March 2, 2018
It is fair to say that there is division in the profession; there has been for some time and unfortunately there may be for a while yet. Whether we, as a profession, disagree and debate philosophy, technique, communication styles, practice styles, or something else entirely, some things are certain: there is definitely more that unifies us than defies us, we have survived worse, and there is always more we can do. One beautiful aspect about chiropractic that has always set us apart is this pursuit of the cause of a problem. Why is it there and what brought it on? […]
February 7, 2018
Have you ever wondered how Spinal Research determines who gets the money that you donate? The Foundation is incredibly proud of our two-stage approval process. We believe this sets us apart from other research funding bodies. It has served us well for many years and was the result of reviewing the processes used by a number of national and international competitive funding bodies. Our application and assessment process reflects research sector best practice. The Grants The Foundation offers research grants to support our research agenda, investigating the vertebral subluxation, its effects and impacts through our chiropractic paradigm. The two major […]
January 31, 2018
Pregnancy can be an incredibly scary time for the women and families involved. They are constantly surrounded by a million different opinions and expectations about how to carry and care for the child within them. As chiropractors, it is both a responsibility and a privilege to care for increasing numbers of pregnant women as more and more of them seek us out as part of their pregnancy plan. This article will explore some new research around the possible benefits of chiropractic care for pregnant women and offer a brief review of the broader picture of chiropractic care in this area. […]
January 25, 2018
Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is an indispensable tool in the monitoring and management of patients with inflammatory and autoimmune conditions, as well as patients recovering from injury or surgery. The VLA Quadscan provides you with a deeper insight into your patients’ health, allowing you to closely monitor their treatment progress, and provide tangible results for patients, significantly enhancing compliance. The Process and Purpose of Inflammation Acute inflammation evolved to be a protective process, to overcome a short-lived threat, such as an injury, with the function to restore tissue homeostasis. Unfortunately, the majority of the inflammation affecting patients in many clinics, […]
January 23, 2018
Over the last few decades the incidence of postural kyphosis has noticeably increased in proportion to our increasingly sedentary modern lifestyle. We sit all day at computers, lean over our phones and we lay with our chin on our chests as we work through an entire Netflix series in a weekend. It has been suggested historically that a kyphotic cervical spine is a “normal variant” in human posture. This appears to be an incorrect but worrying myth. Drs. Harrison and Haas reviewed some of the papers in which this claim is made in their 2002 work, CBP Structural Rehabilitation of […]
December 5, 2017
Inflammation Damages Lives Chronic inflammatory conditions are one of the most common presentations that Practitioners see in clinic. Whether it be autoimmune (AI) conditions such as systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis (RA); degenerative conditions such as osteoarthritis (OA); or injury resulting in chronic pain and inflammation, the pain and discomfort caused by chronic inflammatory conditions can significantly impact a patient’s quality of life, interfering with social activities, sleep efficiency, occupation choices and daily activities that are taken for granted by the wider community. Recently, Health World conducted a research clinic to successfully demonstrate the effectiveness of natural treatment prescriptions […]
November 29, 2017
Living bodies are dynamic, open loop systems with definite boundaries that are characterised by a stable form and structure. The continued preservation of that form and structure requires millions of adaptive processes every second in a constantly changing interaction between the system and it’s shifting environment. Early models of this concept were described in the beginning of the 20th century by Walter Cannon as homeostasis. He conceptualised these processes as occurring locally and independently of the central nervous system and proposed a series of independent physiological systems that worked together in an effort to re-establish the conditions of the body […]
November 13, 2017
Subclinical neck pain: it might be thought of as a relatively innocuous issue that many people would simply pop a pill for. Many a person may even skip a visit to the local chiropractor until it gets much more severe than the mild neck pain, ache or stiffness that makes up the condition. It is becoming increasingly obvious that pain isn’t the whole reach of the problem though. Recent studies indicate that subclinical neck pain can influence joint position sense (proprioception in upper limbs), cortical and cerebellar motor processing, and mental response times for complex rotation tasks. Best of all, […]
November 8, 2017
A common inclusion in many chiropractic protocols is the leg length inequality assessment. In fact, it would be a rare chiropractor that hasn’t performed them in his/her time in practice. A recent paper published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine has compared two approaches to this task and emerged with results that should be enlightening, perhaps even surprising. The study had a simple aim: to determine the reliability of supine and prone leg length inequality (LLI) assessments. The researchers were also interested in whether the confidence of the examiner played a role in the agreement of the methods. As […]
November 6, 2017
As our patients become older, the wear and tear on their joints begins to take its toll. As joint degeneration progresses, their lives may become restricted to activities which do not cause them pain, and this may limit their ability to exercise. Helping our patients to live the best quality of life possible, to help them to live as independently as possible and play with their grandchildren in the park, is the most motivating goal we can hope to achieve. Providing support to reduce chronic pain and manage joint dysfunction and repair of age-related joint injuries with proven clinical efficacy […]
October 31, 2017
In years gone by, forward head posture was thought to be something brought on by age as older adults gave in to gravity, which increased the cervical hyperkyphosis. Since the era of social media and mobile devices hit its peak, we are now seeing forward head posture emerge in even the young. Still, science has something to reveal about the effects of forward head posture and it’s not something any chiropractor or manual therapist should ignore. Why Does Forward Head Posture And Cervical Kyphosis Matter? Through the years, history has held that proper posture is a “state of musculoskeletal balance […]
October 24, 2017
In our current series, we are examining the evidence behind chiropractic and the senses. From proprioception (our sense of where we are in space), to the more commonly known senses including touch, hearing, and smell. Though we lack RCT’s looking into chiropractic care and each of these, case report data (among other research or hypothesis work) does indicate that restoring optimal function to the nervous system can impact these areas in some cases. Of course, we need to be careful what we claim as we wait the RCT work to confirm and establish the data, but the indications are positive. […]