Pain, Inflammation, and Chiropractic Care
Activator-assisted manipulation shown to reduce inflammation
Chiropractic manipulation has been recognized as a safe and effective approach for relieving neck and back pain. And, inflammation of the nerves and tissues within or next to the spine are almost always associated with neck and back pain. But what exactly is the relationship between pain, inflammation, and chiropractic manipulation?
Award winning research studying the treatment effects and mechanisms underlying chiropractic manipulation and inflammation in rodents and human beings has been done by Xue-Jun Song, MD, PhD at Parker Research Institute. Dr. Song used animal models to document what happens when an Activator-assisted chiropractic manipulation is applied to an inflamed spinal joint. This study showed that Activator-assisted chiropractic manipulation can significantly reduce the severity and shorten the duration of pain caused by joint inflammation in the spine.
How can Activator-assisted manipulation do that?
In simple terms, the Activator instrument is designed to mimic a manual-thrust chiropractic manipulation. That means the Activator is designed to deliver a mechanical force/pressure to an inflamed joint, usually in the spine.
The real question is how can applying a mechanical force to an inflamed joint reduce inflammation? To answer that question, we have to get a little bit technical and look at the chemistry of inflammation.
Cytokines are proteins that are produced by all cells. There are dozens of cytokines. One of the most famous (and most important) is the anti-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-10 (IL-10). Interleukin-10 is known to be a key anti-inflammatory marker to measure the body’s immune response.
This brings us back to Dr. Song and his award-winning research. In a research article published in January, 2016, Dr. Song and his colleagues were able to show that chiropractic manipulation with an Activator adjusting instrument significantly increased the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10) in the spinal cord.
This means that chiropractic manipulation may relieve pain by stimulating the production of the natural anti-inflammatory IL-10. This may explain a new way of understanding, at least in part, how an Activator-assisted chiropractic manipulation relieves pain and inflammation.
What this means to you.
Activator-assisted chiropractic manipulation can significantly reduce the severity and shorten the duration of pain caused by joint inflammation in the spine. These findings may translate to manual-thrust manipulation, but it’s too soon to tell because the research has not been done. What we do know is that Activator-assisted chiropractic manipulation has been shown to be safe and effective in over 22 clinical trials. And, the better we understand what happens when we provide an Activator-assisted chiropractic manipulation the better doctors who use Activator will be able to predict outcomes and help patients get better faster.
If you would like find out whether Activator-assisted chiropractic manipulation may help you, call or contact our office today.