Newsletter Articles
May 2024

• Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome Helped with Chiropractic
• Pediatric Encopresis Resolved Following Chiropractic Care
• Chronic Urinary Retention Helped Under Chiropractic Care
• Improvement in Digestive Health with Chiropractic

Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome Helped with Chiropractic

The Annals of Vertebral Subluxation Research published a case study on May 6, 2024, showing chiropractic care helping relieve the symptoms of a patient with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). The Mayo clinic's website describes IBS by saying, "Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder that affects the stomach and intestines, also called the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms include cramping, abdominal pain, bloating, gas, and diarrhea or constipation, or both."

The study authors begin by reporting just how common this issue is by reporting that "Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common functional gastrointestinal disorders, a chronic condition with a prevalence of approximately 10% to 20% worldwide." This condition is more common in women, and accounts for 12-14% of primary physician visits and 28% of referrals to gastroenterologists. IBS is estimated to cost the U.S. economy between 15 and 30 billion dollars annually.

In this case, a 20-year-old woman presented herself to a chiropractic clinic to see if she could get some help with the symptoms she was experiencing from her IBS. Her symptoms included bloating, nausea, painful gas, fatigue, diarrhea, constipation, menstrual pain, ulcers, stomach upset, as well as neck and back pain. Her history also revealed that two years before seeking chiropractic, she was struggling with bulimia and anorexia. A chiropractic examination was performed to determine if vertebral subluxations were present in the woman's spine. The examination included static and motion palpation, a posture analysis, leg length measurements, orthopedic testing, spinal thermography, and surface electromyography (sEMG).

From the examination, it was determined that multiple areas of subluxation were present. With this information, a care plan of specific chiropractic adjustments was started to address the subluxations. Initially, the woman was seen at the rate of three visits per week. After a month, the care was reduced to one visit per week.

This case study was written based upon the care rendered during the initial corrective portion of the woman's chiropractic care, which represented the first 12 visits only. A re-evaluation was performed on the 12th visit of her care. On the 12th visit, the woman reported that her IBS symptoms had reduced by 70%. She reported having less abdominal pain, a reduction in diarrhea, and less frequent bowel movements.

In the discussion section of this study, the authors explained how chiropractic care was able to help a patient suffering with IBS. "According to Gray's Anatomy textbook, the role of the nervous system is to control and coordinate all functions of the body. With this in mind, it can be said that the nervous system must play some role in the pathological process irritable bowel syndrome. The main objective of subluxation-based chiropractic care is to achieve optimal function of the nervous system. Therefore, reduction of vertebral subluxation, thereby improved neurological function, may have a role to play in the co-management of irritable bowel syndrome."

Pediatric Encopresis Resolved Following Chiropractic Care

The Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health published the results of a case study on April 9, 2024, documenting the resolution of a patient with pediatric encopresis after receiving chiropractic care. The National Center for Biotechnology Information describes this condition as "Encopresis or fecal incontinence is defined as the involuntary passing of stool into inappropriate places such as the underwear in children older than four years of age. It represents severe psychological distress on children and their families."

The authors of this study noted that a number of prior studies on this subject interchanged the terms "encopresis" and "fecal incontinence". They also reported that previous studies on encopresis showed that boys were more common to have this issue than were girls. Additionally, children suffering from encopresis more commonly suffered with anxiety or depression, had attention difficulties, and were either more withdrawn or aggressive than other children in the same age groups.

In this case, an 8-year-old girl was brought to the chiropractor because the girl's gymnastics coach commented that he noticed the girl's "hips were uneven". Her health history revealed that the girl had previously had asthma, had suffered four elbow dislocations between the ages of one and four, and was currently suffering with irregular bowel movements, having only 3-4 per week. She was on Colace medication and taking four pills per day to try to help regulate her colon.

An examination was performed which showed no positive orthopedic or neurological findings. X-rays that were taken did not show any pathologies or underlying diseases. The spinal x-rays did, however, show multiple area of misalignments, believed to be vertebral subluxations.

Based upon the examination and x-rays, specific forms of chiropractic adjustments were started to address the subluxations present in the girl's spine. The girl was initially seen multiple times per week. On each of these visits, she was accessed for the presence of subluxations, and adjusted accordingly.

The study reports that over the course of the girl's chiropractic care, steady improvements in her bowel movements and her encopresis. After the first month of care, it was reported that the girl was almost completely accident free and was able to sleep in panties for the first time in her life. As chiropractic care continued, the girl continued to improve. The study authors reported, "After two and a half months of adjustments, the patient was no longer having any incontinence issues, was no longer taking the Colace pills, and was living a normal, happy life."

In discussing the results of this case in the study's conclusion, the authors stated, "The objective of this case study was to outline the results from subluxation-based chiropractic care of an 8-year-old female with fecal incontinence. As described above, after 2 months of receiving chiropractic adjustments, the patient was no longer suffering from fecal incontinence."

