Regardless of your preferences in health care, pain management is a complicated topic that researchers remain invested in. Issues like sensitivity to pain, learned responses to pain and of course misuse of pain medication in many cases make it an important and complicated topic. That’s what makes the following study a particularly poignant one: it…
As our understanding of chiropractic care increases, it seems that this same knowledge bank continues to illuminate the ways in which the brain and muscles respond when we check and adjust vertebral subluxations. But can chiropractic care possibly have a positive effect on a person if their muscle control issues stem from something pathological: something,…
A recent piece published in the European Journal of Integrative Medicine has taken a novel look at the potential offerings when it comes to manual therapy modalities and the workforce. Specifically, the study looked at how manual therapy (including spinal manipulation) might impact upon absenteeism and presenteeism in the workforce. While chiropractic research is commonly…
A new study has been released by the British Medical Journal, feeding into the seemingly endless quest for an answer on effective treatments for colic. In what is perhaps a telling move, the study was a systematic review of systematic reviews and national guidelines to “assess the effectiveness of four common treatment approaches.” Yes, you…
Neck pain is hardly an unusual symptom in the life of an adult, or indeed in the practice of a chiropractor. We see it all the time, but the effects can be far broader than pain alone. Current research suggests that between one-third and two-thirds of people suffer (and usually recover) from neck pain every…
While the management of musculoskeletal pain has long been the undisputed domain of the chiropractor, research is taking a steady march into the non-musculoskeletal aspects of our offering. With new studies emerging over the last few years revealing the impacts of chiropractic care on the brain and the way it drives the muscles, as well…
The science of pain and inflammation is one in which there will always be more work to be done. While chiropractic care has become quite renowned for its benefits to musculoskeletal issues such as back and neck pain, research has been branching out into other areas for quite some time now. We now have a…
Breast cancer is a life-interrupting event. This much is an obvious statement. However, a lesser-known fact is that the treatments for breast cancer involve an after-effect of chronic or persistent pain in 60% of cases. Thus, treating the cancer is concern number one. But after the fact, solving the problem of musculoskeletal pain becomes a…
The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association has carried a noteworthy case series covering three instances of benign joint hypermobility syndrome [BJHS] in female patients in their twenties [1]. It proves an interesting read, as BJHS is a relatively common heritable connective tissue disorder that appears to affect more women than men. Being that many…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
