A randomised controlled trial (RCT) partly funded by the Australian Spinal Research Foundation has found that 12 weeks of chiropractic care may be associated with measurable changes in the body’s chemistry. These include changes in markers linked to neuroplasticity, inflammation and the stress response. The study, titled The effects of 12 weeks of chiropractic spinal…
The chiropractic paradigm has never been about chasing individual symptoms. Instead, it’s been about caring for the nervous system, checking and adjusting the subluxation, and allowing the body to do the rest. But its not always been a paradigm that has been easily understood in a world of traditional medical research. Recently, through the groundbreaking…
Bell’s palsy is a sudden weakness or paralysis of the muscles on one side of the face, caused by dysfunction of the facial nerve (cranial nerve VII). For most people, it resolves on its own within months. For a meaningful minority, it does not. A new case report in the Journal of Contemporary Chiropractic describes…
Arnold-Chiari Malformation is a structural condition of the craniocervical junction in which the cerebellar tonsils descend below the foramen magnum (the hole at the base of the skull). And it is more common than most people assume. A new case report in the Asia-Pacific Chiropractic Journal describes a 49-year-old woman with Type 1 Arnold-Chiari Malformation…
Ear pain, neck pain, headache, difficulty swallowing, reduced hearing and arm weakness are not usually thought of as a single problem. They are usually thought of as several problems, and frequently referred out to several different specialists. A new case report in the Asia-Pacific Chiropractic Journal argues that in some practice members they are one…
The idea that the upper cervical spine and the pelvis are functionally linked is not new to chiropractic. It is foundational in some techniques, and conceptually central to chiropractic is the idea that everything is connected when it comes to the body and nervous system. What has been harder to come by is a measurable…
Joint hypermobility seems to be one of those issues that is gaining awareness, and while it exists on a spectrum from that which causes no problems that that which is disabling, it is something that is all too easily overlooked. A new narrative review published in the Asia-Pacific Chiropractic Journal argues that when we do…
Frozen shoulder syndrome (FSS), also known as adhesive capsulitis, affects an estimated 2% to 5% of the general population. The painful and debilitating condition most often affects people between the ages of 40 and 65, with a slight female predominance. The condition is dramatically more common in people with diabetes: reported prevalence in diabetic populations…
Few things are more powerful than hearing a child put words to their own progress. Twelve weeks into chiropractic care, a two-year-old boy who had presented with delayed speech turned to the adults in his life and said, “I’m so happy I can talk now.” That very human outcome moment crowns the clinical findings in…
For all that chiropractic care proposes about the relationship between spinal function and nervous system performance, the profession has long faced a practical problem: how do you actually measure it rigorously? A 2024 feasibility study from Dr Tyson Perez (DC, PhD), Emily Drake and Stephanie Sullivan (DC, PhD) takes a serious crack at answering that…
Despite all the advances in brain-related chiropractic research, low back pain remains one of the most common reasons people seek chiropractic care, and most people expect treatment to focus squarely on the spine. But what if a key to relieving back pain was found not in the lumbar region, but in the bones of the…
A newly published case study in the Journal of Contemporary Chiropractic adds to a growing body of evidence supporting non-surgical spinal decompression (NSD) as a viable conservative option for patients with cervical disc extrusion even in cases where surgery has been recommended. While we know that surgery cannot always be avoided, it is encouraging to…
It’s a common thing to hear aging talked about as if it’s an inevitability. Memory dulls. Balance fades. Sleep frays. Energy wanes. But do we need to accept that aging has to decrease our expression of life? Or is it possible to approach the post-retirement years with an expectation of maintaining or even increasing vitality?…
The chiropractic lexicon is a thing that is both the cause of a lot of conversation (or debate) and our distinction from other modes of manual therapy. There is strong reasoning behind the use of terms like “checking and adjusting subluxations” rather than “spinal manipulation”. Yet the latter is more readily accepted in academic and…
It’s an oddly dignified question, from a chiropractor to a paediatric practice member: “Tell me about your poo”. And don’t kids love an excuse to talk about such things? But toileting is a big indicator of gastrointestinal function and nervous system function alike. It’s also a common childhood issue. Constipation is one of the most…
It was a somewhat novel case report that was recently published in the Asia Pacific Chiropractic Journal; when a professional opera singer sought care for musculoskeletal complaints that he attributed to the demands of his career. A veteran of the stage, he was starting to wonder whether his career was winding down due to the…
Few ideas in chiropractic generate as much discussion as vitalism. For some, it represents the philosophical foundation of the profession. For others, it remains a point of tension in how chiropractic is understood within the broader healthcare context. At the Australian Spinal Research Foundation, our stance on chiropractic’s central tenet, the vertebral subluxation, makes our…
By now, the back and forth over infant chiropractic care is well entrenched. The Safer Care Victoria Review sought to address ‘community concerns’ over chiropractic care for children. The result was a stunning 21,824 submissions received from members of the public who had accessed chiropractic care for a child under 12; an unprecedented number that…