Chronic Urinary Retention Helped Under Chiropractic Care

On April 23, 2024, the Annals of Vertebral Subluxation Research journal published a case study showing chiropractic helping a woman who had been suffering with chronic non obstructive urinary retention, (UR). Non obstructive UR can be a bladder weakness from muscle and nerve problems where there is an interference with signals between the brain and the bladder. If the nerves aren't working properly, the person's brain may not get the message that the bladder is full, and leakage or an overactive bladder can occur.

The study begins by pointing out, "Non obstructive urinary retention (UR) is considered a difficult disease to treat in women due to the high occurrence of urinary tract infections and renal function decrease." Commonly, the first avenues of medical treatment include diet and lifestyle changes, pelvic floor muscle training, urinary bladder retraining, biofeedback, and drug therapies. If these medical procedures do not work, some patients then receive sacral neuromodulation, a therapy where an implant creates electrical stimulation to a sacral nerve root in hopes of changing the nerve function.

In this case, a 61-year-old woman presented herself to the chiropractor for an evaluation and possible care. The woman had been suffering for years with symptoms of urinary retention causing her to wake up 2-3 times a night to urinate. She also reported trouble feeling when her bladder was full as well as difficulty emptying her bladder and trouble starting to urinate.

The woman had been treated medically for her problem and had a sacral neuromodulation device, "InterStim," surgically implanted. She reported that she had spent over $100,000 on this procedure and was being advised by her medical physician that if her problem did not improve, she would have to undergo the procedure again.

A chiropractic examination and spinal x-rays were performed. The results of the examination and x-rays showed a number of postural and spinal positional issues. The conclusion was that postural abnormalities were apparent with the presence of vertebral subluxations. Specific forms of chiropractic adjustments and procedures were initiated to address these findings.

The initial care involved 24 visits over a 60-day period. After that initial care, a re-evaluation was performed which showed objective improvements in the woman's spine and posture. Additionally, she reported a resolution of her urinary retention problems that she had been suffering with for years and had spent thousands of dollars on.

In the study discussion, the author explains how chiropractic was able to help in this case by quoting the Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation, "…the unique role of the chiropractor is separate from other health disciplines and that the professional practice objective of chiropractors may be limited to the analysis, correction or stabilization of the subluxation."

The author sums up this case by stating, "This case shows that the effect of spinal misalignment, through subluxation, can affect the nervous system. By taking pressure off of her nervous system over the course of 24 adjustments her bladder function was greatly improved, and incidental findings of various musculoskeletal conditions had their severity reduced."

Improvement in Digestive Health with Chiropractic

The Asian-Pacific Chiropractic Journal published the results of a case study in their second quarter 2024 issue documenting the resolution of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) under chiropractic care. According to the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, "Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a group of symptoms that occur together, including repeated pain in your abdomen and changes in your bowel movements, which may be diarrhea, constipation, or both. With IBS, you have these symptoms without any visible signs of damage or disease in your digestive tract."

In this case, a 24-year-old engineer presented himself for a chiropractic evaluation. The man was suffering with stomach pain and diarrhea which he attributed to IBS. He reported suffering with these issues for about one year prior to seeking a chiropractor. This was his first visit to a chiropractor.

The man's history revealed that he engaged in a high-level of elite physical activity and exercise. He reported that his symptoms occurred daily, usually in the morning. The problems seemed to be made worse after he engaged in intense gym training sessions. Although he consulted both general practitioners and gastroenterologists, he was not given any formal diagnosis for his problems.

A chiropractic examination was performed which included checking spinal ranges of motion, a self-assessment survey, and spinal x-rays. The x-rays showed that the man had a reversal of the normal forward neck curvature and a loss of the backward midback curve. There were also areas of Degenerative Disc Disease present in the man's spine.

From the information obtained in the examination and x-rays, it was determined that the man had multiple areas of subluxations present in his spine. With this information, specific chiropractic adjustments were started. The chiropractic corrective care plan included three visits per week for four weeks, followed by two visits per week for six weeks.

A review conducted at four weeks into the man's care showed that he had already seen a 70% improvement in his symptoms. He reported that his IBS had reduced from daily episodes to only once or twice in a two-week period. As his care continued, the man continued to see improvements. By the completion of his initial chiropractic corrective care plan, he was no longer having any symptoms of IBS at all. The man elected to continue chiropractic on a wellness basis. At a follow-up six years later, the man was still symptom free and was no longer having any IBS issues.

The authors of this commented on the success of this case by saying, "Given the patient was an elite athlete, and a very fit and otherwise healthy man in his twenties, the impact of this very sensitive personal health problem was significant. He reported that traditional health practitioners were unable to assist in managing or reducing symptoms, but without changing any other aspects of his care, he was able to achieve excellent results from Chiropractic care."