If you haven’t visited a chiropractor before, you could be missing out. More than 30 Million Americans receive the benefits of chiropractic care every year. Millions of people have found improvements in various conditions including:

  • Back pain
  • Headaches
  • Ear infections
  • Neck pain
  • Arthritis and joint pain

In addition to musculoskeletal pain, millions of people who receive chiropractic adjustments also demonstrate improvement with various conditions including:

  • Asthma
  • ADD/ADHD
  • Blood pressure
  • Depression and Mood Disorders
  • Digestive Difficulty
  • Immunodeficiency
  • Insomnia
  • Sleep Disturbances

However, far too many people receive misinformation that limits the understanding of Chiropractic beyond using adjustments for a healthier neck and spine. The true power of Chiropractic radiates through positive functional effects on the entire body. Why?

Chiropractic Adjustments Influence the Nervous System

The nervous system includes the brain, spinal cord, and nerves.

The human nervous system controls all functions of the body. These tissues control all communication flowing in and around the spine. The densely populated nervous system directs energy and neural impulses to all organs and tissues in the body, including the heart.

This is why Chiropractic adjustments can impact so many symptoms and conditions beyond back pain.

Getting to the Heart of the Matter

This popular phrase refers to the heart’s role as the most important muscle in the human body. The complex muscle sits in the upper left chest cavity and pumps blood filled with oxygen to every part to the body. The essential function of the heart serves as the delivery mechanism for life-saving chemicals to every cell and tissue in the body.

This amazing organ beats around 101,000 times each day. The heart beats about three billion times in an average lifetime and while pumping roughly one million barrels of blood through the body. The daily energy output from the heart creates enough force in one twenty-four hour period to raise three fully loaded greyhound buses into the air.

The amazing heart receives constant direction from the nervous system being housed in the spinal column.

The spine’s intimate relationship with the nervous system explains exactly why a healthy spine translates into healthier heart function.

Chiropractic Adjustments Improved Outcomes in Patients Following Heart Surgery

A study published in 2017 showed that patients receiving spinal adjustments after undergoing heart surgery experienced significantly improved outcomes compared to those who did not receive spinal adjustments. The study detailed that those patients receiving spinal adjustments within a few days after heart surgery experienced improved overall function and a reduction in hospital stays, need for drugs, and pain. The simple variable factor involved paying attention to the health of the spine. Many other studies also advocate for the use of Chiropractic care for patients undergoing heart interventions and surgery. Further studies advocate even more for implementing nervous system care far in advance of medical conditions in order to improve overall health and take preventative steps that enable the spine, nervous system, and organs to battle disease proactively. An empowered nervous system begins with Chiropractic care.

Chiropractic Adjustments Improved Heart Rate Variability

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is a way to measure how balanced your nervous system is. Cardiac specialists have been using HRV for decades to track the health and recovery of their patients, and it’s why HRV is a predictive indicator of overall heart health, risk of heart attack and mortality.

In general, a high HRV indicates dominance of the parasympathetic response, the side of the nervous system that promotes relaxation, digestion, sleep, and recovery. This is known as your “rest and digest” system.

A low HRV indicates dominance of the sympathetic response, the fight or flight side of the nervous system associated with stress, overtraining, and inflammation.

While many people (mistakenly) think of chiropractic as only for back pain treatment, there are many more benefits documented in the medical literature [1, 2,].

With an aging population, Heart Disease and Heart Complications are increasingly surfacing in ERs and medical clinics across the United States and unfortunately, many physicians would never consider a chiropractic adjustment to be of any real benefit (despite the strong evidence in the medical literature).

Doctors will simply offer the “appropriate” medication or surgical treatment, and ask the patient to decrease stress. All of these are legitimate recommendations, but a missing and valuable component could be spinal misalignment and an appropriate adjustment.

Why wait to deliver a chiropractic adjustment after heart surgery? Shouldn't we be getting them before?