Reaction Time and Chiropractic Adjustments

From the New Zealand School of Chiropractic, New Zealand, comes an interesting study about reaction times and the effects chiropractic adjustments have on them.  In this study two groups were used to check reaction times.  One group received upper cervical (neck) toggle adjustments, while the other group was a control group for comparison and only received a short period of rest.

The results showed a marked improvement for the group that received an adjustment over the group that got nothing but rest.  The group that got only rest did show an average decrease in reaction time of 58 milli-seconds which represented an 8 percent quicker reaction time.  The group that received the chiropractic adjustment showed a decrease in reaction time of 97 milli-seconds representing a 14.8 percent quicker reaction time.

The implications are far reaching.  Imagine the benefits of being able to react quicker to traffic situations or any other crisis life might throw at you.  Imagine also the benefit to the athlete who depends on reaction times in order to perform at a competitive level.  Today many top name athletes are regular chiropractic patients.  In addition to recovery from injury most report the ability to perform better with chiropractic care.  Now, thanks to the study from New Zealand, there is scientific proof of what the athletes have reported.