Possible Toronto Chiropractic Benefits for Hypertension
Blood pressure. Hypertension. It’s a topic among friends and family members and patient/physician interactions even in yoga classes and via meditation apps. Our tense world has us all stressed out, back pain and neck pain makes us worry, chronic pain anywhere stresses our bodies, pushing blood pressure higher. Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre describes recent studies that demonstrate some potential promise of chiropractic and spinal manipulation’s ability to positively 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) functions 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 enhanced parasympathetic system function giving rise to impaired performance. (1) That’s not all bad in the clinical setting! Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre knows it’s all about delivering the right type of treatment at the right time to get the optimal results. 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 Toronto spinal manipulation and mobilization at Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre are recognized for their ability to treat, ease, and manage spinal pain related conditions. As a bonus benefit, changes to the cardiovascular system have been noted. With hypertension being the global health concern (and even cause of death) that it is, such changes are possibly quite important. Blood pressure control is complex, depending on the autonomic nervous system for its regulation while genetics and physiology may also influence it. Quite a few patients - 20-30% of them - with blood pressure issues don’t respond to usual medications. Consequently, alternatives are being considered like chiropractic spinal manipulation therapy. A review of the published literature found promising results that inspire more study. (2) A recent study found that spinal manipulation and mobilization effected a statistically significant reduction in systolic blood pressure as well as diastolic blood pressure and heart rate variability though these were statistically non-significant in this setting. (3) More research is most definitely 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 commonly focus on the top, systolic number, so spinal manipulation’s effect would be welcome if more studies continue to record such effect. Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre 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 Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he explains how the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management may assist the autonomic system.
Make your next Toronto chiropractic appointment with Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre today. Hypertension may well meet its match - or at least back down a bit - with chiropractic spinal manipulation! Let us find out together.
