Theoretical Basis for CHIROPRACTIC Maintenance Care



Theoretical Basis for CHIROPRACTIC Maintenance Care
 A very interesting study that concerned the theoretical basis for maintenance spinal manipulative therapy for the chiropractic profession

 The Facts:
a. The author wished to discuss a theoretical basis for maintenance care and also to promote further investigation into the subject.
b. His hypotheses was that spinal manipulation encourages normal motion, so therefore manipulation of joints that had no symptoms might keep them moving appropriately and result in health benefits.
c. He searched the literature and found that in younger patients lumbar motion was restricted in persons who had low back pain or who had previously had low back pain when compared to persons who had not suffered this type of pain. Therefore manipulation might be beneficial in the early stages to maintain motion in the spine.
d. He also found that osteophytes developed when the lumbar segments of rats were fixated and the longer they were fixated, the greater number of osteophytes. These osteophytes could start in as little as 4 to 8 weeks. Therefore this supports early intervention for fixated joints and provides a theoretical basis for maintenance care to keep the joints mobile.
e. In addition he found that changes take place in the nerve following two weeks of immobilization of the foot and ankle. Therefore this might take place in the spine if there were a lack of motion in the spine and point to a justification for maintenance care.
f. He noted that the changes in these studies occurred in just a matter of weeks. This points to the need for rapid intervention and perhaps one way would be to maintain the motion of the joints through chiropractic maintenance care.
When the joints stop moving bad things happen. Chiropractic care help to keep joints moving. Therefore the idea of maintaining healthy joint motion through maintenance chiropractic care is a hypothesis for consideration.
Reference: Taylor DN. A theoretical basis for maintenance spinal manipulative therapy for the chiropractic profession. Journal of Chiropractic Humanities 2011;18:74-85

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