Possible Baton Rouge 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 uptight world has us all stressed out, back pain and neck pain makes us worry, chronic pain anywhere stresses our bodies, nudging blood pressure higher. Spine & Sports Rehab Center shares recent studies that demonstrate some potential promise of chiropractic and spinal manipulation’s being able to positively 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 delivering spinal manipulation versus a sham treatment with recreational athletes reported that spinal manipulation before exercise elicited a shift toward intensified parasympathetic system function giving rise to diminished performance. (1) That’s not all bad in the clinical setting! Spine & Sports Rehab Center knows it’s all about when to apply what type of care to get the optimal outcomes. Parasympathetic dominance to help reduce pain is good for athletes who may suffer with back pain after their events.  

CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM, HYPERTENSION, AND MANIPULATION

Manual therapies like Baton Rouge spinal manipulation and mobilization at Spine & Sports Rehab Center are recognized for their ability to treat, ease, and manage 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 important. Blood pressure control is complex, relying 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. Therefore, alternatives are being studied like chiropractic spinal manipulation therapy. A review of the published literature found promising outcomes that encourage more study. (2) A recent study found that spinal manipulation and mobilization made 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 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 record such effect.   Spine & Sports Rehab 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 Spine & Sports Rehab 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 Baton Rouge chiropractic appointment with Spine & Sports Rehab Center soon. Hypertension may well meet its match - or at least back down a bit - with chiropractic spinal manipulation! Let us figure it out together.