International Chiropractic Pediatric Association| Source: www.toyourhealth.com | |||||||
Chiropractic Better Than Medication for Relieving Neck Pain
 A study published in the Jan. 3, 2012 issue of the research journal Annals of Internal Medicine suggests chiropractic spinal manipulation is more effective than over-the-counter and prescription medication for relieving acute neck pain.Spinal manipulative therapy was more effective than medication in both the short and long term.The study involved 272 adults ages 18-65 with neck pain of two to 12 weeks’ duration. Spinal manipulation was provided courtesy of a doctor of chiropractic.Instead of chiropractic care, some patients in the study group received medication as monitored by a licensed medical physician. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), acetaminophen (aspirin), or both served as the first line of pharmacological therapy. With patients who did not respond to or could not tolerate these drugs, narcotic medications and muscle relaxants were prescribed. “Participants who received medication seemed to fare worse, with a consistently higher use of pain medications for neck pain throughout the trial’s observational period,” said the study authors. In other words, chiropractic was a much better choice than medication for neck pain. Interestingly enough, a third group of patients who received home exercise advice instead of chiropractic care or medication also fared better than the medication group during the study period. That means two forms of conservative, drug-free care – both of which are commonly provided by doctors of chiropractic – were more effective than over-the-counter and/or prescription drugs. The moral of the story? The next time you or someone you know is suffering from neck pain, don’t turn to the medicine cabinet or a medical doctor; turn to your doctor of chiropractic.
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
|
January 20, 2012
To Your Health Newsletter 01-19-2012
January 6, 2012
To Your Health Newsletter 01-05-2011
|
[Source www.toyourhealth.com]
Regardless of your occupation, the physical demands of your job – whether you’re sitting at a desk all day, lifting heavy objects or running from location to location – can take a serious toll on your body. That’s where chiropractic care can help. In this interview with Timothy Wegscheid, DC, find out why he became a chiropractor and how he provides chiropractic care and ergonomic assessments to employees at a unique place of business: the Minnesota Zoo. Describe how you became interested in providing chiropractic care at the workplace. After I graduated from Northwestern College of Chiropractic in 1996, my father telephoned my office for an appointment, as he had strained his lower spine. He had been a lifetime employee at 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing), and I remembered visits to 3M’s headquarters a couple of times as a kid. I was amazed at how large their headquarters were. They had everything there: a medical facility, a pharmacy and even a place to get your shoes shined and your hair cut. So, in reply to my dad’s request, I responded with, “Why don’t you see your chiropractor at work?” He responded, “What chiropractor?” This led me to ask the most basic of questions: “Why don’t you have a chiropractor on-site?” I understand you are currently involved with an exciting project with the Minnesota Zoo. How did this opportunity arise? The Minnesota Zoo is owned by the State of Minnesota. It opened in 1978 and is located in my home town of Apple Valley. The zoo has around 170 full-time employees year-round. Toward the end of my occupational health diplomate program, I asked the head of safety and security for the zoo, if he would be open to having me provide on-site chiropractic care for the zoo’s employees. He immediately understood the potential benefits of doing so, and with his assistance, we were able to implement an on-site chiropractic program. Describe the major occupational health services you are providing at the zoo. The zoo’s employees are divided into two groups: the physical labor portion (zookeepers, grounds crew, maintenance, etc.) and the more sedentary portion (administrative, guest services, etc.). As it turns out, an approximately equal distribution of workers has chosen to see me. The zoo supplied me with an exam / treatment room, in which I provide chiropractic care, acupuncture and rehab for any neuromusculoskeletal symptoms the workers experience. So, does your chiropractor provide chiropractic care and ergonomic assessments at your place of business? If not, you may want to pass this article on to your employer and suggest they contact your chiropractor. It’s a win-win-win situation for employers, employees and your DC.
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
|
March 5, 2011
Keys to Whole Body Health
Take a moment to look at your body. Quickly glance at your arms, hands, hips, legs and feet. Do you realize that you have approximately 640 muscles that are responsible for moving the 206 bones in your body? How do you get these muscles to move those bones? It has to do with the way the spinal cord and the nerves send information out to the body. It might surprise you to know that many common ailments that we experience, like headaches, lower back pain and shoulder pain, can have links to the muscles, bones and spinal nerves.
