A Cause of High Blood Pressure: Misaligned Vertebra

Fighting high blood pressure can be a challenging process because often we don’t know what causes it. Recently I posted some leading causes of hypertension unrelated to genetics or secondary hypertension but I left the treatment of hypertension for another post. Today I wanted to present you one specific way to lower your blood pressure that you might want to consider. Not only has it been shown to be effective at marginally lowering high blood pressure but it also is quite relaxing and could make you feel quite a bit better if you’re constantly battling stiffness and achiness in your back and neck.

Researchers led by George Bakris from the University of Chicago recently published their findings in the Journal of Human Hypertension which found that a simple neck alignment at the chiropractor’s office could shave on average 8/5 mm hg off your blood pressure reading. The vertebra in particular that was found to do the most good (or harm depending on your perspective) was the Atlas vertebrae otherwise known as the C-1. This vertebra is quite high in the neck (the upper most vertebra at the base of your skull) and apparently when it is out of alignment it causes increases to your blood pressure.

It’s somewhat unclear as to why this misalignment causes the increase in blood pressure but it is clear that correcting it does indeed lower overall blood pressure levels. My assumption is the chiropractic alignment decreases stress the vertebra puts on the spinal cord and neck. If you are out of alignment your body reacts and you don’t feel as good… and we of course know how powerful our minds are in manifesting positive or negative effects. I also assume there is likely anatomical reasoning behind the blood pressure spike but considering that professionals don’t understand it completely then I feel it’s not worth my time offering a blind guess.

The take away however is obvious. Chiropractic alignments can alleviate part of the problem. If you are battling high blood pressure you might want to include chiropractic realignment sessions into your hypertension treatment routine. This along with diet, exercise, medication (if applicable), and following the tips previously presented on the leading causes of hypertension might just bring your blood pressure back to the safe range effectively lowering your risk of atherosclerosis, heart disease, and stroke… not to mention you’ll feel better to; I love a good alignment session. :)

Source
Journal of Human Hypertension, March 2007

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