Possible Concord, NC Chiropractic Benefits for Hypertension

July 21, 2021

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 tense world has us all wound up, back pain and neck pain makes us worry, chronic pain anywhere stresses our bodies, pushing blood pressure higher. Pure Chiropractic shares new studies that demonstrate 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 gaining attention in the clinical setting with normal clients as well as in the sport setting with athletes. A study of delivering spinal manipulation versus a sham treatment with recreational athletes revealed that spinal manipulation before exercise prompted a shift toward intensified parasympathetic system function resulting in impaired performance. (1) That’s not all bad in the clinical setting! Pure Chiropractic knows it’s 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 experience back pain after their exercise.  

CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM, HYPERTENSION, AND MANIPULATION

Manual therapies like Concord, NC spinal manipulation and mobilization at Pure Chiropractic are recognized for their ability to treat, ease, and handle spinal pain related conditions. As a side benefit, changes 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 possibly quite critical. Blood pressure control is complex, relying 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 common medications. Therefore, alternatives are being considered like chiropractic spinal manipulation therapy. An evaluation of the published literature discovered promising results that encourage more study. (2) A newer 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 most definitely 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 most often focus on the top, systolic number, so spinal manipulation’s effect would be welcome if more studies continue to record such effect.   Pure Chiropractic offers gentle spinal manipulation treatment via the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.  It’s research-documented and efficacious for reducing back and neck pain.                          

CONTACT Pure Chiropractic

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 Concord, NC chiropractic appointment with Pure Chiropractic now. Hypertension may well meet its match - or at least back down a bit - with chiropractic spinal manipulation! Let us figure it out together. 

Pure Chiropractic presents new research favoring chiropractic spinal manipulation’s potential benefit for addressing blood pressure issues.