Chiropractic is a care modality. We nurture and support the nervous system through checking for and adjusting subluxations, and we allow the body to do the rest. While there are a plethora of randomised controlled trials, clinical trials and case reports that look into the wide breadth of possible outcomes tied up with this, there…
The world of medical research is not unfamiliar with the pattern: chronic pain and presentations of poor mental health often go together. It’s a well-established comorbidity. This often brings with it a sensible question – which came first? Did the chronic pain trigger the presentation of mental illness, or did the mental illness increase the…
As the Australian Spinal Research Foundation, our core business is to serve the chiropractic profession through all things vertebral subluxation research. So it is with great pleasure that we announce the results of the latest funding round. This group of studies will, of course, take time. But as they emerge, they will enrich our understanding of…
This time of year lends itself to reflection, and as we have been reviewing all of the fantastic case reports that have been submitted through the ASRF Case Report Projects over the past two years, recurrent themes have been emerging. We have repeatedly spoken about the beauty of the case report, in its ability to…
“I’m just simply amazed at what a great year has been for the Australian Spinal Research Foundation. This past year, The Foundation has hit goal after goal and raised the standard of service to our members,” said ASRF board President, Dr. Ryan Seaman as he took some time to chat with the blog team about…
We know that the Big C – cancer – is a life-interrupting event. While medical research advances the ways in which cancer can be treated, it remains a daunting diagnosis and usually an arduous treatment regimen. While cancer is definitely one of those situations in which usual medical care is a life-saving or life-prolonging necessity,…
When discussing the significance of case reports and larger studies, we often return to the impact of the intervention on the nervous system. Usually, we are referring to things like sympathetic activity, parasympathetic activity, stress, and adaptability. So, we thought it was time to take a step back from individual studies and refresh our knowledge…
The Sacro Occipital Technique is a popular chiropractic technique deployed to check and adjust subluxations from the occiput (the next area) to the sacrum (at the base of the spine). Right from pregnancy and infancy, this technique can be delivered across the lifespan and altered to suit the age and strength of the individual under…
In recent years, research and some high-profile cases of athletes developing Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (thought to be related to repeated head injuries) have advanced our understanding of just how serious concussions can be. No longer is it a case of “take a painkiller and sleep it off under observation. We are now aware of the…
From this vantage point, three years into the pandemic that appears to mark our era, some things are becoming clear: COVID-19 is not over yet, we are getting better at living with it though, and long-covid is the gift that keeps on giving. It is currently estimated that between 10 and 30% of those who…
The beautiful thing about chiropractic is that we never know how the body may express health when we adjust the subluxation. There are large studies about back pain, neck pain and headaches, and we can confidently make claims about those things. But what about non-musculoskeletal issues? What about conditions for which the causes are difficult…
We are used to hearing reports of chiropractic care being useful for the correction of postural abnormalities. That happy side-effect of subluxation-based care is so common that it’s almost to be expected. Pigeon toes, though – now that’s so rare that it hasn’t been spotted yet in chiropractic literature. In fact, traditional treatment is usually…
We like to say that Chiropractors are doctors of the nervous system. That is, we care for and nurture the brain and spinal cord and can also support many other aspects of nervous system health. So it should come as no surprise that neuropathy falls under this generous heading. Neuropathy (sometimes known as peripheral neuropathy)…
It doesn’t seem like too long ago when Thoracic Outlet Syndrome was unheard of, or at least a controversial diagnosis. It’s been called many names over the course of the last few decades, but the short version of the condition is this: there is a rich network of nerves and blood vessels that exit the…
Bedwetting is a problem we know well. Technically called “nocturnal enuresis”, it occurs when a child is old enough for the bladder to be neurologically and physically developed to the point the child can remain dry at night. But according to the data, about 8% of children suffer from bedwetting past this point. The prevalence…
The topic of this blog article isn’t a particularly common one. While you may have heard of it, it’s quite possible this one may not yet have crossed you path. Pudendal Neuralgia (PN) is a form of peripheral nerve entrapment that causes numbness or pain in the pelvis or genitals. Occurring in just 1 in…
Lumbar Spinal Stenosis is a condition we know well. Often tied up with age-related spinal degeneration, it occurs when we see a narrowing of the spinal canal in the lower part of the spine. Given the rich innervation throughout the spinal canal (obviously), this can lead to nerve compression which in turn can lead to…
Radiculopathy arises when a nerve root is compressed or irritated, causing pain to radiate from the spine down affected limbs. Numbness or tingling may occur as well as muscle weakness or decreased reflexes. While it is considered relatively common, the prevalence varies according to age. Causal factors in radiculopathy include (among other things): a herniated…