The spine is made up of 29 vertebrae that are divided up by specific regions of the body: cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacrum. Think of the spine as a protective housing for your spinal cord that lives in the center of the vertebrae. At every level of the spine, nerves branch off of the spinal cord, move past the vertebrae and outward to supply the different parts of the body.
Furthermore, as the nerves branch off from the spine, certain ones move out farther and farther, going all the way to the hands and feet. While a nerve is traveling, it must repeatedly pass by or around different bones. It stands to reason that the position of the bones is important. If the bones are not in correct position, or “out of alignment,” the nerves will be compromised.
An easy way to remember how the body works is that the vertebrae, spinal cord and nerves affect everything from your toes all the way up to your nose. As an example, migraines and other headaches can be caused when the spinal vertebrae in the neck region are misaligned. This causes pressure on the nerves as they branch off of the spinal cord and move through the vertebrae out to the muscles of the neck and head. This compromised nerve flow also affects the circulation of blood to and from the area. All of these factors play an important role in headaches.
If our vertebrae are in good, proper alignment over time, then the spinal cord and nerves function without any interference. The simple idea of keeping the spine lined up as much as possible will keep our body healthy.
Regular chiropractic care, massage, acupuncture, exercise and a nutritious diet are all important facets of good spinal health. The key here is to realize that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Regular practices of spinal health will not only keep you feeling great, but also will help protect you in the future from many problems that could arise, including neck pain, headaches, shoulder pain, tennis / golfer’s elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, hip pain, sciatica, knee pain, and ankle and foot pain. Your chiropractor can tell you more about the importance of the spine and its connection to whole-body health.
[Source: www.toyourhealth.com]
October 27, 2010
To Your Health Newsletter 10-25-2010
The term “improved function” has been used by chiropractors for years to help patients understand the benefits of chiropractic care and the role it plays in true wellness. The body is made up of muscles, organs and glands that are controlled by the nervous system, and the nervous system consists of the brain, spinal cord and nerves.
The brain sends signals down the spine and to the nerves, which tell the heart to beat, the lungs to breathe, the stomach to digest, the glands to produce necessary hormones, and so on. It’s when the signals don’t get from the spinal cord to the nerves and then from the nerves to the muscles, organs and glands that the body begins to lose proper function and symptoms begin to occur.
Mainstream medicine doesn’t recognize these symptoms as simple alerts from the body that there’s something amiss, but instead as something that must be eliminated through chemicals or pharmaceuticals. They don’t seek wellness, but rather a lack of symptoms.
The biggest difference between mainstream medicine and wellness care is just that: medicine. Today’s medical professionals are still treating symptoms instead of the cause of the problem. The bigger problem lies with the fact that the medicines usually begin to create their own list of symptoms that must be treated with more medicines. It’s a domino effect leading not to health and wellness, but to illness and dependence.
These days, the term wellness is being overused and abused by a society that recognizes its importance but doesn’t understand its application. Marketing departments around the globe are throwing the word around because it’s popular, but often it’s simply being used as a gimmick to improve sales of products that have nothing to do with improved health and function.
We live in a society that’s been conditioned to believe there’s a medication or a surgical procedure to fix every problem. Is that really the way you want to live your life? Now that you understand wellness, start doing something to ensure you can enjoy it. Talk to your chiropractor to learn more.
Nutritionally, there is no perfect food, although a few come pretty close. And even if there were, who’d want to eat the same thing every meal, every day? Fortunately, variety and healthy eating can go hand in hand, particularly if you know where to look. Take a look at these foods that pack a nutritional punch and can be incorporated into a wide variety of meal plans.
Beets: Beets were one of the most successful crops in the Biosphere project. Basically, it simulated living on the moon. And if you had to pick one vegetable to take with you to the moon, you’d do well to pick beets. The roots and leaves are packed with antioxidant phytochemicals, provide much-needed minerals and vitamins, and are a good source of fiber.
Rye: Obesity statistics suggest a good portion of us could use some help battling the scale, and rye is on your side. Rye has an excellent reputation for helping us feel full, produces a low insulin response, and is typically a good source of fiber. It is a rich source of minerals, too.
Organic Berries: This isn’t a hard sell, right? Juicy, bright, and tasty, berries add fiber, vitamins and antioxidants to your diet. These little gems appear to support healthy arteries, cognition, inflammation and eyesight. Many studies have found a benefit in drinking cranberry or blueberry juice for prevention of urinary tract infections.
