Research Exposure Therapy 1. A Case study on mood.

OK so this one might be a little different.

I thought that this year I would do something I have never done here before and actually use this blog space more like an ongoing blog.

To remain registered as a chiropractor, Martin and I have to meet certain standards, and part of those standards is ongoing education.

Often Martin and I will find ourselves reading research papers or hear about new research that changes how we practice, or has us excited about how we practice that has significant impact for the clients that we are lucky enough to see.

As always, we meet weekly, discuss the information and then try to implement it into our practice as we constantly strive to improve our care, but there might be a lot of you who are actually keen to learn along with us.

Which leads me to this post, I am not sure what form this will take eventually, but what I was wanting to do with them is not to just present the information like a summary of the research, but I would love for people to see what information is out there and then understand why it is significant to us at Align and you as a client.

I’m not intending to explain the methods etc, though I will always provide the citation for you. My goal is to outline what is some interesting research I have come across, and hopefully encourage people to understand more, perhaps it will be relevant to them or to a loved one, but we would like to encourage you to discuss it with Martin or myself if it does pique your interest.

So without further preamble. The research:

Hughes F. (2020) “Reduction of cortisol levels and perceived anxiety in a patient undergoing Chiropracticmanagement for neck pain and headache: a caseReport and review of the literature,” Journal of Contemporary Chiropractic, https://journal.parker.edu/index.php/jcc/article/view/95

Now to start with, a disclaimer, this is a case study only and as such is a starting point for further research, NOT a definitive research answer. Individual results of care may vary. If you have any questions about research design and why some are more highly valued compared to others, please ask Martin or myself.

In this case study, a chiropractor was managing the care of a lady suffering from neck pain and headaches.

As part of the care provided, the chiropractor had the client complete surveys regarding her mental state as well as for pain etc. and the client also had her cortisol (or stress chemical) levels measured at the outset and as reassessment points in her care.

What was discovered was that through ongoing chiropractic care including adjustment and home advice, not only did her neck pain and headaches improve, but the client’s cortisol levels decreased significantly as well as the client herself feeling less anxious in her day to day life.

This particularly stood out to us as anxiety was NOT what the client was intending to have managed by the chiropractor, nor was it the focus of the chiropractor’s care plan for the client, yet areas outside the initial complaint significantly improved, creating a better quality of life for the client.

This was significant to me as it certainly reflects what we often see in practice with out clients. Often we will have clients state how much more relaxed they feel after an adjustment, or that they can breathe easier, or a “weight has been lifted from their shoulders”.

This has been particularly common throughout the last 2 years as we have had…lets say more stress than is normal in our day to day lives because of the pandemic.

The main reason I was inspired to write something here though is because often when we are busy or when people have significant injuries etc that we are managing, as a practitioner it is easy for us to focus on just the issue clients might present with and in doing so, we might be missing significant contributing elements.

For clients this might be more important, as imagine if there was another issue you were putting up with and even though myself or Martin were in a position to help, we are not aware that we could be working with you to get on top of other issues at the same time.

At Align we use specific surveys to get a snap shot of where a client will be in regard to mood, energy, concentration and attempt to track these over time, but going forward, I want to make sure I am encouraging our clients to make sure they are getting the most out of their care.

If there is something else bothering you or you aren’t sure we could help with, then we would love for you to feel free to ask us. Hopefully we are in a position to help you, but even if we are not, I am confident that we will be able to find the right person who CAN help you with whatever issue you might have.

The advantage of being a practice that is over 30 years old is that we have contacts in many fields to help clients get where they need to go, because sometimes chiropractic, as wonderful as it is not the answer. But I bet we can find someone for you who is.

So next time you get adjusted, pay attention to how you feel, do you feel more relaxed? More alert? Sharper? Freer? We’d love to hear about what you find.