New ground breaking research published in Experimental Brain Research is starting to show the powerful effect chiropractic care has on the body. According to one of the researchers, Dr Heidi Haavik, the study has shown that when a chiropractor adjusts a dysfunctional area of the spine, “we change the way the brain processes what going on in our bodies. Hence we are able to better process all that sensory information from through-out the body, and control the body in a better way.” How much do you think a chiropractic adjustment could increase strength in a muscle by? Continue reading to see what the study found and the amazing results. You will be surprised.
In the randomly controlled study, a control group was asked to perform maximum contractions using leg muscles. This group was seen to fatigue over the course of the study. The second group did the same muscle contraction but also received chiropractic adjustments. What they found was that there was a shift in the way the brain drove the muscles. They found that the chiropractic group got stronger (in comparison to the control group) and fatigued less. More specifically they found:
What to make of this research
I am not sure about you, but to me these findings are amazing. Improving the strength of your muscles by 16% is massive. I think every athlete around would like 16% more strength and less fatigue when they are competing. The most interesting finding to me was the fact that the outcomes from the chiropractic adjustment group was similar to people that had been strength training for 3 weeks. Amazing. More and more elite athletes are utilizing chiropractic care to give them an edge in their performance. This type of research shows why.
This research is also showing how chiropractic care works. It is not simply putting your back “in” when it goes “out”. Chiropractic adjustments change how the brain functions and communicates with the rest of the body. As Dr Haavik said above “…we are better able to process all that sensory information from through-out the body, and control the body in a better way”.
Of course more research is still be done. Questions to ask are: how long does this last? What happens after 3 weeks of care or a month? I am sure these questions will be answered in due course. I believe they will further back up what we have seen in practice for a long time. Chiropractic care works.
References
- An increase of almost 60% in the electrical activity readings from specifically targeted muscles.
- A 16% increase in absolute force measures.
- A 45% increase in the drive from their brain to their muscle.
- In an incidental finding, Dr Haavik, came across another piece of research with the same methodology, but comparing 3 weeks of strength training to 3 weeks of endurance training. Dr Haavik said “Our results were almost identical to three weeks of strength training”.
What to make of this research
I am not sure about you, but to me these findings are amazing. Improving the strength of your muscles by 16% is massive. I think every athlete around would like 16% more strength and less fatigue when they are competing. The most interesting finding to me was the fact that the outcomes from the chiropractic adjustment group was similar to people that had been strength training for 3 weeks. Amazing. More and more elite athletes are utilizing chiropractic care to give them an edge in their performance. This type of research shows why.
This research is also showing how chiropractic care works. It is not simply putting your back “in” when it goes “out”. Chiropractic adjustments change how the brain functions and communicates with the rest of the body. As Dr Haavik said above “…we are better able to process all that sensory information from through-out the body, and control the body in a better way”.
Of course more research is still be done. Questions to ask are: how long does this last? What happens after 3 weeks of care or a month? I am sure these questions will be answered in due course. I believe they will further back up what we have seen in practice for a long time. Chiropractic care works.
References
- https://spinalresearch.com.au/research-project-h-reflex-and-v-waves-2/
- http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00221-014-4193-5
- https://spinalresearch.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Factsheet_LG2012-5-1.pdf
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