​Getting older can bring some challenges including stiffness, slower movements and greater risks of falling. For many older adults, maintaining mobility and balance isn’t just a comfort factor but assists in staying independent, strong and safe.
As we age, several physiological changes can affect our movements, including:

• Joint degeneration and arthritis
• Muscle weakening or atrophy
• Postural changes
• Impaired proprioception (body’s sense of position)
• Slow reaction times and vestibular dysfunction.

Chiropractic care isn’t just for pain relief, but also supports the bodies neuromuscular system, improves joint function and enhances coordination.
Gentle spinal and joint adjustments can help restore range of motion in stiff or arthritic areas. Improved joint mechanics support more efficient, pain-free movement. A randomized clinical trial published in Chiropractic & Manual Therapies (2019) found that spinal manipulative therapy combined with exercise significantly improved mobility and decreased pain in older adults with chronic low back pain [1].
Manual therapy can also stimulate sensory receptors in the joints and spine, improving how the brain perceives body position—crucial for balance and coordination. In a 2016 study published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics found that chiropractic adjustments improved sensorimotor function and joint position sense in older adults, potentially reducing fall risk [2]. Another study by Holt et al. (2016) found that chiropractic adjustments positively influenced reaction time and muscle control, both essential for balance [3].
Fear of falling can limit physical activity, which accelerates loss of strength and stability. Chiropractic care supports safer movement patterns and empowers seniors to stay active. A 2018 cohort study in Pain Medicine found that older adults who visited a chiropractor were 49% less likely to fill an opioid prescription, suggesting that chiropractic may help reduce reliance on risky medications often used for pain [4].
Additionally, improved spinal alignment and proprioception contribute to better gait and posture, which are strongly associated with fall prevention.
If you know an older person struggling with some of these issues, why not send them in to see if we can help them reach their optimal health.
References

1. Ferreira GE, et al. (2019). Effectiveness of spinal manipulative therapy for older adults with chronic low back pain. Chiropractic & Manual Therapies, 27(1):4.
2. Haavik H, Murphy B. (2016). Impact of spinal manipulation on sensorimotor function in the elderly. J Manipulative Physiol Ther, 39(3):172–179.
3. Holt K, Russell D, et al. (2016). Improvements in reaction time and movement time after chiropractic care. Chiropractic Journal of Australia, 44(4):252–266.
4. Whedon JM, et al. (2018). Association between use of chiropractic care and opioid prescription in older adults. Pain Medicine, 19(2):271–279.

Research shows that chiropractic care is a great option to help you feel your best without breaking the bank. (1, 2)
Cost can be a big factor when we make decisions about our healthcare. Researchers have been looking at the most cost-effective healthcare options for people with back and neck pain.
For patients with neck or back pain, chiropractic care is a very cost-effective option and costs less in the long term than medical care or physical therapy.(1-3)
Researchers reviewed 9 years of claims data from an insurance scheme in North Carolina that included about 660,000 people and over 6 million back and neck pain claims. (1, 2)
They considered the patient’s age, gender, and health history and then looked at how much each claim cost based on whether the care provider was a medical doctor, physical therapist, or a chiropractor.
They also looked at the cost of the claim if they offered the patients advice, hoping they’d get better by themselves and not need any healthcare. In these studies, they found that the claims for the patients a chiropractor saw cost significantly less than those managed by another healthcare provider.
In fact, by the final year of this 9-year study, the cost of a claim was 2 to 5 times more expensive when a chiropractor was not one of the care providers. And the claims managed by a chiropractor cost even less than the claims for patients who were given advice alone because it would appear that those people ended up taking more time off work than those who saw a chiropractor.
 
