What Do We Mean by “Neurological Stability” and “Slack”?
When we talk about neurological stability, we’re referring to how well a child’s nervous system can stay calm, organized, and regulated – even when life happens.
A stable nervous system can:
- Handle stress without spiraling
- Recover quickly after disruptions (poor sleep, illness, growth spurts, travel, teething, emotional stress)
- Maintain balance between the “gas pedal” (sympathetic) and the “brake pedal” (parasympathetic) of the autonomic nervous system
In clinical terms, neurological stability means the brain and nervous system are communicating efficiently and predictably, without being constantly pushed into overdrive, incoordination, or shutdown (exhaustion).
In parent terms?
It means things don’t fall apart so easily.
That’s where the idea of “slack” in the nervous system comes in.
“Slack” describes the buffer, reserve capacity, or margin of safety built into a child’s nervous system. It’s the space that allows the system to absorb stress without tipping right back into dysregulation.
When slack is present, kids sleep more consistently, digestion works well, immune function is strong, sensory input is tolerated well, emotions are more regulated, and things like meltdowns, tantrums, outbursts, episodes, and seizures are less easily triggered.
When slack is missing, even small stressors can create big reactions:
- One rough night of sleep leads to days of dysregulation
- Mild to moderate illness triggers regression
- Sensory input that was previously tolerated isn’t suddenly
- Behavior problems and meltdowns come full force again
- Seizure thresholds drop more easily
Perfect Storm and Neuro Intensive kids often start with very little neurological slack. In fact, most start with none at all, as they are deeply subluxated, dysregulated, and neurologically exhausted (completely out of reserve capacity and shut down).
Their nervous systems are already working overtime just to maintain baseline function – and often can’t – showing up as significant challenges with sleep, digestion, breathing, immune function, motor planning, and postural control.
That means keeping them regulated isn’t about one fix or one system (i.e., gut health) – it’s about continually supporting multiple layers of neurological stability simultaneously.
And that’s exactly why keeping slack in the nervous system can be so challenging… and why it has to be approached strategically, sequentially, and long-term.
Perfect Storm Neuro Intensive cases truly do require a long-term, systems-based approach. Months or even years into care, maintaining regulation and stability means continually supporting multiple layers of the nervous system at once.
In this article, we’ll break down the role of each one into a good bit of detail, focusing on their role in nervous system regulation and stability (or lack thereof).
A Core Foundational Function: Sleep
Primarily, nervous system regulation and stability start with sleep.
If sleep is disrupted (not enough, not continuous, not complete, or high quality, etc.), it does not allow for enough parasympathetic tone to be reset, restored, and “recharged” into the brake pedal of the autonomic nervous system. This is the same as saying it leaves the brain and nervous system shifted into more sympathetic dominance and overdrive, leaving it closer to the adaptability threshold than preferred and more easily disrupted and triggered.
This is where Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care plays a critical role. Specific Neuro-Tonal adjustments help reduce neurospinal tension and sympathetic overdrive, allowing the brainstem and autonomic nervous system to shift out of constant “alert mode.” As that neurological noise quiets, parasympathetic and vagal nerve tone improves – making it easier for the body to initiate sleep, stay asleep, and move through deeper, more restorative sleep cycles.
For many Neuro Intensive and Perfect Storm kids, better sleep isn’t forced or trained – it emerges naturally as the nervous system becomes more adaptive and shifts into healing mode, and then, over time, becomes more regulated and stable.
The Most Overlooked Foundation: Neuro-Motor Tone & Coordination
Second in line would be the Neuro-Sensori-Motor (NSM) System. If subluxation + fascial restrictions set up shop with increased tension, asymmetrical (especially troublesome for seizure cases), reduced ROM (fixation), and distorted or exhausted patterns… it sends more maladaptive, nociceptive, sympathetic-triggering afferent input into the central + autonomic nervous system, dorsal horn, brainstem, cerebellum, and cortex.
The other big thing to consider in this NSM is what happens specifically when neurospinal transition and support zones get exhausted. The cervico-thoracic (CT), thoraco-lumbar (TL), and lumbo-sacral-pelvic core itself serves as an important stabilizer for the body as a whole, and even more specifically for the cervical and brainstem regions. When exhaustion and dormancy (as seen on EMG and postural analysis) show up in these areas, the body actually responds by compensating for this with significant tightening and tension. This in turn leads to more severe fixation, lack of rotational ability, and often asymmetry – which really sends distorting, dysregulating, and irritating signals through the neurosensory system, to the brainstem, and to the brain itself.
The most neurological irritating and instability creating patterns of subluxation are:
- Asymmetrical, counter-torqued, tension filled brainstem + upper cervical region
- Asymmetrical, counter-torqued, tension filled CT junction + upper thoracic region
- Exhausted, asymmetrical, compensatory tension filled transition zones (CT, TL, LP)
Next in the sequence of seeking out nervous system stability and “slack” is gut health + immune function. The function of these two vital systems depends on neurological balance and regulation, since being in sympathetic dominance shuts down digestive motility (peristalsis), leaves the immune system hypersensitive and in a pro-inflammatory state, and suppresses it overall.
Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care also directly supports the Neuro-Sensori-Motor system by improving the quality of input traveling from the spine and muscles into the brain and brainstem. When subluxation, fixation, and asymmetrical tension are reduced through specific adjustments, the nervous system receives clearer, more organized proprioceptive information.
This allows for better postural control, improved coordination, and more efficient muscle tone – especially across key transition and support zones. As NSM tone becomes more balanced and symmetrical, the brain no longer has to work as hard to stabilize the body or stay stuck in compensatory patterns, freeing up neurological resources and creating more overall regulation and “slack” in the system.
