Possible Ashburn and Herndon Chiropractic Benefits for Hypertension
Hypertension. Blood Pressure. It’s 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 creates worry, chronic pain anywhere stresses our bodies, nudging blood pressure higher. Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn shares new studies that demonstrate some potential promise of chiropractic and spinal manipulation’s ability to beneficially alter 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 awareness in the clinical setting with normal clients and 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 triggered a shift toward heightened parasympathetic system function giving rise to impaired performance. (1) That’s not all bad in the clinical setting! Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn knows it is all about delivering the right type of treatment at the right time to get the best outcomes. Parasympathetic dominance to enhance pain reduction is good for athletes who may suffer with back pain after their exercise.
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM, HYPERTENSION, AND MANIPULATION
Manual therapies like Ashburn and Herndon spinal manipulation and mobilization at Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn are recognized for their ability to treat, ease, and manage spinal pain related conditions. As an additional 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 possibly quite critical. Blood pressure control is complex, depending on the autonomic nervous system for its regulation while genetics and physiology may also influence it. Some patients - 20-30% of them - with blood pressure issues do not respond to common medications. Consequently, alternatives are being studied like chiropractic spinal manipulation therapy. An evaluation of the published literature found promising results that encourage more study. (2) A newer study found that spinal manipulation and mobilization produced 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 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. Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn 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 Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn
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 Ashburn and Herndon chiropractic appointment with Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn now. Hypertension may well meet its match - or at least back down a bit - with chiropractic spinal manipulation! Let us figure it out together.
