10 reasons why maintenance Chiropractic care works

Maintenance Chiropractic care, why is it recommended to most patients and is there any evidence to support this its use in clinical practice? Well yes there is published evidence in the literature supporting maintenance chiropractic care to patients (Seena et al 2011). Here at Spriggs Chiropractic, we tend to recommend maintenance Chiropractic care to patient with chronic, long standing health issues that we may be unable to resolve completely, such as migraines. Maintenance chiropractic care is recommended as a preventative measure to these patients, much the same as some medications are given as a long-term prescription for the management/prevention of migraines also. To read more into Chiropractic care and migraines, click here to read our blog on the subject.

It can therefore be said that maintenance Chiropractic care provides great value to patients’ (¹ Rupert et al 2000). Here are 10 reasons why we recommend supportive care to our patients’ at Spriggs Chiropractic.

10 reasons why maintenance Chiropractic care works.

1. Disruption of articular or periarticular adhesions (⁴ Aure et al 2003). Adhesions are areas of effectively scar tissue (fibrosis) that can occur in or outside joints and between different tissues of the body. They restrict tissue movement and can lead to dysfunction and pain.
2. Improved trunk mobility (⁴ Aure et al 2003). When we say “trunk”, we are not describing an elephants nose, we are talking about your upper body. Chiropractic spinal adjustments (manipulation) has been shown to improve the mobility of the spine and thus improving the range of motion of the “trunk”.
3. Relaxation of hypertonic muscles by sudden stretching (⁵ Meeker et al 2002). Hypertonic muscles have increased excitability or are in an increased state of contraction. This is also usually associated with muscle spasms. Chiropractic spinal adjustments have been shown to relax these chronically contracted muscles.
4. Release of entrapped synovial folds or plica (⁵ Meeker et al 2002). Every synovial (fluid filled) joint of your body is surrounded by ligaments, known as synovial ligaments. When these ligaments become stretched and weakened from injury, they can develop folds that can then get caught inside the joint space itself. This results in a similar reaction as when you trap your finger in a door. The tissue becomes very painful and swollen. Chiropractic spinal adjustments can release these folds from the joint.
5. Attenuation of alpha-motor neuron activity (⁵ Meeker et al 2002). This is complicated neurology, but basically, it means that the nerves that innervate your muscles controlling movement, have been shown to improve as a result of Chiropractic spinal adjustments.
6. Enhancement of proprioceptive behaviour and joint position sense (⁵ Meeker et al 2002, ⁷ Haavik et al 2011). Proprioception is the technical term for balance and coordination of movements. By adjusting dysfunctional spinal joints, we can improve your bodies ability to balance and coordinate movements.
7. Release of beta-endorphins thus increased pain threshold (⁵ Meeker et al 2002). Endorphins are chemicals released by the brain that are your bodies natural pain killers. Spinal adjustments have been shown to increase the release of these chemicals by your brain and thus reduce your pain sensitivity.
8. Improved reaction time and reflex excitability (⁸Kelly et al 2000, ¹² Suter 2000).
9. Improved lower limb muscle strength (¹⁴ Hillermann 2006).
10. And improved cortical processing (⁶ Haavik et al 2007, ⁸Kelly et al 2000). Cortical processing is your brains ability to process information and decision making. It has been shown that spinal adjustments to the neck can improve the integration and function within the prefrontal cortex of your brain.

References:

1. Rupert R L, Manello D and Sandefur R 2000. Maintenance care: health promotion services administered to US Chiropractic patients aged 65 and older, part II. Journa of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 23(1): 10-19
2. Senna M K, Machaly S A 2011. Does maintenance spinal manipulation therapy for chronic non-specific low back pain result in better long-term outcome? Spine 36(18): 1427-1437
3. Taylor D N 2011. A theoretical basis for maintenance spinal manipulative therapy for the chiropractic profession. Journal of Chiropractic Humanities 18: 74-85
4. Aure OF, Nilsen JH, Vasseljen O 2003. Manual therapy and exercise therapy in patients with chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial with 1-year follow up. Spine 28: 525-531
5. Meeker WC, Haldeman S 2002. Chiropractic: a profession at the cross roads of mainstream and alternative medicine. Annals of Internal Medicine 136-3
6. Haavik-Taylor H and Murphy B 2007. Cervical spine manipulation alters sensorimotor integration: a somatosensory evoked potential study. Clinical Neurophysiology 118(2): 391-402
7. Haavik H and Murphy B 2011. Subclinical neck pain and the effects of cervical manipulation on elbow joint position sense. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 34 (2): 88–97, 2011.
8. Kelly D. D, Murphy B. A, and Backhouse D. P 2000. Use of a mental rotation reaction-time paradigm to measure the effects of upper cervical adjustments on cortical processing: a pilot study. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 23(4): 246–251
9. Herzog W, Scheele D, and Conway P. J 1999. Electromyographic responses of back and limb muscles associated with spinal manipulative therapy. Spine 24(2): 146–153
10. Murphy B. A, Dawson N. J, and Slack J. R 1995. Sacroiliac joint manipulation decreases the H-reflex. Electromyography and Clinical Neurophysiology. 35(2): 87–94.
11. Suter E, McMorland G, Herzog W, and Bray R 1999. Decrease in quadriceps inhibition after sacroiliac joint manipulation in patients with anterior knee pain. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 22(3): 149–153
12. Suter E, McMorland G, Herzog W, and Bray R 2000. Conservative lower back treatment reduces inhibition in knee-extensor muscles: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 23(2): 76–80
13. Marshall P. and Murphy B 2006. The effect of sacroiliac joint manipulation on feed-forward activation times of the deep abdominal musculature. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, vol. 29(3): 196–202
14. Hillermann B, Gomes A. N, Korporaal C, and Jackson D 2006. A pilot study comparing the e ects of spinal manipulative therapy with those of extra-spinal manipulative therapy on quadriceps muscle strength. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 29(2): 145–149,