Chiropractic...About More Than Back Pain?

source:  http://www.metrotownchiropractic.com/en/faq_and_education.html

7 Reasons Why Chiropractic Is About More Than Back Pain
posted by PHS Chiropractic on Friday, October 09, 2015

Do your patients think their care is simply about resolving their back pain? It's time to educate them that while chiropractic is about that, it's also about so much more.
Research has demonstrated that chiropractic can actually help keep your body healthy and active and can be incorporated into anyone's lifestyle as a preventative regimen.

Chiropractic:

1. Boosts immune function, making it easier to ward off infection and illness.

2. Reduces inflammation. Higher levels of inflammatory compounds can lead to diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis.

3. Reduces blood pressure. In fact, patients who receive adjustments have seen blood pressure decreases that are equal to being given two different anti-hypertensive agents at the same time!

4. Reduces stress, including improving brain activity responsible for stress reactions and reducing cortisol levels.

5. Improves balance by restoring normal healthy spine function.

6. Relieves colic in babies.

7. Relieves asthma symptoms in both adults and children. As chiropractors, we know the benefits of being under chiropractic care extends well beyond just back pain relief. In an article published by ChiroHosting they give 7 reasons why chiropractic is about your overall wellness.

The core concept of chiropractic is to restore the function of your nervous system so that it can do what’s it’s designed to do: keeping your body healthy and active. Chiropractic is truly about prevention. If you keep your nervous system working smoothly and without interference, many health issues become non-issues!

Don’t take our word for it, though. Over the last few years, there’s been a lot of scientific research that shows that chiropractic is good for much more than just aches and pains. Here’s a review of some of this literature.

1 – Chiropractic Boosts Immune Function

A 2010 study found that chiropractic adjustments actually boosted blood serum levels of some important natural antibodies in patients. The authors suggested that chiropractic adjustments might "prime" the immune system, making it easier to ward off infection and illness.

2 – Chiropractic Reduces Inflammation

Researchers in a 2011 study compared back pain patients to people with no pain and gave both groups chiropractic adjustments. The authors found that the back pain patients who received chiropractic care had dramatically lower levels of a key inflammatory cytokine, known as TNF-α. High levels of TNF-α have been linked to inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis.

3 – Chiropractic Reduces Blood Pressure

Hypertension is a huge public health issue in the US; it’s estimated that about 30% of adults suffer from this serious condition. A 2007 study in the Journal of Human Hypertension looked at a group of patients with high blood pressure. Half received an adjustment of their atlas, and the other half received a sham adjustment.

The decrease in blood pressure was so dramatic in the patients who received real adjustments that the researchers wrote that it "is similar to that seen by giving two different anti-hypertensive agents simultaneously." In fact, 85% of the study patients had improvement after just one adjustment!

4 – Chiropractic Reduces Stress

An interesting study by a team of Japanese researchers in 2011 gave chiropractic adjustments to 12 men and examined PET scan images and blood chemistry to examine the effect that chiropractic has on the autonomic nervous system.

After receiving a chiropractic neck adjustment, patients had altered brain activity in the parts of the brain responsible for pain processing and stress reactions. They also had significantly reduced cortisol levels, indicating decreased stress. Participants also reported lower pain scores and a better quality of life after treatment.

5 – Chiropractic Improves Balance

As we age, sometimes we start to lose some of our balance, strength, and flexibility that we had in our youth. Because of this, older folks are vulnerable to serious injuries from trips and falls. Chiropractic helps keep your body active by restoring the normal, healthy functioning of your spine. One of the important roles of your spine is balance, aided by nerves called proprioceptors. These proprioceptors relay information to your brain on the position of your body.

A small study from 2009 found that people who received chiropractic adjustments had reduced dizziness and improved balance. A 2015 review of the literature suggests that chiropractic care might be an effective, natural way to help prevent falls in elderly patients.

6 – Chiropractic Relieves Colic in Babies

In 2012, researchers studied 104 infants who were suffering from colic. One-third of the infants were treated with chiropractic adjustments and the parents were aware of the treatment; one-third were treated and the parents were unaware of the treatment; and one-third were untreated but the parents were unaware.

The authors found that the parents reported a significant decrease in infant crying in the treated babies, compared to the infants who didn’t receive treatment. The knowledge of the parent had no effect on the improvement.

7 – Chiropractic Relieves Asthma Symptoms

A 2013 study reported that chiropractic adjustments were effective at increasing lung functioning, and some recent research shows that chiropractic care can help reduce the symptoms of asthma in some children.


