Most people associate chiropractic care with relieving aches and pains. But chiropractic care may help a multitude of conditions with the idea that keeping your nervous system intact and functioning at an optimal level, your body is able to perform and heal as it was meant to. Recent groundbreaking research has now shown chiropractic care to have even a far more reaching effect.
New research has identified changes in the brain resulting from chiropractic adjustments of the spine. A study was conducted over a three year period. Approximately 100 volunteers were examined with an electroencephalogram (EEG) before and after chiropractic adjustments. The EEG scans were examined to check the right/left balance, the amount of total activity, the primary regions of activity and the effect of the adjustment.
After receiving a chiropractic adjustment, post EEG scans were examined and revealed improvement in all areas of brain function. Particularly, the researchers noticed an increase in the Alpha brainwave patterns, often called the meditative brainwaves, that are associated with a greater degree of relaxation, health and healing.
The researchers noted that some of the volunteers already had balanced and active brain scans and as expected, the adjustments had little effect on their post scans. They felt this was a good indicator that the adjustments had no negative effects on brain activity.
Researcher Heidi Haavik-Taylor, Ph.D. said, “The process of a spinal adjustment is like rebooting a computer. The signals that these adjustments send to the brain, via the nervous system, reset neurological patterns. By stimulating the nervous system we can improve the function of the whole body. This is something that chiropractors and their patients have known for years and now we have scientific evidence to prove it.”
The implications of this study are definitely profound. Over and over research is proving that chiropractic care has the ability to positively affect body function on a far greater level than simple pain relief.
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