fees.
Pay-As-You-Go Options: Enjoy the flexibility of paying for only the services you need, making chiropractic care accessible and affordable.
As a local small business, we're deeply invested in the Amarillo community. We're committed to providing compassionate care and helping our neighbors achieve optimal health and vitality.
Ready to experience the Ruach difference? Schedule your appointment today and discover the power of natural healing. Your journey to a healthier, happier you starts here. Book today to take advantage of $20 off our new patient exam (valued at $55) for adults & even greater discounts for children under the ages of 18!