Reference Studies

1.  Teodorczyk-Injeyan JA, McGregor M, Ruegg R, Injeyan HS. Interleukin 2-regulated in vitro antibody production following a single spinal manipulative treatment in normal subjects. Chiropractic & Osteopathy 2010;(18)26.

2.  Teodorczyk-Injeyan JA, Triano JJ, McGregor M, Woodhouse L, Injeyan HS. Elevated production of inflammatory mediators including nociceptive chemokines in patients with neck pain: a cross-sectional evaluation. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2011;34(8):498-505.

3.  Bakris G, Dickholtz M Sr, Meyer PM, Kravitz G, Avery E, Miller M, Brown J, Woodfield C, Bell B. Atlas vertebra realignment and achievement of arterial pressure goal in hypertensive patients: a pilot study. Journal of Human Hypertension 2007;21(5):347-52.

4.  Ogura T, Tashiro M, Masud M, et al. Cerebral metabolic changes in men after chiropractic spinal manipulation for neck pain. Alternative Therapies. 2011;17(6):12-17.

5.  Strunk RG, Hawk C. Effects of chiropractic care on dizziness, neck pain, and balance: a single-group, pre-experimental, feasibility study. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine 2009;8(4):156–164.

6.  Kendall JC, Hartvigsen J, French SD, Azari MF. Is there a role for neck manipulation in elderly falls prevention? – An overview. Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association 2015;9(1):53-63.

7.  Miller JE, Newell D, Bolton JE. Efficacy of chiropractic manual therapy on infant colic: a pragmatic single-blind, randomized controlled trial. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2012;35(8):600-7.

8.  Engel RM, Vemulpad SR, Beath K. Short-term effects of a course of manual therapy and exercise in people with moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a preliminary clinical trial. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2013;36(8):490-6.

9.  Pepino VC, Ribeiro JD, Ribeiro MA, de Noronha M, Mezzacappa MA, Schivinski CI. Manual therapy for childhood respiratory disease: A systematic review. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2013;36(1):57-65.
- See more at: ^{http://www.phschiropractic.com/learn/blog/7-reasons-why-chiropractic-is-about-more-than-back-pain.aspx#sthash.UkgxwprA.dpuf}

Maybe #chiropractic is about more than we thought? https://t.co/XE2ZrOd0ry

— Travis Robertson (@theuppercblog) October 20, 2015

Feeling Out of Tune...Try Upper Cervical

 

You can't sleep, your energy levels are low and you're finding it harder to make it through your day.  The specialists insist there's nothing wrong, but you innately feel like something is out of tune.  Maybe it's time to call the Upper Cervical Chiropractor.

 

D.D. Palmer, the Father of Chiropractic, recognized that repetitive physical, chemical and emotional stress can alter the normal 'tone' within a person's Nerve System.  This persistent irritation can lead to poor physical, mental and emotional performance.  The solution?  Restore normal tone to the Nerve System with specific, Upper Cervical Chiropractic adjustments and better health will naturally follow!

Health is the 'music' that plays when all your cells, tissues and organs vibrate perfectly in unison – orchestrated by a finely tuned Nerve System.  If you're feeling sluggish, weak and tired, a trip to the Upper Cervical Chiropractor may just be the thing YOU need to get back in key.

All Aboard The Upper Cervical Express

ALL ABOARD!

Disease treatment (represented largely by medicine) and health restoration (represented by upper cervical care) are two approaches to the health and well-being of individuals. They are like two trains on parallel railroad tracks. The two trains are essentially going to the same destination, that of physical, mental and emotional well-being. The objective is to lead a long, productive and fulfilling life, expressing your maximum potential through as much of it as possible. Which is going to get you there in the fastest, most efficient manner? If we can follow this analogy, we might describe the medical track as the Local and the upper cervical care track as the Express line.

The Local (medical) track is really not concerned with getting its riders to the ultimate destination as quickly as possible. It has another priority, stopping at every little junction along the way. This is analogous to the idea of treating diseases. Medicine believes that by treating disease, “scheduling” their train with disease in mind, they can reach the destination. Some people ultimately do reach a long, productive life, despite the many disease stops they make along the way. Sadly for some, due to genetic problems, poor health care as a child and injuries, they have no choice but to take the Local. But there is another group that is even sadder. This is the group that wants to reach the train’s final destination but still chooses to take the Local. They make every little stop along the way and often never reach their ultimate destination.

