Possible Elgin Chiropractic Benefits for Hypertension
Blood pressure. Hypertension. It’s a topic among friends and family members and patient/physician interactions even in yoga classes and via meditation apps. Our tense world has us all wound up, back pain and neck pain creates worry, chronic pain anywhere stresses our bodies, nudging blood pressure higher. Connected Chiropractic shares recent studies that show some potential promise of chiropractic and spinal manipulation’s ability to positively alter blood pressure.
SPINAL MANIPULATION AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
Spinal manipulation’s effect on the nervous system, specifically its sympathetic (“fight or flight” reactionary part) and parasympathetic (“rest and digest” calm part) functions of the autonomic nervous system, is gaining notice in the clinical setting with normal clients and in the sport setting with athletes. A study of delivering spinal manipulation versus a sham treatment with recreational athletes revealed that spinal manipulation before exercise prompted a shift toward enhanced parasympathetic system function resulting in impaired performance. (1) That is not all bad in the clinical setting! Connected Chiropractic knows it’s all about when to apply what type of care to get the optimal outcomes. Parasympathetic dominance to enhance pain reduction is good for athletes who may suffer with back pain after their exercise.
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM, HYPERTENSION, AND MANIPULATION
Manual therapies like Elgin spinal manipulation and mobilization at Connected Chiropractic are recognized for their ability to treat, ease, and manage spinal pain related conditions. As a bonus benefit, alterations to the cardiovascular system have been documented. With hypertension being the global health concern (and even reason for death) that it is, such changes are possibly quite important. Blood pressure control is complex, depending on the autonomic nervous system for its regulation while genetics and physiology may also play a role. Quite a few patients - 20-30% of them - with blood pressure issues don’t respond to traditional medications. Consequently, alternatives are being considered like chiropractic spinal manipulation therapy. A review of the published literature found promising results that encourage more study. (2) A newer study found that spinal manipulation and mobilization produced a statistically significant decrease in systolic blood pressure as well as diastolic blood pressure and heart rate variability though these were statistically non-significant in this setting. (3) More research is certainly called for. Systolic blood pressure reveals the force on the blood vessels when the heart beats (top number) while diastolic reflects the pressure in the arteries when the heart rests between beats (bottom number). Doctors most often pay more attention to the top, systolic number, so spinal manipulation’s effect would be appreciated if more studies continue to confirm such effect. Connected Chiropractic offers gentle spinal manipulation treatment via the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management. It’s research-documented and effective for reducing back and neck pain.
CONTACT Connected Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he illustrates how the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management may assist the autonomic system.
Make your next Elgin chiropractic appointment with Connected Chiropractic now. Hypertension may well meet its match - or at least back down a bit - with chiropractic spinal manipulation! Let’s figure it out together.
