None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Over the past ten years a growing body of evidence has accumulated that suggests neural plastic changes occur following chiropractic adjustments (for recent review see Haavik & Murphy, 2012). Recently, due to ASRF funding, we presented the findings from eight subjects that demonstrated that a full spine chiropractic adjustment session resulted in an increase in the subjects’ ability to maximally voluntarily contract their lower limb muscle by almost 73% (Niazi et al. 2013). There was also a 50% increase in cortical drive and a shift in the H reflex curve. These exciting findings were not observed following the control intervention and are similar to those reported in a study that investigated the effects of three weeks of strength training (Vila-Cha, Falla, Correia, & Farina, 2012). In this proposed study we plan to expand on these findings to investigate whether chiropractic care also influences upper limb muscle function and neurological control. This study could have significant implications for our understanding of the effects of chiropractic care on sports performance. If the findings corroborate our previous work it will add weight to the hypothesis that increased strength and the prevention of fatigue may occur following chiropractic adjustments, which will be an important consideration for athletes who are trying to achieve their optimum athletic performance. We will be measuring the following dependant measures from the deltoid muscle in the upper limb before and after a single session of adjusting subluxations; Maximum isometric force production (to provide strength and fatigue measures) Median frequency data from surface electromyography (another fatigue measure) Proprioception in the form of a position sense task (functional performance measure) Spinal stretch reflex function (for spinal cord excitability measure)
Interventions
Full spine adjustments will be carried out during the experimental sessions. The entire spine and sacroiliac joints will be assessed for vertebral subluxations and adjusted by hand where deemed necessary by a registered chiropractor with at least ten years clinical experience. The vertebral subluxation indicators that will be used to assess the function
of the spine prior to and after each spinal adjustment intervention include assessing for tenderness to palpation of the relevant joints, manual
Full spine adjustments will be carried out during the experimental sessions. The entire spine and sacroiliac joints will be assessed for vertebral subluxations and adjusted by hand where deemed necessary by a registered chiropractor with at least ten years clinical experience. The vertebral subluxation indicators that will be used to assess the function of the spine prior to and after each spinal adjustment intervention include assessing for tenderness to palpation of the relevant joints, manually palpating for restricted intersegmental range of motion, assessing for palpable asymmetric intervertebral muscle tension, and any abnormal or blocked joint play and end-feel of the joints. All of these biomechanical characteristics are known clinical indicators of spinal dysfunction (Fryer, Morris, & Gibbons, 2004; Hestboek & Leboeuf-Yde, 2000). These findings will be documented prior to and after each spinal adjustment intervention. The improvements in segmental function following spinal adjustments will also be recorded for each subject. The single spinal adjustment intervention session will take 10 minutes on average.
Sponsors
NewZealand College of chiropractic
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Primary purpose
Treatment
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 40 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Subjects will be eligible for inclusion if they are English speaking, aged 18-40,and have previously sought chiropractic care, and have some history of recurring spinal dysfunction such as mild pain, ache, and/or stiffness with or without a history of known trauma.
Exclusion criteria
Subjects will be ineligible to participate if they exhibit no evidence of vertebral subluxations, have absolute contraindications to spinal adjustments, have experienced previous significant adverse reactions to chiropractic care, or they are suffering from a current lower limb disorder/dysfunction that would make them unable to carry out data recording sessions (e.g. sprain/strain/fracture),and if they have sought treatment for the subclinical pain symptoms.
Outcome results
None listed