Special note – retrained primitive reflexes are the most common example of those compensations, and are not actually a true foundational neurological dysfunction on their own. Therefore, if care protocols and treatment plans focus primarily on retrained reflexes and motor incoordination only, without first foundationally addressing subluxation and its three (3) stages of dysfunction – things can actually go sideways, not forward.
The 3rd Layer of the Foundation: Gut & Immune Health
Gut and immune health are critical pillars of neurological stability, especially in Perfect Storm and Neuro Intensive kids. These systems are deeply intertwined with the autonomic nervous system and the vagus nerve, and are highly sensitive to sympathetic dominance. When the nervous system is stuck in fight-or-flight, digestion slows, immune signaling becomes distorted, inflammation rises, and overall regulation becomes harder to maintain.
From a functional standpoint, a healthy gut depends on effective motility, absorption, assimilation, and elimination. Regular, complete, and comfortable bowel movements are not just digestive markers – they’re signs that parasympathetic (“rest and digest”) pathways are active and that the nervous system has enough slack to support internal regulation. When motility is poor or inconsistent, metabolic byproducts, inflammatory signals, and toxins accumulate, further irritating the brain and nervous system.
The immune system plays a parallel role. Neurological imbalance can leave the immune system either suppressed (frequent illness, poor recovery) or hypersensitive (chronic congestion, inflammation, fevers that escalate quickly, autoimmune patterns). In many Neuro Intensive cases, immune responses are exaggerated not because of true infection, but because the nervous system is already primed and reactive. This is why things like teething, growth spurts, or minor stressors can closely mimic full immune or infectious flares.
Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care supports gut and immune function by improving regulation at the levels that control both: the brainstem, the vagus nerve, and the autonomic nervous system. By addressing subluxation and neurospinal tension, adjustments help shift the body out of sympathetic dominance and stimulate the parasympathetic system, allowing digestive motility to normalize and immune responses to become more appropriate and efficient.
When this neurological foundation is supported, targeted nutrition, dietary strategies, and supplementation can actually work better, rather than constantly fighting an uphill battle against a dysregulated nervous system.
Together, neurological regulation and proper nutritional support help restore rhythm, resilience, and reserve – adding another essential layer of “slack” that protects the nervous system from tipping into instability.
Bonus Layer: Respiration & CO₂ Tolerance
One often-overlooked contributor to neurological instability is respiration quality and carbon dioxide (CO₂) tolerance. Many Perfect Storm kids breathe too quickly, too shallowly, or rely heavily on upper-chest breathing – patterns that keep the nervous system in a constant state of alert. Poor CO₂ tolerance sends continuous “threat” signals to the brainstem, increasing sympathetic tone, lowering seizure threshold, and making regulation much harder to maintain.
Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care supports healthier breathing patterns by reducing tension and restriction through the cervical, thoracic, and rib regions and by improving brainstem and autonomic regulation. As respiratory mechanics and rhythm improve, oxygen delivery becomes more efficient, CO₂ tolerance increases, and the nervous system gains another layer of stability. Over time, better breathing adds meaningful “slack,” helping the system stay calm, resilient, and less reactive to everyday stressors.
Wrapping It All Together
For Neuro Intensive and Perfect Storm kids, neurological stability isn’t built on a single system or intervention. It’s the result of multiple foundational layers working together – sleep, neuro-sensori-motor tone and coordination, gut and immune health, respiration, and ongoing neurological regulation. When even one of these layers becomes strained or exhausted, the nervous system loses slack and becomes far more vulnerable to regression, flare-ups, and instability.
This is why progress in complex cases is rarely linear – and why temporary setbacks don’t mean care isn’t working. They simply highlight how sensitive these systems are and how much ongoing support is required to keep the nervous system regulated, resilient, and adaptable.
There is no better example of that than a simple growth spurt or developmental surge. In a child who has not been pulled into the Perfect Storm of neurological stress, they may complain of some leg soreness, have their sleep disrupted a bit, and be slightly more emotional – but it’s not something that disrupts quality of life or overall health much.
However, the opposite is true for our Perfect Storm + Neuro Intensive cases. Oftentimes, they can remain a good bit unstable for months to years as their brain and nervous system work hard to integrate and hold together all the healing, all the development, and all that life continues to throw at it – all at the exact same time.
Charting the Course to the Ultimate Destination: Neurological Stability
If your child’s regulation feels fragile and unstable – or if progress seems to come and go – you’re not alone. Perfect Storm cases require a deeper, more strategic, neurologically-focused approach that looks beyond symptoms and supports the entire system. With the right care, the right sequencing, and the right support, neurological “slack” can be built, protected, and strengthened over time.
Practically this often looks like one or more of the following in aggregate:
Care Plan Frequency Changes – sometimes increasing, but also sometimes decreasing and creating more rhythm + space into the care plan to allow for rest + integration to happen in between adjustments.
Adjusting Technique Approach Changes – sometimes we need to increase the depth of the adjustments (NT-HVLA), and sometimes we need to decrease it (NT-LF).
Altering Other Interventions – sometimes we need to hit pause or stop altogether on other interventions (therapies, supplementation, detox protocols, etc.), and sometimes we need to add them in slowly, gradually, and sequentially.
While those three (3) levers listed above look pretty simple to sort out here inside this article, there is a lot of depth and clinical decision-making within each one individually. While we use all sorts of clinical assessment + analysis data to make these decisions, the two additional principles that remain very helpful and true during these stuck or regression points are as follows:
- Trust Your Gut – both parents and providers have an innate instinct for a reason.
- “The Only Way To Know Is To Go” – the best way to find out, is to find out.
As always, this article is intended as an additional support resource for parents. The most important thing is to be sure to discuss all this and more at length with your PX Doctor and provider team, ensuring your child gets the best, fully personalized care possible.
