“What we can say based on this study is that when we adjust subluxations, we improve strength, we prevent fatigue and we change the way the brain drives our muscles. That’s pretty cool” said Heidi Haavik, one of the brains behind a recent study examining changes in H-reflexes and V-waves following spinal adjustments.
Subluxations can affect the body in multiple ways. As chiropractors, our aim is to analyse the spine for these neuro-structural changes and adjust them to allow you to function at your fullest potential.
In this study, Dr Haavik highlights how subluxations can influence and affect central-segmental motor control. That is, dysfunctions that occur when the central nervous system isn’t controlling the movement pattern of a segment of the spine as well as it should be.
“When we adjust dysfunctional segments or subluxations, we change the way the brain processes what’s 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,” says Haavik.
This view was firmly backed up by findings of the recent study, which was enabled through a partnership between Spinal Research, the New Zealand College of Chiropractic and the Hamblin Trust.
In the fully randomised research process, a control group of participants were set up but not adjusted. This group was asked to perform maximum contractions using leg muscles and was seen to fatigue over the course of the study.
The researchers contrasted this with the group that did receive chiropractic adjustments and saw a major shift in the way the brain drove the muscle. “There was a change in the H-reflex happening at the spinal cord level. Our results were showing that change (in the H-reflex) isn’t a spinal cord phenomenon. The brain was changing that reflex effect. Our subjects got stronger (in comparison to the control group)” observed Haavik and her fellow researchers.
The study showed:
- 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
- a small but significant shift in the H reflex curve, which is a neurophysiological measure of spinal cord excitability.
Another interesting finding occurred when Haavik was writing up the results of this research. She came across another study that was almost identical in its methodology, but was comparing three weeks of strength training to three weeks of endurance training. “Our results were almost identical to three weeks of strength training” she said.
These are compelling research outcomes which back-up what we at Sims & Finn and our patients already know: that people function better with chiropractic care.
If you would like to learn more about how chiropractic can enhance your performance and function, you can book appointment by either going to our website or calling one of the members of our friendly staff.
52 Stud Road, Dandenong 3175
@simsfinnchiropractic
Reproduced from the Australian Spinal Reasearch Foundations Research release.
i 1 Niazi IK, Türker KS, Flavel S, Kinget M, Duehr J & Haavik H. (2015) Changes in H-reflex and V waves following spinal manipulation. Experimental Brain Research. In press. DOI: 10.1007/s00221014-4193-5
URL link: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00221-014-4193-5