Possible Minster Chiropractic Benefits for Hypertension
Hypertension. Blood Pressure. It is 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 wound up, back pain and neck pain creates worry, chronic pain anywhere stresses our bodies, pushing blood pressure higher. Minster Chiropractic Center presents new studies that show some potential promise of chiropractic and spinal manipulation’s ability to beneficially affect 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 gaining attention 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 found that spinal manipulation before exercise elicited a shift toward intensified parasympathetic system function giving rise to diminished performance. (1) That’s not all bad in the clinical setting! Minster Chiropractic Center knows it’s all about delivering the right type of treatment at the right time to get the best outcomes. Parasympathetic dominance to help reduce pain is good for athletes who experience back pain after their exercise.
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM, HYPERTENSION, AND MANIPULATION
Manual therapies like Minster spinal manipulation and mobilization at Minster Chiropractic Center are recognized for their ability to treat, ease, and handle spinal pain related conditions. As a side benefit, alterations 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 important. Blood pressure control is complex, counting on the autonomic nervous system for its regulation while genetics and physiology may also play a role. Some 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 outcomes 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 study. (3) More research is certainly called for. Systolic blood pressure reflects the force on the blood vessels when the heart beats (top number) while diastolic reveals 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 welcome if more studies continue to record such effect. Minster Chiropractic Center 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 Minster Chiropractic Center
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.
Schedule your next Minster chiropractic appointment with Minster Chiropractic Center now. Hypertension may well meet its match - or at least back down a bit - with chiropractic spinal manipulation! Let us figure it out together.
