Possible Minster Chiropractic Benefits for Hypertension

Blood pressure. Hypertension. It is a subject among friends and family members and patient/physician interactions even in yoga classes and via meditation apps. Our tense world has us all wound up, back pain and neck pain makes us worry, chronic pain anywhere stresses our bodies, nudging blood pressure higher. Minster Chiropractic Center shares new studies that show some potential promise of chiropractic and spinal manipulation’s ability to beneficially change 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) parts of the autonomic nervous system, is gaining notice in the clinical setting with normal clients as well as in the sport setting with athletes. A study of utilizing spinal manipulation versus a sham treatment with recreational athletes found that spinal manipulation before exercise triggered a shift toward heightened parasympathetic system function giving rise to diminished performance. (1) That is not all bad in the clinical setting! Minster Chiropractic Center knows it is all about delivering the right type of treatment at the right time to get the best results. 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 manage spinal pain related conditions. As an additional benefit, alterations to the cardiovascular system have been noted. 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, counting 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 traditional medications. Consequently, 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 effected 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 most definitely called for. Systolic blood pressure reveals 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 most often pay more attention to the top, systolic number, so spinal manipulation’s effect would be welcome if more studies continue to show such effect.   Minster Chiropractic Center offers gentle spinal manipulation treatment via the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.  Its is research-documented and efficacious 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 soon. Hypertension may well meet its match - or at least back down a bit - with chiropractic spinal manipulation! Let’s figure it out together.