Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome Symptoms Improved with Chiropractic

On July 24, 2022, the Annals of Vertebral Subluxation Research published the results of a case study documenting the improvement of a woman under chiropractic care, for the symptoms of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). In the simplest terms as described on WebMD, "Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a disorder in which most of your blood stays in your lower body when you stand up, and in response, your heart rate jumps."

According to this study, "Approximately 500,000 patients in the United States suffer from POTS, and 25% of them are disabled due to this condition and unable to work." The study also reports that POTS is five times more common in women than in men, and most commonly seen in women between the ages of 15-50 years.

John Hopkins Medicine describe the symptoms by stating, "The symptoms of POTS include but are not limited to lightheadedness (occasionally with fainting), difficulty thinking and concentrating (brain fog), fatigue, intolerance of exercise, headache, blurry vision, palpitations, tremor and nausea."

In this case, a 31-year-old woman went to a chiropractor because she was suffering with neck pain. She could not recall any reason for the neck pain except that she had started a new job that required that she be seated for up to ten hours in a day. She listed that pain as a 6 out of 10, with 10 being the worst imaginable.

Initially, the woman did not mention to the chiropractor that she had been diagnosed with POTS. Many people who are unfamiliar with chiropractic mistakenly do not mention other serious health conditions to their chiropractor because they do not think it would have anything to do with chiropractic care. Since chiropractic works by correcting nervous system interference caused by subluxations, the positive effects can be very wide reaching on all sorts of health concerns.

This woman developed POTS when she was 16 years old. The condition was so severe that anytime she attempted to stand upright, she would pass out. Because of this, her medical physician ordered bedrest for three months. She was given medication in an attempt to help her symptoms. Because she did not like the way the medication made her feel, she made several lifestyle changes and avoided triggers that would create an episode. Even with these changes, the woman was still experiencing severe episodes three to four times a month with durations of thirty minutes to an hour.

After a chiropractic examination, it was determined that the woman had multiple areas of subluxations. A schedule of chiropractic adjustments was started to address the subluxations. The results of the care showed that the woman's neck pain had resolved, even when working for long hours. The symptoms from her POTS also showed significant improvement. By the end of the care recorded in this study, the woman had gone two months without a POTS episode, and the last one she did experience only lasted five minutes.

In the conclusion of this study, the author summed up the results by saying, "This case report demonstrates the effect of chiropractic treatment of a female patient with postural orthostatic tachycardia and associated neck pain. After experiencing chiropractic care, the patient reported a decrease in the signs, symptoms, and frequency of occurrences of POTS flare ups."