In traveling back and forth between New York City and Trenton, New Jersey for three years on the Express an individual could never understand why people would opt for the Local rather than the Express. He could understand if they were only going to Princeton Junction, but if they were traveling all the way to New York, why take the Local? Most of the time the reason was fear. The Local was standing in the Trenton station ready to go. The Express, on the other hand, was coming up the east coast from Florida and had not arrived yet. Despite the train station’s assurance that it was “On Time,” they opted for the Local. He would always smile as the Express passed them somewhere south of Newark.

Taking the Express does not guarantee you will get there sooner. The train could break down or be delayed, and there are still a few stops that it has to make along the way. Upper cervical care is not a guarantee that you will lead a healthier, more productive life. You could get run over by a truck walking out of the upper cervical doctor’s office and even if you don’t, you will most likely have a few “disease stops” along the way. But if you are truly interested in being as healthy as you can be, leading a full, productive and long life, your best chances are in taking the Express.

Optimal Communication Crucial To Life

Q. How important is it for your brain and body to be able to communicate?

A. Well, if it doesn’t happen at all your dead. So the answer is…VERY IMPORTANT!

Q. If it is THAT IMPORTANT than is it ALSO IMPORTANT TO EVERYONE to check the strength of communication periodically to make sure that it is working to its highest potential?

A. The Answer…Well Yes.

Bet you never thought about how important that communication is. My specialty, as an Upper Cervical Doctor, is to assess how well this important communication is functioning and, if needed, make a correction to it.

So what we have here is something that is extremely important to everyone to keep tabs on and Upper Cervical Care, a procedure designed to aid in that effort. What could be better?

Remember, Upper Cervical Care is not a treatment for anything and it doesn’t cure anything only the body can heal. Example: If I give care in the form of chiropractic, drugs, or surgery to a dead body what happens? NOTHING! So who really does the healing? YOU DO!

Upper Cervical Care is about giving your body the best chance to be its’ best by opening the communication line (Head/Neck Alignment) between the brain and the body. The body can, will, and does do the rest. Doesn’t everyone (from birth to death) deserve that chance?

We are here to serve, to share, and to give of ourselves so that everyone has that chance. How many people will get that chance? That’s up to you! Please share this with everyone you know. Their life may just depend on it!

The Upper Cervical Procedure

Precision Upper Cervical adjusting is a little-known chiropractic procedure that corrects the position of the top vertebrae of the spine, the atlas and/or axis. By correcting the tilt, shift or rotation of these vertebrae, the body is better able to overcome the affects or, in some cases, completely eliminate many different conditions.

The atlas is a single, 2 oz. doughnut-shaped vertebra at the top of the spine. Trillions of nerve fibers from the brainstem travel through the small opening in atlas and flow down into the spinal column. Because of the smallness of the opening and because of the atlas’ close proximity to the brain stem, if the atlas has moved out of position even a fraction of a degree, two very serious things can result.
Body Imbalance

When the atlas and/or axis are out of their proper position, the head moves off center of the body. This creates body imbalance from head to toe. More weight shifts to one side of the body than the other. If these vertebrae are also rotated out of position, they can twist your entire spinal structure, including the pelvis, so that one leg becomes shorter than another. (See illustrations.) Not having your atlas corrected to restore body balance is like continuing to drive a car that is misaligned. Your tires are going to wear out prematurely. You can keep replacing the tires, but unless you have the car aligned, you’ll just be wasting your money. The same thing is true for headaches or ADD or hundreds of other conditions that have been known to respond well to Upper Cervical health care. You can keep taking medication, but if your atlas is out of its proper position and causing the problem, it’s not going away until you get your atlas corrected and body balance restored.

Restriction or Distortion of Brain Messages to Different Parts of the Body

The second serious result of an atlas and/or axis being out of position is the restriction or distortion of critical messages from the brain to all parts of the body. Every cell, organ or tissue that is not receiving adequate nerve supply from the brain will suffer and degenerate. Example: Ball your hand into a fist. This represents your head. Extend your index finger as if you are pointing at someone. Your index finger represents your body. Take a rubber band and wrap it tightly around your index finger where it is attached to your hand. The rubber band represents your atlas, which is wrapped around the spinal cord right near the brain stem and has moved out of its proper position. Wait a few minutes. Your entire finger begins to turn white and blue due to the circulation being cut off by the rubber band. You can massage your finger to restore circulation. You can inject a syringe with pain medication to stop the pain. In severe cases you can cut off the finger to erase the pain. However, only the symptoms of the problem have been addressed, not the cause. The rubber band is the cause.

