Possible West Palm Beach 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 uptight world has us all wound up, back pain and neck pain makes us worry, chronic pain anywhere stresses our bodies, pushing blood pressure higher. Chiropractic Care shares new studies that show some potential promise of chiropractic and spinal manipulation’s being able to positively change 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 garnering 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 revealed that spinal manipulation before exercise triggered a shift toward intensified parasympathetic system function resulting in impaired performance. (1) That’s not all bad in the clinical setting! Chiropractic Care knows it is all about when to apply what type of care to get the optimal outcomes. Parasympathetic dominance to enhance pain reduction is good for athletes suffering with back pain after their events.  

CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM, HYPERTENSION, AND MANIPULATION

Manual therapies like West Palm Beach spinal manipulation and mobilization at Chiropractic Care are known for their ability to treat, ease, and handle spinal pain related conditions. As a side benefit, changes 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 critical. Blood pressure control is complex, depending 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 do not respond to common medications. Therefore, alternatives are being considered like chiropractic spinal manipulation therapy. An evaluation of the published literature discovered promising outcomes that inspire more study. (2) A recent study found that spinal manipulation and mobilization made 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 needed. 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 pay more attention to the top, systolic number, so spinal manipulation’s effect would be welcome if more studies continue to record such effect.   Chiropractic Care offers gentle spinal manipulation treatment via the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.  It’s research-documented and effective for reducing back and neck pain.                          

CONTACT Chiropractic Care

Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes how the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management may assist the autonomic system.

Make your next West Palm Beach chiropractic appointment with Chiropractic Care now. Hypertension may well meet its match - or at least back down a bit - with chiropractic spinal manipulation! Let’s find out together.