Fermented foods: Face it Mr. Clean, the human body needs bacteria, and fermented foods provide “good” bacteria (probiotics) to give our native colonies a helping hand. Clinical trials continue to examine the benefits of probiotics on gastrointestinal complaints like diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome, as well as for conditions such as colic and eczema in infants.
Legumes: This low-fat, no-cholesterol source of protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals is among the best foods we can eat. As a substitute for meat-based protein, beans can help support our drive for heart health. And the fiber and protein in legumes are excellent tools in our weight-management toolbox.
Whether you’re in good health, rehabbing a recent injury or have arthritis, osteoporosis or other chronic condition, the following key points should be followed to ensure you get the most out of your workout. Remember to talk to your doctor first so the two of you can work together to design an exercise program that’s right for you.
LESSON 1: Before starting an exercise program, you and your health professional need to understand what your immediate goals are. Are you trying to lose weight? Increase strength? Train for a particular sport? Do you have any swelling? Pain? Weakness? Are your joints stiff? Once you know what you want to accomplish, it’s a lot easier to figure out where to start.
LESSON 2: Exercise should consist of three clear phases. Begins with five to 10 minutes of warm-ups. Keep in mind that a “warm-up” is not the same as stretching.
LESSON 3: Type of exercise is just as important as the three phases. Try to incorporate different types of programs, such as stretching, strength training, balance training, and aerobic conditioning. Each of these affects the joints and body in different ways. By using all of them, you’ll be able to make better gains in your health.
LESSON 4: There can be some discomfort with exercise at first. Therefore, precaution should be taken to ensure you don’t injure yourself. Remember that your body’s response to exercise can change day by day. You shouldn’t feel pain, particularly sudden/sharp pain, when you are exercising.
LESSON 5: Rest time is crucial for strength training. In the past, people tended to weight train every day. Research is showing that if a body doesn’t get enough rest, it will break down instead of building up. Therefore, never strength train the same body part two days in a row. Always allow at least two days in between, if not longer.
LESSON 6: Lifestyle activities are also effective forms of exercise. For example, gardening, going for hikes, taking the stairs at work, or playing catch with your kids or grandkids is just as effective in producing positive effects as a more traditional “gym” program.
LESSON 7: Most guidelines recommend 20 to 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per day. However, if you are not able to do this, then break it up into five-minute bouts several times a day. Research shows that doing smaller bouts of exercise through the day is just as beneficial as one continuous session.
[Source: www.toyourhealth.com]
October 9, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Holidays Can Be a Pain in the Neck!
Here are some tips from the BC Chiropractic Association to make your Thanksgiving holiday weekend enjoyable, and pain-free:
- If you have to drive more than two hours to visit friends and relatives, take a break; get out of your vehicle and stretch. This temporarily restores normal posture, which will help prevent a recurrence of neck or low back conditions.
- When loading your vehicle for the trip, organize your luggage and packages into smaller loads, as opposed to one large suitcase, cardboard box or carrying case.
- Wear your seatbelt. Adjust vehicle headrests so that the top is no more than two inches below the top of the back of the head. Many of the estimated 20 million car accident victims suffering whiplash injuries in North America could have prevented much of the injury had their vehicle seat headrests been adjusted properly.
- Make sure your children have support. Use the proper car seat/booster seat with a head rest or a child-sized neck pillow so that they do not flop over if they fall asleep in the car. Flopping forward can impact your child’s ability to breathe and flopping over sideways can cause misalignments in your child’s neck vertebrae.
- It’s OK to be a couch potato this weekend, but don’t slouch on the sofa and don’t fall asleep on the recliner, as two or three vertebrae in the spine can assume a sharp angle. When you sit up, the normal movement isn’t restored. We often see people walking into our office with their heads sideways, because by slouching, the position of the joints irritates the nerves and blood vessels, causing muscle spasm.
- Avoid bending directly over the oven door to lift out the turkey. Crouch down, pull out the oven shelf, and use your legs for better balance. Avoid putting all the weight-bearing stress on the lower spine. This helps reduce the sharp leverage on the lower spine.
With these few simple tips, the Chiropractic Doctors of BC wish everyone a healthy, happy Thanksgiving holiday.
