May 22, 2020
For a long time, chiropractors have suggested that chiropractic care may be of benefit right across the age spectrum. The belief has been that, while early intervention is certainly preferable, it is never too late to reap some benefit under chiropractic care. A recent case report seems to have put this idea to the test, with an 87-year old patient presenting for chiropractic care for the first time. To make the case more interesting, the patient reported low back pain and disability for the last thirty years. This would almost certainly represent subluxations and compensatory patterns that were quite set […]
May 15, 2020
Among the myriad of concerns pertaining to an ageing population is the issue of neurogenerative disorders like Parkinson’s Disease. It is currently estimated that more than 82,000 people are living with Parkinson’s in Australia alone. That number increases exponentially when you include other countries with similar life expectancies and quality health care systems. This represents a huge burden of care and a massive shift in quality of life for sufferers. Alarmingly though, this isn’t something we can blame on an ageing population alone: 18% of Parkinson’s sufferers are of working age. A new study appearing in the Journal of Contemporary […]
May 1, 2020
Dr Bruce Steinberg was the lead author on a recent case series covering five cases of anxiety that improved concomitant with chiropractic care. He sat down with us to talk about it this week, and in true Steinberg style, he managed to pack a lot of gems into a short interview. So here’s the scoop on the latest case series, and an important discussion about chiropractic, mental health, and vagal tone in times of anxiety.
April 24, 2020
While postural assessments are part of the everyday experience of the working chiropractor, posture is central to functional movement and much more. As the population adapts to changing worlds of work and technology, we have witnessed a significant increase in postural concerns such as forward head posture or cervical kyphosis. Another postural concern is flat back syndrome, and it is this that a recent study took aim at. When we think of an idea spine, we think of a spine with several gentle front to back curves. It’s almost like a lazily drawn “S”. It’s not just about aesthetics either […]
April 17, 2020
Its old news that chronic low back pain affects a lot of people and that this number increases with age. It is also an old chiropractic adage that says “the aim of chiropractic is to add years to life and life to years.” But beyond the rhetoric, is there any truth to the saying? A recent study examined the coping and management techniques of chronic low back pain sufferers under chiropractic care – and the results are in. There is often a perception that individuals with chronic low back pain (CLBP) may have become habituated to their condition: that is […]
April 8, 2020
Measuring cortisol levels in saliva has long been used as a measure for adrenal function (which is an indicator of long term stress on the endocrine system). A recent case report published in the Journal of Contemporary Chiropractic has followed an interesting case – when a patient presented with neck pain and headaches but left with an improvement in other, non-musculoskeletal symptoms. The premise behind chiropractic is simple: when we nurture the nervous system and ensure it is operating optimally, free of subluxations, then we are setting up the body so that it can adapt, heal and express life as […]
March 30, 2020
In recent years, a number of chiropractic-related research studies have indicated that chiropractic care can improve various musculoskeletal conditions just as back and neck pain, and improve joint position sense. The latter is an interesting one: technically, joint position sense is an indicator of proprioception or an accurate sense of where our bodies are in space. Proprioception is important for coordination, falls prevention and even things like motion sickness. Recently, a study published in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies took a look at knee pain in patients with patellofemoral pain – or pain in and around the kneecap. […]
March 20, 2020
The Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies recently carried a study examining spinal mobility and the accuracy of the patient’s movement perception following HVLA (high-velocity, low-amplitude) manipulation to the area where the thoracic spine and the lumbar spine meet (thoracolumbar junction). While the study was looking at osteopathic techniques, it is highly applicable to chiropractic as HVLA spinal manipulation is also something that occurs frequently in the chiropractic scope of practice. This study aimed to discover whether such spinal manipulation would increase spinal mobility (also called range of motion, or ROM), or change the way the participant perceived their movement […]
March 13, 2020
New Zealand Chiropractic researcher and PhD Candidate, Tanja Glucina, caught up with the Australian Spinal Research Foundation this week to discuss her recent paper – the first piece of research to come out of her PhD investigation. The paper, titled “Moving towards a contemporary chiropractic professional identity,” covers some important territory when it comes to the paradigms we work in as chiropractors. We spent a few minutes talking about the papers significant findings and how it might impact our practices and practice members. You can check out the full paper, including the full data breakdown, at the reference below. […]
March 5, 2020
