Better Sleep, More Energy, Decreased Pain, and More Benefits with Chiropractic

January 23, 2025

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The second quarter 2024 issue of the Asian-Pacific Chiropractic Journal published the results of a case study documenting multiple improvements in the quality and daily function of a patient undergoing chiropractic care. The patient was initially searching for relief from her pain. However, after receiving chiropractic care, the woman noticed improvements in many other health issues she was suffering with.

Most first-time chiropractic patients seek care for some form of musculoskeletal pain such as back or neck pain. Typically, these patients are looking for pain relief from their chiropractic care. It is not uncommon that these patients are also suffering from other health concerns that they do not relate to their pain issue, and therefore do not consider chiropractic for those additional issues.

Since the primary goal of chiropractic is the removal of spinal interferences from the nervous system, known as subluxations, and since the nervous system in the master controller of all body function, the positive effects of chiropractic often reach far beyond just pain improvement. In many cases, people new to chiropractic care will report unexpected improvements in other health issues they thought were not related to their pain.

This case study typifies the situation where a patient receives benefits from chiropractic that they were totally not expecting. In this case, a 46-year-old woman went to a chiropractor for the first time a year after she was involved in a car accident. Her chief reason for seeking chiropractic was to get relief form constant pain in her pelvis. Walking more than 10 minutes, lying down, and standing still were all activities that made her pain worse.

In addition to the woman’s primary reason for seeking chiropractic, she also suffered with pain in both shoulders and her neck. Upon taking a detailed history, the woman also revealed a number of other health issues she was suffering from. These included dermatitis breakouts on her face, constipation where she would only have one bowel movement every three to four weeks, digestive problems, trouble sleeping, depression, low energy, overall stiffness with movement issues, and heartburn. The woman reported that she was taking multiple medications for her health problems.

A chiropractic examination and x-rays were performed. The results of the examination showed that there were areas of subluxation in the woman’s spine. The study authors noted, "The chiropractor’s main goal was to reduce/correct all presenting areas of vertebral subluxation in order to enhance the patient’s ability to live life optimally via increased resilience and adaptability."

The study reports that after 12 weeks of care, the woman experienced a significant turn-around in her health. In addition to her pains being alleviated, the woman was able to fall asleep faster without pain and sleep longer. She also reported that her bowel movements were now daily, her digestion had improved, as did her heartburn, and the dermatitis on her face had reduced. Because of her overall improvement the woman also reported taking less medications. The study quotes her as saying, "Absolutely life-changing. Haven't felt this alive in years."

The authors of this study summed up this case by saying, "In this case, a novice to Chiropractic care presented hoping for an improvement in mechanical pain. However, given that better nervous system function means better organization and expression of life, by adjusting her subluxations and removing interference we were able to allow the best possible situation for optimal nervous system functioning, self-regulation and healing, thus significantly impacting quality of life."