Where do you carry
your stress? Neck? Upper back? Head? Low back? Do you want
some help relaxing? Chiropractic spinal manipulation may
well produce relaxing effects particularly when directed
to the cervical and thoracic spine regions. OrthoIllinois Chiropractic observes
stress daily. OrthoIllinois Chiropractic hears our McHenry
chiropractic patients ask for more spine treatment once they experience
how good it is! Wise chiropractic patients!
MEASURING RESPONSES TO SPINAL MANIPULATION: STRESS
Initially, how do we react to
stress? Sweaty palms. Rapid pulse and heart rate. We can feel these responses.
Researchers want to quantify these responses. Measuring
heart rate variability, blood pressure,
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 improved
parasympathetic (calming) system and lower cervical manipulation improved
sympathetic (fight or flight) activity. Curiously, neck
pain patients’ parasympathetic activity was improved by
both upper and lower cervical manipulation. (1) OrthoIllinois Chiropractic notes
that the effect of touch alone is influential.
EFFECTS OF MANIPULATION ON STRESS RESPONSES
The body responds to all types of stimuli.
Researchers strive to see how. One
group did 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 together with diastolic blood
pressure. (2) An analysis of articles about the effect of spinal manipulation
on heart rate variability reported that a greater
parasympathetic response was seen when cervical and lumbar spine
areas were treated while a larger sympathetic response was noticed
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 had
reduced short-term pain and decreased systolic blood
pressure. (4) There’s
something to manipulation beyond pain relief, and OrthoIllinois Chiropractic is thrilled
to present the research as it comes available.
SPINAL MANIPULATION TREATMENT
OrthoIllinois Chiropractic uses gentle spinal manipulation
applied to the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine areas to decrease
pain. Spinal manipulation of the thoracic spine effectively influences
painful mechanical thoracic spine pain better than placebo treatment. (5) Effects
of thoracic manipulation transcend 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 deliver similar changes in patients’
pressure pain thresholds and reduce neck pain intensity. (6) These
are benefits of McHenry chiropractic care OrthoIllinois Chiropractic is well-experienced
to deliver.
CONTACT OrthoIllinois Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. James Cox on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
describes how chiropractic and The Cox® Technic
System of Spinal Pain Management may well address parasympathetic
and sympathetic as well as pain responses in the body.
Schedule your next McHenry
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 McHenry spinal
manipulation session.