For quite some time now, research has been revealing that chiropractic care (sometimes referred to as spinal manipulative therapy) can do something other than assist with back and neck pain. We’ve been thrilled and delighted as we’ve seen research emerge indicating that chiropractic care could increase strength in leg muscles, decrease fatigue, change the structure and function of the brain, increase bite force, and increase our awareness of where we are in space (a sense called proprioception) thus decreasing falls risk in older adults. So, a recent study published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics that examined reflex […]
February 25, 2020
Arguably, one of the most underappreciated senses is that of smell. Olfactory function (our ability to smell) also impacts our ability to taste. While this may not seem like such a big deal, it also impacts our ability to detect when food has gone bad, when we have been handed a bad burrito, or when we are walking into a room filled with dangerous gas or even smoke. Loss of the sense of smell (anosmia) happens for a variety of reasons, some of them short term (such as a cold or flu) and others involved with longer-term issues like age, […]
February 21, 2020
In 2017, a piece of chiropractic research put to bed an oft-repeated misconception regarding chiropractic care and stroke. The study in question found no evidence for causation. That is, there was no convincing evidence to support the notion that chiropractic care could cause stroke. Earlier this year, Dr Kelly Holt and colleagues produced research indicating that chiropractic care after stroke could increase strength in weak plantar flexor muscles (affected by the stroke) in patients. This gives rise to a viable line of questioning regarding whether chiropractic care might actually assist stroke recovery. Only time will tell what arises there, but […]
February 11, 2020
Recent research efforts have served up significant findings in terms of the effect of the nervous system on our skeletal muscles. However, less research has gone the other way: i.e. How does our posture, and specifically head and upper neck posture, effect our nervous system and sensorimotor function? The Journal of Gait and Posture has accepted a study for publication, which gives some indications on the latter, which are truly noteworthy. In fact, they just might send you to your local chiropractor to get that forward head posture sorted out! The study, submitted in 2019, took in 160 participants, 50% […]
February 3, 2020
In the last article, we talked about depression as an inflammatory issue (as recent research has revealed). But obviously, it’s not that simple a story. Depression, anxiety, and indeed mental-emotional wellbeing is an issue spanning mindset, environmental triggers, personal resilience and much more. But what does the research say about psychological ramifications for the endocrine system and the possible role for chiropractic? Today we take a look. A 2008 study titled, “Depression comorbidity and the TNF Alpha system” provided some foundational understanding on how depression and elevated tumour necrosis factors (TNF) often exist side-by-side. Essentially, this pointed to elevated inflammatory […]
January 23, 2020
Since the inception of the profession itself, chiropractors have claimed to be doctors of the Central Nervous System, masters of connecting the brain and body and removing interferences so that health can be expressed to a higher level. This is all well and good, but in a world where research is currency, how do we back up our claims that chiropractic may indeed help the body immunologically? Better still, how do we help our practice members to understand it? Psychoneuroimmunology is a word with enough syllables to make someone switch right off, but in fact it is something that impacts […]
January 16, 2020
A recent study appearing in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics has examined spinal manipulative therapy and tactile allodynia (or hypersensitivity to touch). The results present a possibility laden with meaning for chiropractic: that “manually assisted lumbar spinal manipulation therapy modulates systemic oxidative stress, which possibly contributes to the analgesia and recovery of peripheral nerve functionality [1].” The study in question was a rat model (which is a common biological model for human-related studies). The study, which had all its animal ethics approved by the University Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, used 30 adult male rats. They […]
December 6, 2019
A recent study appearing in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics has examined spinal manipulative therapy and tactile allodynia (or hypersensitivity to touch). The results present a possibility laden with meaning for chiropractic: that “manually assisted lumbar spinal manipulation therapy modulates systemic oxidative stress, which possibility contributes to the analgesia and recovery of peripheral nerve functionality [1].” The study in question was a rat model (which is a common biological model for human-related studies). The study, which had all its animal ethics approved by the University Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, used 30 adult male rats. They […]
November 26, 2019
While heart rate variability has been stealing its share of headlines in terms of new research, another solid performer has been quietly waiting on the side lines: pulse pressure. This indicator of cardiovascular health is simply the difference between systolic and diastolic blood pressure and represents a measure of autonomic nervous system function. It is easily measured in everyday clinical practice and requires no major capital investment. But how does chiropractic care impact on this measurement? A recent observational study published in the Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association took 130 patients undergoing upper cervical chiropractic care and put it […]