The same thing is true for an atlas that has moved out of its proper position. It can constrict or distort proper brain messages to organs and limbs throughout the body. Your feet may hurt or you may be having kidney problems, but the cause of the problem may not be in those areas at all, but in your neck where a misaligned atlas is restricting or distorting brain messages to areas throughout the body. If your atlas remains out of position for years, degeneration of organ, muscle and cell tissue can result. Over time, that could be serious, since in many conditions, pain is the last symptom to occur.

Now, here’s the Good News! Repositioning the top vertebrae of the spine brings healing! The repositioning of the atlas vertebrae is done by hand or by instrument. Depending on the doctor’s technique, it feels like a light tap, a brisk thrust, or a soft massage at the side of the neck as the atlas is moved precisely back into its correct position. It is completely “underwhelming.” There is no twisting of the neck. Patients are often surprised how anti-climactic it is until, over a period of time, they feel their bodies healing. The procedure cures nothing. It simply restores body balance and brain-to-body communication so that organs, limbs and tissues can resume normal functioning. The body can now self-heal. That is why we see many different conditions responding to the same procedure. However, too many of us wait too long to get our atlas corrected. This is mainly due to ignorance of the vital role the atlas plays in the health of the entire body throughout life.

It is becoming increasingly clear that parents should have their children’s atlas examined as soon after birth as possible and have regular atlas check ups throughout their lives. Countless problems could be avoided entirely. A rightly positioned atlas is so fundamental to good health; children to grandparents need to get their atlases examined now.

Why Does Upper Cervical Care Work?

Well this is my 100th post so I thought I would use it to explain Why Upper Cervical Care works and more specifically why it seems to help a wide variety of conditions.

Adapted from "Why Does Chiropractic Work?"
by Dr. Joe Strauss

Upper Cervical Care has lasted for 70+ years because it obviously does something. It has a growing number of practitioners , millions of satisfied people for all over the world, many of whom choose to come back for periodic check-ups. All of this despite the fact that very few people understand the objective of Upper Cervical Care. The success of Upper Cervical Care (UCC) with a multitude of conditions must mean something. Anecdotal success must have some validity. Some people would ascribe these numerous successes with varied conditions to positive thinking, coincidence, faith or some other illegitimate factor. However, all the different successes with millions of people for 70+ years has to be something more than coincidence or mass hysteria. UCC had to possess something in order to succeed, despite the opposition of the medical community who was convinced that no single procedure could be the cure for everything. Millions of intelligent and reasonable people, including legislators, concluded that UCC worked on some level.

Along came a group of doctors who presented a reason why UCC “works” for some people and not for others, why certain conditions get well in some and not in others, why UCC appears to have had some success with all kinds of medical ailments. They presented the reasonable explanation that UCC is not a treatment or cure for medical conditions. UCC does one thing, it allows the body to work better, to function at a higher level, to be a little bit healthier. That is the reason for apparent success in so many and varied conditions. A body working better has greater potential to heal all types of conditions.

It is also the reason for “UCC failures.” Even though upper cervical adjustments enable the body to work better, sometimes that improved function is not sufficient to enable the body to heal itself. So despite working better, the body cannot heal and either the person must learn to live with a condition or seek relief in the therapeutic realm.

It was further reasoned that if the body works better when a precise Upper Cervical adjustment was maintained in some people, enough to get well from some conditions, then it must make the body work better in all people, those who do not get well, those who have no problems or conditions and everyone in between. They further reasoned that a body working better because of no interference will also benefit in other areas of human function besides disease and health. While we cannot measure quantitatively the improvement in a person under UCC, the fact that varied and serious conditions have been known to get well, suggests that the improvement must be of a significant nature. It also follows logically that failure to keep the body free of nerve interference must be a significant factor in the loss of health or decreased ability to function in all areas of life.

This idea was so logical that they began to have themselves and their families checked on a regular basis. They further determined that if it was good and necessary for themselves and their families, then the idea of periodically checking the spine for nerve interference and removing it when found was good for all of humanity and perhaps there were enough people out there who would agree and want this type of care for themselves and their families. After all there are millions of people who drink bottled water, take supplements, eat nutritionally, exercise regularly and in many other ways take care of themselves for no other reason than because their body will work better. They concluded that if they can find enough people interested in this type of care they can contribute to the betterment of society.

