Have you ever found yourself straining to have a bowel movement, pushing and in pain? Do you have infrequent bowel movements that are hard and dry? Does your stool appear like hard rocks or pellets in the toilet bowel, cause bleeding, or even worse, get stuck and require assistance to remove? These are all signs of chronic constipation, and this condition can be helped without the use of expensive medications that simply treat the symptoms. Chiropractic care may be able to help restore normal function and improve quality of life.
Constipation is a very common problem for people of all ages, affecting roughly 16.5% of adults across the globe. This number more than doubles as we age, with a risk of 33.5% in those aged 60-110 years. While there may be many causes to this problem, changes in neurological structures and function over time is one that requires holistic care to address the root cause. At Bare Chiropractic in Billings, MT, that is exactly what we can offer to restore your health.
How Does the Spine Cause Constipation?
The digestive system is regulated by several different mechanisms, one of which is controlled by our brains and another by the local “brain” in the gut, called the mesenteric brain. This combined system keeps our bowels regular by sending messages that tell us when we have stool in the gut to get rid of. The regulating systems then command the bowels to push that stool out in a bowel movement. When these systems are impaired, our ability to have bowel movements effectively changes.
Structural changes to the spine, such as subluxations in the spinal vertebrae, can lead to interruptions in the messages being sent to the regulating system. Subluxations also prevent the brain from sending commands to the gut to push out that stool. Think of it like someone cutting an old-fashioned telephone cord, separating you from the operator and the operator from you. You can’t get the messages across without that cord intact. The spinal cord is the body’s telephone cord, sending signals to the brain and back again along spinal nerves. Chiropractic techniques can help to restore the messaging systems both ways and get the bowels working again naturally.
Benefits of Chiropractic Care
Several studies have shown that chiropractic adjustments can restore hope for those who suffer from constipation, whether infrequent or chronic, by clearing the pathways for those signals to reach the brain and the gut in response. All those studied saw an improvement in normal bowel function. Practice members can see a meaningful change in quality of life and gut function with the holistic, neurologically-based approaches used by Dr. Thomas Keogh.
To learn more about how Bare Chiropractic can restore the health of your intestinal system, get in touch with us to learn more about how chiropractic care can be used to address the root cause of irritable bowel syndrome and other issues through neurologically-based chiropractic adjustments. To see Dr. Thomas Keogh for holistic and compassionate care, contact us and make an appointment today.
Sources
Angus K, Asgharifar S, Gleberzon B. What effect does chiropractic treatment have on gastrointestinal (GI) disorders: a narrative review of the literature. J Can Chiropr Assoc. 2015;59(2):122-133.
Bolton PS, Budgell B. Visceral responses to spinal manipulation. J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2012;22(5):777-784. doi:10.1016/j.jelekin.2012.02.016
Forootan M, Bagheri N, Darvishi M. Chronic constipation: A review of literature. Medicine (Baltimore). 2018;97(20):e10631. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000010631
Pickar JG. Neurophysiological effects of spinal manipulation. Spine J. 2002;2(5):357-371. doi:10.1016/s1529-9430(02)00400-x
