Possible Pensacola Chiropractic Benefits for Hypertension

Blood pressure. Hypertension. It is 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 creates worry, chronic pain anywhere stresses our bodies, pushing blood pressure higher. Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center describes recent studies that show some potential promise of chiropractic and spinal manipulation’s being able to beneficially 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) functions of the autonomic nervous system, is garnering attention 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 reported that spinal manipulation before exercise elicited a shift toward intensified parasympathetic system function resulting in impaired performance. (1) That’s not all bad in the clinical setting! Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center knows it’s all about when to apply what type of care to get the best outcomes. Parasympathetic dominance to enhance pain reduction is good for athletes suffering with back pain after their exercise.  

CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM, HYPERTENSION, AND MANIPULATION

Manual therapies like Pensacola spinal manipulation and mobilization at Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center are recognized for their ability to treat, reduce, and handle 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 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 play a role. Quite a few patients - 20-30% of them - with blood pressure issues don’t respond to traditional medications. Consequently, alternatives are being considered like chiropractic spinal manipulation therapy. A review of the published literature discovered promising outcomes that encourage more study. (2) A recent study found that spinal manipulation and mobilization had 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 setting. (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 commonly pay more attention to the top, systolic number, so spinal manipulation’s effect would be welcome if more studies continue to confirm such effect.   Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center 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 Pensacola Spinal 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.

Make your next Pensacola chiropractic appointment with Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center now. Hypertension may well meet its match - or at least back down a bit - with chiropractic spinal manipulation! Let us figure it out together.