Addictions – Can Chiropractic Help?
A recent article in Psychology Today gives new meaning to the term “straighten up,” when it comes to addiction treatment and chiropractic care. Can chiropractic care help someone who has an addiction problem?
Certain brain chemicals produce a state of well being in the body. When the spine and nervous system are working properly, your body produces these chemicals in their proper proportions. Spinal misalignments are thought to suppress the production of these chemicals. Addicts often turn to outside chemicals (drugs and alcohol) as a means to “self-medicate” to try to produce the same types of “feel-good” sensations that they are lacking.
Jay Holder, DC, Medical Director of the Exodus Treatment Center, a drug rehab clinic in Miami, Florida conducted a study to determine the effect of adding chiropractic care to traditional 28-day drug treatment for patients in his facility. All of the 98 participants in his study had a 100% program completion rate (compared with a 78% national average), and their feelings of depression and anxiety were significantly lower.
Dr. Holder's research appears to indicate that when drug treatment programs integrate chiropractic care, the outcomes are more successful. According to Dr. Holder, “the correction of what chiropractors call subluxation results in a sense of well-being that allows patients to benefit more thoroughly from the group therapy and medical care of addiction treatment. Chiropractic does not treat addiction -- it does not treat any disease,'' Holder said. “We're allowing those things that treat addiction to be embraced more thoroughly.''
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