September 10, 2010
The Cause of 96% of All Diseases
If your Chiropractor knew what caused 96% of all diseases and how to prevent it, would you want to know more about it?
In some amazing research, Dr. Henry Winsor, M.D. of the University of Pennsylvania did autopsies to determine if there was any connection between minor distortions of the spinal bones and diseased organs, or whether the two were entirely independent of each other. His purpose was to disprove what was then known as the “chiropractic theory”. Dr. Winsor carefully examined any diseased organs, the nerves that supplied the organ, and the spinal bones that protected that nerve. He discovered that 221 structures, other than the spine, were diseased. Of these, 212 were observed to belong to the same sympathetic nerve segments (autonomic nerves) as the spinal bone in the distortion. This is a 96% correlation. 96% of the nerves that supplied the diseased organ came from a damaged spinal level.
The other nine (9) diseased organs were supplied by nerves from spinal bones that were not found to be out of alignment. Dr. Winsor explained that the autonomic nerves enter through a spinal nerve and leave the spinal cord through another spinal nerve after traveling up or down the cord several spinal levels. He felt this accounted for the remaining 4% of apparent discrepancies. His conclusion was that there was nearly a 100% correlation between minor distortions of the spinal bone, the irritation of the autonomic nerves and the diseases of the internal organs. Nerve damage correlated with all 20 cases of heart disease, all 13 cases of liver disease, all 9 cases of stomach disease, all 26 cases of lung disease, and all 8 cases of prostate and bladder disease.
Dr. Winsor concluded that “irritation near the origin of the sympathetic nerve (autonomic nerve) will cause functional or organic changes in the organs supplied by the portion of the sympathetic nerve irritated.” Based on his research it was found that nearly 100% of all diseased organs may be a result of irritation to the nerve that supplies that organ. He further discovered that the irritation occurred where the spinal nerve exits from between the spinal bones. This research changed what was known as the “chiropractic theory” into fact.
May 18, 2010
To Your Health Newsletter 05-15-2010
Back Pain: Exercises to Help Healing
When it comes to back pain, your first thoughts may be to take over-the-counter pain medication and rest whenever possible. Two bad options. First, medication is only going to temporarily relieve the pain, if at all, and may be accompanied by various unpleasant side effects attributable to drugs. Second, rest may actually hurt more than help. While you’re seeing your chiropractor, there are a few things you can do at home to help the healing process. Believe it or not, it’s based on the simple principle of movement.
When you stop moving, everything tightens up, circulation slows down, and pain chemicals accumulate in your muscles and joints. It’s like waking up after sleeping in a cold room on a lousy mattress with a draft. You need to move. Here are two simple exercises to get you started (discuss these with your doctor first):
Exercise #1: Backward Bending (extension of the lumbar spine). An exercise called the McKenzie extension is the first thing you should try if you have sciatica (pain running down your leg). If these exercises work, your pain will diminish and may centralize, which is a good thing. Centralize means your pain goes less far down your leg, and you may feel it closer to the spine. Bending backward may not feel good at first, but you should feel better immediately afterward. If you feel worse afterward or the pain goes farther down your leg, stop, as this is not the exercise for you.
How to Do It: Lie face-down on the floor, arms bent at your sides (sort of like a starting push-up posture). Straighten your arms up slowly, lifting your upper body off the floor as you do so. Your legs and feet should stay on the ground. Hold for 3-5 seconds, then slowly lower your upper body back down. Repeat 10 times, as often as once per hour
Exercise #2: Flexion Exercises (bringing the leg toward the chest). People with lower back pain can also feel better with various types of leg flexion, bringing the bent leg toward the chest, or doing contract-relax and then bringing the bent leg toward the chest. These people usually have sacroiliac joint problems. (The SI joints are located on either side of the spine in the lower back.)
How to Do It: Lie on your back with one leg bent and then other flat on the floor. Bring the bent leg up toward the chest. Wrap your arms around the leg and then try to lower it toward the floor for 3-5 seconds, resisting with your arms. Relax, and then pull the bent leg up farther toward the chest. Repeat the entire process three times.
To reduce your risk of injury, consult with your doctor before doing these exercises for the first time, particularly if your pain is new and/or you would like further explanation of how to perform the exercises correctly.
