Possible McHenry 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 uptight world has us all stressed out, back pain and neck pain creates worry, chronic pain anywhere stresses our bodies, pushing blood pressure higher. OrthoIllinois Chiropractic presents 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, particularly its sympathetic (“fight or flight” reactionary part) and parasympathetic (“rest and digest” calm part) functions of the autonomic nervous system, is garnering attention in the clinical setting with normal clients as well as in the sport setting with athletes. A study of delivering spinal manipulation versus a sham treatment with recreational athletes reported that spinal manipulation before exercise sparked a shift toward intensified parasympathetic system function resulting in diminished performance. (1) That is not all bad in the clinical setting! OrthoIllinois Chiropractic knows it’s all about when to apply what type of care to get the best outcomes. Parasympathetic dominance to help reduce pain is good for athletes who may suffer with back pain after their exercise.
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM, HYPERTENSION, AND MANIPULATION
Manual therapies like McHenry spinal manipulation and mobilization at OrthoIllinois Chiropractic are recognized for their ability to treat, reduce, and manage spinal pain related conditions. As an additional benefit, changes 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 potentially quite critical. Blood pressure control is complex, depending on the autonomic nervous system for its regulation while genetics and physiology may also influence it. Quite a few patients - 20-30% of them - with blood pressure issues do not respond to traditional medications. Therefore, alternatives are being studied like chiropractic spinal manipulation therapy. A review of the published literature found promising results that encourage more study. (2) A recent study found that spinal manipulation and mobilization had a statistically significant reduction in systolic blood pressure as well as diastolic blood pressure and heart rate variability though these were statistically non-significant in this study. (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 focus on the top, systolic number, so spinal manipulation’s effect would be appreciated if more studies continue to confirm such effect. OrthoIllinois Chiropractic 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 OrthoIllinois Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he explains how the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management may assist the autonomic system.
Schedule your next McHenry chiropractic appointment with OrthoIllinois Chiropractic now. Hypertension may well meet its match - or at least back down a bit - with chiropractic spinal manipulation! Let us figure it out together.
