Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC Offers Treatment with Relaxing Effects
Where does your stress settle? Neck? Upper back? Head? Low back? Do you want some help relaxing? Chiropractic spinal manipulation offers relaxing effects particularly when directed to the cervical and thoracic spine regions. Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC sees stress every day. Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC hears our La Grande chiropractic patients ask for more spine treatment once they feel how good it is! Wise chiropractic patients!
MEASURING RESPONSES TO SPINAL MANIPULATION: STRESS
Initially, how do we react to stress? Sweaty palms. Rapid pulse and heart rate. We can feel these responses. Researchers want to measure these responses. Measuring heart rate variability, blood pressure, heart rate, and numeric pain scale after treating upper and lower cervical spine segments of healthy and neck pain patients, researchers found that upper cervical manipulation enhanced parasympathetic (calming) system and lower cervical manipulation improved sympathetic (fight or flight) activity. Interestingly, neck pain patients’ parasympathetic activity was enhanced by both upper and lower cervical manipulation. (1) Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC notices that just the effect of touch is powerful.
EFFECTS OF MANIPULATION ON STRESS RESPONSES
The body responds to all types of stimuli. Researchers do their best to document how. One group did a meta-analysis of multiple studies about the effect of spinal manipulation and mobilization on cardiovascular responses. Changes in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and heart rate were documented. They concluded that spinal manipulation and mobilization may result in a significant decrease of systolic as well as diastolic blood pressure. (2) An analysis of articles about the effect of spinal manipulation on heart rate variability reported that a greater parasympathetic response was seen when cervical and lumbar spine areas were treated while a greater sympathetic response was seen when the thoracic spine was treated. (3) Another study correlated pain response to resting blood pressure pre- and post-cervical spine non-thrust manipulation. Non-chronic neck pain patients who underwent such manipulation had reduced short-term pain and reduced systolic blood pressure. (4) There is something to manipulation beyond pain relief, and Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC is pleased to share the research as it is made available.
SPINAL MANIPULATION TREATMENT
Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC uses gentle spinal manipulation applied to the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine areas to reduce pain. Spinal manipulation of the thoracic spine effectively manages painful mechanical thoracic spine pain better than placebo treatment. (5) Effects of thoracic manipulation go beyond the thoracic spine. Advantages of manipulation of the thoracic spine extend to the cervical spine for patients with bilateral chronic mechanical neck pain. Thoracic thrust manipulation and non-thrust mobilization produce similar changes in patients’ pressure pain thresholds and reduce neck pain intensity. (6) These are benefits of La Grande chiropractic care Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC is well-experienced to provide.
CONTACT Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he illustrates how chiropractic and The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management may well address parasympathetic and sympathetic as well as pain responses in the body.
Schedule your next La Grande chiropractic appointment soon. Your neck and shoulders and upper back will be grateful for the attention as will your reduced pain and heart rate and blood pressure after a gentle La Grande spinal manipulation session.
