The Chiropractic Pain Pill?

Have you ever gone to the chiropractor and after the first adjustment felt a little worse. In some cases, felt a lot worse. This may sound a little weird but my response is almost always, "Great!". Why do I want people to feel worse you may ask? Don't get me wrong, I do not like seeing my patients suffer. As a matter of fact I do not like seeing anyone suffer.

The body is a very simple, while at the same time complex, logical mechanism that responds in a very logical manner IF you understand what is happening. Exercise is a very good comparison. Have you ever decided to start and exercise routine? You get excited, jump in with both feet and really over do it. The next day you have a hard time getting out of bed and walking across the room. Your muscles are responding to the new stress placed on them and are going through their normal natural healing cycle.

Getting back to feeling worse after the first adjustment. Before the adjustment, your body was working in a distorted position that it had adapted to over a very long period of time. Soft tissues (ligaments, tendons, muscles) have all adapted to accommodate this new position. For a period of time your body can handle this distortion. Eventually this abnormal position causes inflammation, muscle tension, nerve distortion/irritation (subluxation) which changes the body even more. The result of the previous mentioned usually leads people to the office to take care of the problem. The "problem" is the distorted position in which the body is working and the result of that is pain.

Granted, everyone wants to be pain free. I hate pain as much as the next person and want it gone as quickly as possible. But, looking beyond the pain to what is causing the problem is the key. When the abnormal body is returned back to the "normal" position a lot of change happens. For example, certain muscles, ligaments, and tendons stretch, other muscles spasm to move the structures and hold them in place; joints work in a different manner than they had previously been. For some people this change can be dramatic. What I see is the longer they have been dealing with this problem the more change their body has to make.

Just like exercising, when your body gets use to the new stresses it no longer gets sore. It has adapted. The same is true with your body. When your body adapts to the correct way of working it now has a chance to heal the damaged areas and not just mask the symptoms temporarily. Time is key. It took a long time for your body to get in the shape it is in, it will not go away quickly.

Exciting Research Happening in NUCCA

Years of clinical evidence suggest that the atlas vertebra misalignment may be related to a negative impact on human nervous system function resulting in chronic health symptoms, conditions and diseases affecting a decrease of quality of life. Within the chiropractic profession, investigation and validation of the mechanisms involved in supporting theories on spinal misalignments are lacking and long overdue.

It has long been suspected that upper cervical spinal misalignments result in altered cerebral blood flow. Correction of the misalignment may produce a ‘normalization’ of blood flow and a reversal of related patient reported conditions (Scott R et al. 1-8). Accuracy and validity in noninvasive measurement of cerebral blood flow has been limited due to technology.

A new method using Phase Contrast Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Angiography (PC MRA) now exists that significantly increases accurate valid measurements. Using PC MRA, cerebral arterial and venous blood can be measured in almost every vessel in the brain with an added ability to measure cerebrospinal fluid flow and determine Intra-cranial Pressure (ICP).

It has been proposed to measure all these parameters using PC MRA before and after a NUCCA correction of the atlas misalignment. From these proposed pilot investigations, evidence of mechanisms detrimental to the central nervous system may be discovered.

Changes in cerebral blood flow have been demonstrated by medical research to be connected to a number of medically diagnosed conditions and diseases. With the appropriate tools now available, the effect of the NUCCA atlas correction procedure on cerebral blood flow can be accurately evaluated.

Research Goals

The desired outcome of the blood flow investigations is two fold. Most significant is to discover neural mechanisms involved for two specific conditions involving a large population of our society: migraine headaches and hypertension. The second outcome will attract interest within the scientific community for further investigation of these mechanisms and the funding required to conduct the Gold Standard, Controlled Clinical Research Trials required for validation.

Two studies, each involving ten medically diagnosed patients with Stage I hypertension and ten medically diagnosed patients with migraine headaches are planned. Mechanisms already suspected in migraine headaches and hypertension may be related to in the brain stem nuclei, a critical area that may be involved in the atlas misalignment.

Measurable changes in cerebral blood and cerebrospinal fluid flow may substantiate a neural homeostatic mechanism affected by atlas misalignment in the brain stem nuclei. This research will lay the foundation for further research into the effect of the atlas misalignment on the central nervous system.

For more information visit: www.ucrf.org