Improvement in Alpha Brain Waves, Coordination and Emotional Regulation with Chiropractic

On August 10, 2017, the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health published the results from a documented case study showing the improvement in a number of developmental issues of a young girl after receiving chiropractic care for the correction of subluxations. The International Chiropractors Association describes subluxations on their website by saying, "A vertebral subluxation is the result of spinal bones with improper motion or position affecting nerve communications between your brain and your body."

In the introduction of this study, the authors begin by explaining the basic premise of chiropractic care by saying, "Chiropractic is a health care discipline that serves to optimize health through the principle that the body has an innate intelligence by which it sustains and maintains itself. Chiropractors place particular emphasis on the subluxation, which compromises neural integrity and can cause deleterious effects to health."

The study continues the explanation of the positive effects correcting subluxations has on health by noting, "In recent years, the association between the correction of vertebral subluxation and quality of health has been studied in greater detail with objective measures showing what chiropractors have long been reporting anecdotally. Chiropractic care and the correction of vertebral subluxation have been associated with cases relating to improvements in quality of life, structural integrity, attention and development of language, among other aspects of health and wellness."

In this case, a 7-year-old girl was brought by her mother to the chiropractor for care. The girl's mother stated that her daughter had slow physical skill acquisition and difficulty with coordination since birth. Although the girl was 7-years of age, she ate with her hands and avoided the use of utensils. Additionally, her mother reported that for the past two years, her daughter had low self-esteem and would have emotional outbursts sometimes lasting from hours to days.

An examination was performed which included a chiropractic analysis, electroencephalogram (EEG), heart rate variability, heart rate, skin temperature, respiration rate and paraspinal surface electromyography. Based upon the results of the examination, specific chiropractic care was started.

The study results showed that after the first visit, the mother reported that the child spontaneously started using silverware. After eight weeks of care, she continues to be able to use silverware during self-feeding. The girl's mother reported that her daughter's emotions were better regulated in responses to changes in plans or when confronted with a situation she did not want. The girl also showed improved coordination, decreased aversions to tasks requiring coordination, and she now is able to play with a soccer ball.

The study authors recorded an improvement in the girl's follow-up testing including the readings for the heart rate variability, heart rate, skin temperature, respiration rate, paraspinal surface electromyography, and electroencephalogram (EEG), which demonstrated an improvement in the girl's alpha brain waves.

In their conclusion the authors wrote, "This case reported the improvement in coordination and spontaneous utilization of silverware while self-feeding as well as improvement in emotional regulation following a 2-month period of subluxation-based chiropractic care…" They continued, "These changes coincide with an increase in alpha activity as measured in EEG, which suggest an increase in cognitive efficiency allowing greater capacity to learn, think, and be consciously relaxed. These changes are temporally associated to chiropractic care and the correction of vertebral subluxations."