Where does your stress go? Neck? Upper back? Head? Low back? Do you want
some assistance in relaxing? Chiropractic spinal manipulation may
well produce relaxing effects particularly when applied
to the cervical and thoracic spine regions. Apple Country Chiropractic sees
stress every day. Apple Country Chiropractic hears our Williamson
chiropractic patients request more spine treatment once they experience
how good it is! Wise chiropractic patients!
MEASURING RESPONSES TO SPINAL MANIPULATION: STRESS
First, how do we react to
stress? Sweaty palms. Rapid pulse and heart rate. We can feel these responses.
Researchers want to measure these responses. Measuring
blood pressure, heart rate variability,
heart rate, and numeric pain scale after treating upper and lower cervical
spine segments of healthy and neck pain patients, researchers found
that upper cervical manipulation boosted
parasympathetic (calming) system and lower cervical manipulation enhanced
sympathetic (fight or flight) activity. Interestingly, neck
pain patients’ parasympathetic activity was boosted by
both upper and lower cervical manipulation. (1) Apple Country Chiropractic notes
that the effect of touch alone is powerful.
EFFECTS OF MANIPULATION ON STRESS RESPONSES
The body responds to all types of stimuli.
Researchers attempt to document how. One
group performed a meta-analysis of multiple studies about
the effect of spinal manipulation and mobilization on cardiovascular responses.
Changes in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure
and heart rate were charted. They determined
that spinal manipulation and mobilization may bring about a
significant decrease of systolic as well as diastolic blood
pressure. (2) An analysis of articles about the effect of spinal manipulation
on heart rate variability stated that a greater
parasympathetic response was seen when cervical and lumbar spine
areas were treated while a greater sympathetic response was seen
when the thoracic spine was treated. (3) Another study correlated
pain response to resting blood pressure pre- and post-cervical spine non-thrust
manipulation. Non-chronic neck pain patients who underwent such manipulation experienced
reduced short-term pain and decreased systolic blood
pressure. (4) There’s
something to manipulation beyond pain relief, and Apple Country Chiropractic is thrilled
to present the research as it is made available.
SPINAL MANIPULATION TREATMENT
Apple Country Chiropractic uses gentle spinal manipulation
applied to the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine areas to decrease
pain. Spinal manipulation of the thoracic spine effectively manages
painful mechanical thoracic spine pain better than placebo treatment. (5) Effects
of thoracic manipulation go beyond the thoracic spine. Benefits
of manipulation of the thoracic spine reach the cervical spine
for patients with bilateral chronic mechanical neck pain. Thoracic thrust manipulation
and non-thrust mobilization produce similar changes in patients’
pressure pain thresholds and decrease neck pain intensity. (6) These
are benefits of Williamson chiropractic care Apple Country Chiropractic is well-experienced
to provide.
CONTACT Apple Country Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. James Cox on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
illustrates how chiropractic and The Cox® Technic
System of Spinal Pain Management may well address parasympathetic
and sympathetic and pain responses in the body.
Make your next Williamson
chiropractic appointment soon. Your neck and shoulders and upper
back will appreciate the attention as will your reduced
pain and heart rate and blood pressure after a gentle Williamson spinal
manipulation session.