Possible Toronto Chiropractic Benefits for Hypertension

Blood pressure. Hypertension. It’s 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 creates worry, chronic pain anywhere stresses our bodies, nudging blood pressure higher. Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre shares new studies that show some potential promise of chiropractic and spinal manipulation’s ability to beneficially alter blood pressure.

SPINAL MANIPULATION AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

Spinal manipulation’s effect on the nervous system, particularly its sympathetic (“fight or flight” reactionary part) and parasympathetic (“rest and digest” calm part) parts of the autonomic nervous system, is garnering awareness in the clinical setting with normal clients as well as in the sport setting with athletes. A study of utilizing spinal manipulation versus a sham treatment with recreational athletes reported that spinal manipulation before exercise triggered a shift toward intensified 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 is 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 known for their ability to treat, ease, and manage spinal pain related conditions. As a bonus benefit, changes to the cardiovascular system have been documented. 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, 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 usual medications. Therefore, alternatives are being studied like chiropractic spinal manipulation therapy. A review of the published literature found promising outcomes that inspire more study. (2) A recent 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 reveals 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 appreciated 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 illustrates how the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management may assist the autonomic system.

Schedule 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’s figure it out together.