Upper Cervical Care Made Simple

By Dr. Daniel Clark

Head tilt interference at the point where the head and neck join can disrupt or distort the brain’s health and healing messages to the body, allowing numerous health problems to develop.

Muscles of the neck can hold the head in a tilt position and disrupt the flow of brain health and healing messages to the body.

Most people experience head tilt without ever knowing it.

Efficient, unrestricted brain to body communication is Upper Cervical Care at its best.

It is cost effective and the ultimate in wellness and preventative healthcare.

The Doctor’s First Objective:

Use the patient’s correction formula to remove interference at the point where the head and neck join to re-activate the flow of brain health and healing messages to the body so its natural self-healing process can begin.

The Doctor’s Second Objective:

On each follow-up visit, help the patient maintain their alignment correction so there is no interference in the body’s healing process until it is complete.

Editor's note: The frequency of follow-up visits will depend on the needs of the patient. Some people may find that they need to be seen more frequently due to the nature of their daily activities (especially if they are not able to change those daily activities) while others may be fine to get checked only occasionally (every 6 months or so for example.) Each individual will be a bit different but the goal of Upper Cervical Care is not about keeping you coming in, it is about making a specific correction and keeping it there for as long as possible and the more precise we can do that the fewer times we should need to see you.

Being Thankful for Upper Cervical Care

Not sure who wrote this but I came across it a while back and thought it would be fun to share today.

H aving
A
P roperly functioning nervous system
P uts
Y our

T otal
H ealth
A t a much higher state of vitality & resistance.
N erve interference is caused by head/neck misalignment,
K nown as
S ubluxations. These subluxations
G reatly reduce the
I nherent natural healing ability of the body. Few things are more
V aluable than your health. Make a decision to
I nvest in an optimal spine and an optimal
N ervous system. In this holiday season, be sure to give the
G ift of Health, by telling your family & friends about Upper Cervical Care.

Upper Cervical Care and The Larger Picture

Adapted from the article, "Chiropractic: Health care concerned with the well-being of human kind, Mind, Body, and Spirit"

Upper Cervical Care is based on the absolute science that every function in the human body is directed and coordinated by the nervous system. It is through this science that we know without a doubt that the body is a self healing and self regulating organism that knows how to heal itself from inside the same way it knew how to grow you from 2 cells into over two trillion cells in 9 months! The Power that made the body heals the body! The body heals itself through the communication of the nervous system. It will do this as long as there is no interference.

The upper cervical doctors primary goal is to help the body tap into this amazing, internal healing wisdom by removing interferences to the nervous system called "Subluxations", which result from head neck misalignment. The result of Subluxations is diminished function and communication. For some this may result in Headaches, in others it is Back Pain, others Irritable Bowel Syndrome or Asthma. In children Subluxations may reduce your resistence to Ear infections. If a Subluxation is left uncorrected it can affect the structure and function of the joints of the spine, and thus contribute to Scoliosis, or the cycle of Spinal Arthritis.

Subluxations like Viruses, can happen at anytime. They can be caused by Repetitive Strain injury, Sports Injuries, Prolonged Sitting at a desk or computer or Long Drives and more. Stress and the physical tension it creates can Subluxate the spine. Many Subluxations however are caused in childhood and show up as problems later in life. Learning to walk and falling, bumping the spine can cause Subluxations, and many times the Birth Trauma, of the delivery pulling on the neck or forceps can cause lifetime spinal problems.

Only Upper Cervical Doctors are trained to detect and correct head neck misalignment with a specific upper cervical correction, thus removing the nerve interference and restoring proper function of the spine. Upper Cervical Care is for all ages and a healthy spine and nervous system is a priority today, for healthier tomorrows.

Upper Cervical Care And Your Options

Adapted from an article by Dr. Joseph Strauss

I. Ignore the symptoms or the disease

Simply do nothing about it and hope it will go away. In this case you would not seek Upper Cervical Care nor any other type of care. It seems like a poor option (and usually it is), however, most people choose this option most of the time in lieu of any professional care. The common cold is the best example. Many people will do nothing and just wait to "get better." What they are saying, in effect, is that they will ignore it and let the body "heal itself." It appears that deep down inside almost everyone understands this concept.

A. Ramifications

1. Positive - the condition may go away on its own and never return. This is possible whether it's the chicken pox, a cracked rib, the common cold or an ache or pain. You need to know that the body often is able to heal itself without the help of anyone.

2. Negative - the condition or disease may worsen. If it does, by the time you choose to do something about it, it may be too late. As well as cost you more of both your time and money.