References

1. Neck Pain in North Carolina, 2000 to 2009: A Statewide Claims’ Data Analysis. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2016;39(4):240-51. doi: 10.1016/j. jmpt.2016.02.007 [published Online First: 2016/05/12]
2. Hurwitz EL, Li D, Guillen J, et al. Variations in Patterns of Utilization and Charges for the Care of Low Back Pain in North Carolina, 2000 to 2009: A Statewide Claims’ Data Analysis. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2016;39(4):252-62.doi: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2016.02.006 [published Online First: 2016/05/12]
3. Jarvis KB, Phillips RB, Morris EK. Cost per case comparison of back injury claims of chiropractic versus medical management for conditions with identical diagnostic codes. Journal of occupational medicine : official publication of the Industrial Medical Association 1991;33(8):847-52. [published Online First: 1991/08/01]

Last Week we spoke about how people go to see a chiropractor for many different reasons. (1) Some go because they’re in pain, some go because they want to perform better on the sporting field, and some want to sleep better. But did you know that almost 50% of chiropractic patients go to their chiropractor because they simply want to maintain their health and well-being?
Maintenance care is when patients go to a chiropractor even when they are not in pain or discomfort. The idea with maintenance care is that regular adjustments will help maintain your spine and nervous system function at its optimal level and help you to be your best and to prevent new episodes of pain from developing. (2)

The Study
​The research tells us that chiropractic maintenance care makes perfect sense.
A study published by researchers from Sweden in 2018 (2) showed the benefits of maintenance care in a group of people who suffered from low back pain. In this study, the researchers followed 328 patients with low back pain who went to 40 different Swedish chiropractic clinics. If the patients responded well when they were first adjusted they joined the study and received chiropractic maintenance care over the next year or symptom-guided care. The maintenance care patients were seen every 1 to 3 months with the intention being that they were checked before substantial pain reoccurred. Patients in the control group were told to call if and when pain recurred.
They were then adjusted until they got better, and they were told to call again if the pain returned. What the researchers were most interested in was the number of days of bothersome back pain suffered by each group throughout the 1-year trial period.
What they found was that the maintenance care group experienced 13 fewer days of pain over the course of the study on average compared to the symptom-guided group. The amazing thing from this study was that the maintenance care group needed less than 2 extra visits to their chiropractor over the course of a year to have 13 fewer days of pain. This suggests that patients who have had low back pain, and who respond well to care, should see their chiropractor regularly, irrespective of whether their symptoms have returned or not. This study did have some limitations of course. One limitation was that chiropractors were told not to schedule their maintenance care patients more frequently than once a month. So some patients in this group may have benefited even more if the chiropractors had been able to schedule their visits more frequently if they thought that was a good idea.
This study shows that it’s important to keep your spine working well, even if you don’t have pain or symptoms.
So, if you want to function at your optimal potential consider chiropractic maintenance care because the research suggests your spine will love you for it!
 

References

1. Adams J, et al. Spine. 2017;42(23):1810-16.
2. Eklund, et al. PLoS One 2018;13(9):e0203029.

People go to see a chiropractor for many different reasons. (1) Some go because they’re in pain, some go because they want to perform better on the sporting field, and some want to sleep better.
But did you know that almost 50% of chiropractic patients go to their chiropractor because they simply want to maintain their health and well-being?
Maintenance care is when patients go to a chiropractor even when they are not in pain or discomfort. The idea with maintenance care is that regular adjustments will help maintain your spine and nervous system function at its optimal level and help you to be your best and to prevent new episodes of pain from developing. (2)

What does the research say about maintenance care?

It makes sense to look after your health, so you don’t get sick, right? And that often you get sick because you have been pushing yourself too hard and you’ve become run down? The research tells us that your spine can get run down too, long before you feel pain. We know that if your brain doesn’t send appropriate protective messages to your core trunk muscles, you will have a higher risk of developing low back injuries. (3) This makes sense because a lack of core stability means you’re creating mini whiplash injuries to your spine each time you move around or lift your arm or leg.
If you end up in pain after bending down to tie your shoelaces your pain hasn’t just come out of the blue, it’s usually been developing for some time without you knowing about it. It’s often the thousandth straw that breaks the camel’s back.
All of life’s stressors can build up and impact the way your brain is communicating with your trunk muscles and then all that is needed is one last minor thing to go wrong, and you end up with pain. The goal of maintenance care is to help take the straws off your camels back before they cause symptoms or have a big impact on your life. So, the research tells us that chiropractic maintenance care makes perfect sense.
 
References

1. Adams J, et al. Spine. 2017;42(23):1810-16.
2. Leboeuf-Yde C, Hestbæk L. Chiropractic & Osteopathy 2008;16:3-3.
3. Cholewicki J, et al. Spine. 2005;30(23):2614-20.