Break Free of the Disease Diet
The SAD fact is that cultures that eat the reverse of the “Standard American Diet” – low fat, high in complex carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables and fiber, etc. – have a lower incidence of obesity, cancer and coronary artery disease. What’s even more SAD is that countries whose populations can afford to eat the healthiest disease-preventing foods don’t. America spends more money on weight loss than any country in the world, yet the American diet contributes to the very conditions we spend so much money to prevent.
Research conducted at the University of San Francisco Department of Medicine by Drs. Lynda Frassetto and Anthony Sebastian, and subsequently published in the prestigious Journal of Gerontology, clearly demonstrates that as we get older our bodies accumulate acid wastes. They attribute the accumulation of acid and the reduction of the alkaline state as we age to eating the Standard American Diet (SAD), and conclude that the role of age-related metabolic acidosis in the cause of adult degenerative disease warrants consideration.
So, it’s obvious that we must consume more “alkaline” fruits, vegetables and plant foods to fight off disease as we age. Our SAD choices in food must change. Education and the new advances in food technologies are the keys. It’s as simple as replacing the Standard American Diet, which is:
 |
High in animal fats including dairy products |
|
High in unhealthy fats: saturated, hydrogenated |
|
Low in fiber |
|
High in processed foods |
|
Low in complex carbohydrates |
|
Low in fruits, vegetables and other plant-based foods |
with a healthier diet that focuses on alkaline fruits, vegetables and plant foods, including the following:
|
Tomatoes |
|
Carrots |
|
Spinach |
|
Broccoli |
|
Blueberries |
|
Raspberries |
Talk to your doctor for more information on how you can break free of the SAD cycle of weight gain and disease and achieve your health goals.
Avoid Common Exercise Mistakes
The most important goal when undertaking any exercise program is not to build muscle, burn fat, increase cardiovascular capacity, or anything else. Those are important, but the number-one priority is to keep from being injured. That’s the only way you’ll have a real chance of reaching your fitness goals. Here are four movements to avoid when exercising, along with a few exercises that are often performed incorrectly:
| 1. | Don’t use jerking motions, especially when lifting. Speed is fine when done appropriately, but you should always have fluid motion and proper form when performing any and all exercises; otherwise you could strain or even tear something. |
| 2. | Don’t use body parts not required for the exercise. Have you ever seen people doing biceps curls and rounding their shoulders or arching their backs? Those are just two of the big no-no’s that can lead to injury. |
| 3. | Don’t lock out your knees or elbows. Never lock your joints when working out; keep them slightly bent so the weight will not be transferred to the joints. |
| 4. | Don’t arch your back. Picture someone on the barbell bench press, lifting a weight that is actually too heavy for them. Chances are that eventually, they will start arching their back. Sooner than later, that back is going to give out and they won’t be able to exercise for days, weeks or even longer. |
Push-ups. The wrong way: You should never have a dip or arch in your back or lock your arms. The right way: Arms should be underneath you and not locked, back parallel to the floor. Engage your “core” the entire time (squeeze your glutes and draw in your belly button).
Walking lunges. The wrong way: When performing a lunge, extending the front knee past the front foot will cause injury at some point. The right way: When you are in a split stance, go straight down and do not let your front knee go past your foot.
Squats. The wrong way: Knees coming forward over your toes. The right way: Perform this exercise as if you were sitting back on a chair and putting 80 percent of your weight on your heels. Then lean slightly forward so you won’t fall back.
Chest press. The wrong way: Lifting the weight using your back (high arch). The right way: Keep your back flat and relax your shoulders while lifting the weight.
And let’s not forget about the right and wrong way to exercise in general. Get some expert advice prior to working out. Most gyms have personal trainers who will give you a free consultation and show you some basic machines and correct postures. Your doctor is also a good source of information, particularly if they specialize in exercise and rehab protocols.
May 10, 2010
Maximize Your Potential Workshop
You are invited to attend a “Maximum Potential” Evening workshop: Monday, May 17th from 6:00-6:30pm, hosted by Dr. Stacey Rosenberg.
Come and join us and discover simple ways to reclaim you health, keep it once you’ve got it, and maximize your potential!
RSVP: by email chiropractor@dccnet.com or call Donna or Edda 604-886-7080 (so we know how many goodies to have!)
May 8, 2010
Sacroiliac Joint May Play a Much Greater Role in Low Back Pain
The article was written by the combined efforts of the ChiroACCESS editorial staff.