II. Treat it medically or therapeutically

This is a commonly chosen option ranging from taking aspirin and on to physical therapy to "major" surgery. You need to know that this option is not available under Upper Cervical Care.

A. Ramifications

1. Positive-

a) The treatment may relieve the symptoms while the body heals itself or the cause is removed. e.g. headache caused by lack of sleep, aspirin relieves symptoms, night's sleep corrects cause.

b) The treatment may remove an interference to the healing process. e.g. iodine killing the microorganisms of a cut finger.

2. Negative-

a) The symptoms may be relieved while the cause is never addressed.

b) The treatment may cause irreparable harm or even death.

You need to know that in choosing this option, you may not necessarily know what the ramifications will be until they occur. Also you need to know that Upper Cervical Care does not make judgments regarding this option, nor provides it and that if a patient is to choose this option, the finest expert advice is a necessity.

III. Upper Cervical Care

A person choosing this option is saying, "I am going to have my spine checked and, if needed, adjusted and see if my body has the ability to heal itself.”

A. Ramifications

1. Positive - the body with a good nerve supply may be better able to heal itself than one without a good nerve supply. Many people do get well.

2. Negative – There are limitations of time and matter, which means that sometimes things have gone on for so long and the body is so damaged that not much healing can occur. You need to know that you are dealing with the symptoms of a medical problem and that Upper Cervical Care does not make judgments concerning medical problems. The decision to begin Upper Cervical Care and allow the body an opportunity to heal itself or to consider the possibility that the body is past limitations of time and matter and that another option is needed, is entirely up to you.

IV. Medical (therapeutic) care, and Upper Cervical Care

The objectives of both professions are different therefore both can take place coincidentally. This option is open from the beginning of care and at any time during the course of Upper Cervical Care.

A. Ramifications

1. Positive - These are the same as for medical care alone and Upper Cervical Care alone.

2. Negative - The same as medical care alone and Upper Cervical Care alone. However, there is an added negative ramification. Medication may interfere with the ability of the body to heal itself and the ability of the Upper Cervical Doctor to remove the interference.

Now you can make an educated choice.

Changes in General Health Status during Upper Cervical Chiropractic Care: A Practice-Based Research Project Update

Kathryn T. Hoiriis, BS, DC
Deana Burd, BA
Research Department
Life University, School of Chiropractic
Marietta, GA
Edward F. Owens, Jr., MS, DC
Director of Research
Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic
Spartanburg, SC

ABSTRACT

Introduction: An upper cervical practice-based research (PBR) project, proposed at the 13th Annual Upper Cervical Conference in November 1996, is being used to study the effectiveness of upper cervical care related to the general health status of patients. This project uses the RAND (SF-36) Health Survey and a global well-being scale (GWBS) as primary outcome measures. Also, we are looking at concomitant changes in misalignment of the occipito-atlanto-axial joints as determined by pre- and post-adjustment radiographs.

Methods: Field doctors were recruited to contribute sequential information from their new patients between 18 and 59 years of age. The patients were followed through the course of care until maximum improvement for the presenting complaint was noted. The SF-36 was given to patients at the initial visit, after four weeks and at the end of the care plan (the level of maximal chiropractic improvement, MCI). The GWBS was completed at each visit. Radiographic analysis of upper cervical subluxation was recorded. Data are continually being collected from field practitioners and entered into a computerized database. This update summarizes the results from the first two years of the study.

Results: The patients (N=311) sought care for a variety of mostly musculoskeletal complaints: back pain (33.9%), neck pain (40.9%) and headache (9.8%). Forty % (N=34) of the 85 completed patients had acute complaints, while 60% (N=51) complained of chronic problems.

The average pre-adjustment C1 misalignment was 2.2 degrees of laterality. The average measured radiographic change was 51-75% with the average post-adjustment C1 misalignment reduced to 0.89 degrees.

The SF-36 data reduces to health scores ranging from 0 to 100 in eight discreet dimensions or subscales: physical function (PF), role physical (RP), bodily pain (BP), general health (GH), vitality (V), social function (SF), role emotional (RE) and mental health (MH). The mean SF-36 results for 4 week data (n=161) and MCI (n=85) show statistically significance changes from initial values (n=311) at both 4 weeks and MCI. All subscales showed improvement with the greatest average gain seen for role physical (39 points

Conclusions: In our chiropractic population, the improvement in average SF-36 scores might be attributed to changes in health due to the spinal correction, but there is no data available from a control population to support that conclusion.