Blood pressure. Hypertension.
It’s a subject among friends and family members and
patient/physician interactions even in yoga classes and via meditation apps.
Our uptight world has us all stressed out, back pain
and neck pain creates worry, chronic pain anywhere stresses our
bodies, nudging blood pressure higher. Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka presents
new studies that demonstrate some potential promise of chiropractic and spinal
manipulation’s being able to beneficially change
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) parts of the autonomic nervous system,
is garnering awareness in the clinical
setting with normal clients as well as in the sport setting with athletes.
A study of using spinal manipulation versus a sham
treatment with recreational athletes revealed that spinal
manipulation before exercise triggered a shift
toward enhanced parasympathetic system function resulting in impaired performance. (1) That’s
not all bad in the clinical setting! Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka knows it’s all
about delivering the right type of treatment at the right time to get the best outcomes. Parasympathetic
dominance to enhance pain reduction is good for athletes
suffering with back pain after their events.
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM, HYPERTENSION, AND MANIPULATION
Manual therapies like Sitka spinal manipulation
and mobilization at Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka are known for their
ability to treat, ease, and handle spinal pain related
conditions. As a side benefit, changes
to the cardiovascular system have been documented. With hypertension
being the global health concern (and even cause of death) that
it is, such changes are potentially quite critical.
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 do not respond to common
medications. Consequently, alternatives are being studied
like chiropractic spinal manipulation therapy. A review of the
published literature discovered promising results that
inspire more study. (2) A newer study found that
spinal manipulation and mobilization had 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 most definitely called for. Systolic blood pressure reflects
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 usually pay
more attention to the top, systolic number, so spinal manipulation’s effect would be appreciated if more studies continue to show such effect. Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka offers gentle spinal manipulation treatment via the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management. Its is research-documented and effective for reducing back and neck pain.
CONTACT Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. James Cox on The Back
Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
describes how the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain
Management may assist the autonomic system.
Make your next Sitka
chiropractic appointment with Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka today.
Hypertension may well meet its match - or at least back down a bit - with chiropractic
spinal manipulation! Let us find out together.