Research Shows Chiropractic Good for Much More Than Neuromuscular Pain

A research study published on March 15, 2024, on the research site Cureus showed that chiropractic care has benefits for overall health and function well beyond just back or neck pain. Researchers reviewed 20 years of scientific studies to create this overview study on the effects of chiropractic care on overall body physiology.

The basic premise of chiropractic is that the nervous system is the master controller of body functions. Interference to the nervous system therefore creates problems with the way various parts and systems of the body function. The focus of chiropractic has been to locate nerve system interferences at the spine, known as "subluxations", and to correct these subluxations, allowing the nerve system to function normally. The result is a body that is functioning normally.

With this understanding, the researchers in this study conducted an extensive search and review of scientific articles and studies showing the relationship between the nervous system and various systems in the body, and how chiropractic had an effect on these systems. They point out that the nervous system, along with the endocrine system and the immune system, are responsible for a large portion of human physiology. "In the neuroendocrine-immune (NEI) system, each of the three component arms – nervous system, immune system, and endocrine system - modulates one another via multiple means of "crosstalk," in order to achieve synergistic and integrated physiological changes and coordinated adaptation to an environmental stressor."

The researchers in this study researched multiple areas of how human physiology was impacted by chiropractic care. These areas included blood pressure, sleep, cortisol levels, immune system function, and the levels of other body chemicals used as markers of proper body physiology. The researchers used a strict scientific criterion for inclusion of a study into their review.

With respect to blood pressure, the researchers found 30 unique high-quality scientific studies related to blood pressure and chiropractic. In these studies, it was shown that there was a positive effect on blood pressure due to correction of vertebral subluxations. Most of these studies related the improvements of BP to specific adjustments of the upper cervical spine.

Cortisol is a hormone commonly known as the "Stress Hormone." According to the Australian government HealthDirect website, "Cortisol is a steroid hormone that is produced by your 2 adrenal glands, which sit on top of each kidney. When you are stressed, increased cortisol is released into your bloodstream. Having the right cortisol balance is essential for your health, and producing too much or too little cortisol can cause health problems." This study’s review of cortisol levels related to chiropractic showed that those patients who were under chiropractic care did a better job of regulating the proper amount of cortisol hormone and therefore were more capable of handling stress.

Sleep was another area where the researchers found 29 scientific papers showing that "chiropractic care quantitatively restores or improves sleep." Additional positive outcomes were also seen in another 29 studies of heart rate variability, which allows the heart to properly change its speed as needed. With respect to immunity and chiropractic, the researchers found 27 qualified studies linking chiropractic care for the correction of subluxations to the restoration of proper function of the immune system, as measured by a variety of ways.

This study also covered a number of other indicators of human body physiology which showed how chiropractic care positively affected these areas. With this data, the researchers were confident in linking chiropractic care to overall function of the body. They explained, "Integrative physiology and connectomics have established the interconnected and interdependent nature of the body’s systems. While it has long been clear that chiropractic care impacts information flow and integration within the nervous system, current research suggests that consideration of broader physiologic effects of chiropractic adjustment on the NEI system is appropriate."