From: ChiroACCESS ; Published on April 29, 2010
It is well documented that low back pain is the most common presenting complaint in a chiropractic office. A growing body of evidence has elevated the importance of the sacroiliac joint in low back pain and suggested a reduction in the role of the lumbar spine as likely the most common cause. This April 2010 study was supported by the Arthritis Society and conducted at Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College. Radiographs of 315 patients ages 18-60 with chronic low back pain greater than 3 months duration were included in the study. Two radiologists read the films and categorized the SI joint as normal, degenerative or inflammatory. The authors found that “a significantly large proportion of the cohort (23.8%) had degenerative changes in the SI joint. Degenerative change in the SI joint has received little attention in prior investigations and is clinically under-recognized…it appears unrelated to concurrent OA in the lumbar spine.”
A clinical review was created for ChiroACCESS that provides great detail related to the prevention, diagnosis and management of SI joint conditions. That review can be found here http://www.chiroaccess.com/Conditions/Biomechanical-Sacroiliac-Joint-Pain.aspx.
Inflammatory and degenerative sacroiliac joint disease in a primary back pain cohort.
Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2010 Apr;62(4):447-54.
O’Shea FD, Boyle E, Salonen DC, Ammendolia C, Peterson C, Hsu W, Inman RD.
Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of sacroiliac (SI) joint abnormalities in a primary low back pain population remains unresolved. The aims of our study were to define the prevalence of SI joint disease in this cohort, and to identify clinical features that might accurately predict radiographic changes in the SI joint and spine.
METHODS: Lumbar spine and anteroposterior pelvis radiographs taken over a 3-year period for the evaluation of back pain at a major chiropractic college were scored for the presence of inflammatory or degenerative features. Data were subsequently extracted by means of a predetermined template from the clinical notes. The outcomes were correlated using Spearman’s correlation coefficients.
RESULTS: We identified 315 patients (173 men, 142 women), ages 18-60 years. Of these, 100 patients (31.7%) demonstrated SI joint abnormalities: 75 (23.8%) degenerative, 25 (7.9%) inflammatory. Sex was strongly associated with type of SI joint pathology; degenerative disease was predominantly found in women (68%), whereas inflammatory disease was predominantly found in men (63%). In women there was no correlation between degenerative SI joint abnormalities and degenerative changes in the lumbar spine. Of the clinical descriptors evaluated, none were associated with the radiographic findings with the exception of buttock pain, which was associated with inflammatory sacroiliitis. Neither being overweight nor pregnancy history was associated with degenerative changes in the SI joint.
CONCLUSION: In a primary back pain cohort, degenerative SI joint disease may be an under-recognized clinical entity. It is strongly influenced by sex but is unrelated to degenerative changes in the lumbar spine. Currently proposed clinical discriminators performed poorly in correlating with radiographic changes in the SI joint.
* * *
Dr. Stacey: This study proves what I’ve been finding clinically and saying for years – the SI joint is just as, if not more important than the lumbar spine in cases of lower back pain and sciatica! Hence why I utilize the technique that I do!
May 3, 2010
Chiropractic Improves Brain Function
I thought this was a pretty cool article so thought I would re-post it here….
Brain function is measured on four primary frequencies: Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta. Alpha waves reflect the meditative, relaxing healing mode. Beta waves represent the active, busy brain. Theta waves reflect light sleep, relaxation and conceptual development. Delta waves represent the brain activity during deep sleep, repair mode and energy storage.
The study was conducted over a three year period. Approximately 100 volunteers were examined with an electroencephalogram (EEG) before and after chiropractic adjustments.
The EEG scans were examined to check the right/left balance, the amount of total activity, the primary regions of activity and the effect of the adjustment.
After receiving a chiropractic adjustment, post EEG scans revealed improvement in all areas of the volunteer’s brain function. Particularly, the researchers noticed an increase in the meditative Alpha brainwave patterns that are associated with a greater degree of relaxation, health and healing.
The researchers noted that some of the volunteers already had balanced and active brain scans and the adjustments had little effect on their post scans. They felt this was a good indicator that the adjustments had no negative effects on brain activity.
Commentary: The implications of this study are profound indeed. Over and over research is proving that chiropractic care has the ability to positively affect body function on a far greater level than simple pain relief.