Structural Spine Correction

Structural Chiropractic Care here has become the subject of research that shows you are going to have much healthier discs and joints because your posture and normal spinal curves are restored.   The research was just published in the Journal of Bioengineering.  In fact, the research showed that disc degeneration was reversed and disc heights that were decreased in height from longstanding damage, were increased.   This essentially turns back the clock on aging.

Not many chiropractic offices focus on structural correction, however.  Doing that requires imaging, measurements and executing a plan to change the structure of the spine.  That means, homework and regular care, essentially.  

The benefit is, if you can get your spine back to normal curves, it is less stressful for the whole system and from an orthopedic perspective, the joints don’t wear out like they do when misaligned.  Disc heights actually increase again.

If your hands or arms go numb or tingle when you “sleep wrong”, that’s your neckyou’re your discs.  But, the problem exists before you notice that.  There’s only one way to determine if this is happening and that’s  spine imaging (X-rays).  Not a CT or MRI.  Those are useful for identifying fractures, degeneration and herniations but they don’t help for planning correction of the structure.  Most importantly, it mostly doesn’t hurt when the spine is out of its normal alignment.  It will at some point, but usually not initially. 

By the time it does hurt or you have numbness and tingling, it’s been there for awhile.  Getting it realigned as soon as possible is critical to restoring the function and your future. 

We have the knowledge and tools to measure and quantify the problem and then design a process for people who’ve sustained these injuries.  Oh, that reminds me…. “injuries”.  Most people can’t recall how they injured their spines.  They think the slept wrong or something.  But, when we get the images, we can see the historical record.  The spine records its injuries and shows us when they happened.  When you were 13 years old or 40 years old.  You can estimate when the injuries occurred based on the level of degeneration and arthritis present on the image.   This is important information to determine how to correct it and how long it may require.  Absent an image, it’s impossible and there’s no yardstick for progress.

In short, restoring the normal structure restores your health.  If you have never been to a chiropractor and lead the typical American lifestyle, statistically you will end up on medications chronically.  The numbers don’t lie.  People who get adjusted regularly, and that’s not even accounting for spinal correction or not, just getting adjusted for low back pain regularly, experience 60% less hospitalizations than people who do not. 

Here’s Grok’s artificial intelligence answer to the question:  How much is my risk of hospitalization reduced by going to the chiropractor regularly?

Key findings from studies include:

• In analyses of health plans where members had access to chiropractic coverage (often implying more regular use for relevant conditions), back pain patients showed about 40% fewer hospitalizations (e.g., 9.3 vs. 15.6 per 1,000 episodes in one large study from the early 2000s published in Archives of Internal Medicine).

• Some older reports and insurance data reviews (e.g., Blue Cross/Blue Shield data over several years) reported even larger differences, such as around 60% fewer hospital admissions among those using chiropractic care regularly as part of their healthcare (compared to those in conventional medical settings).

• A 2024 systematic review of costs for spine-related pain found that patients consulting chiropractors first had fewer hospitalizations, along with lower rates of surgeries, emergency visits, opioid use, and injections—leading to overall lower healthcare costs.

• Other data suggest 43% fewer hospital admissions in certain integrated care models where chiropractic was prominent.

Here’s another ai answer to “Do people who see chiropractors regularly use less medication?” (yes, is the answer)

Key evidence includes:

• Multiple large-scale studies link chiropractic care to substantially lower opioid prescription rates. For example:

  • Among older Medicare beneficiaries with spinal pain, those receiving chiropractic care had a 56% lower risk of filling an opioid prescription within a year compared to non-recipients.

  • In various cohorts, chiropractic users showed 64% lower odds of receiving any opioid prescription.

  • Early chiropractic intervention (e.g., within 30 days of diagnosis) often yields even greater reductions, such as 71% lower risk of initiating opioids or up to half the risk of long-term use.

  • A 2025 study found patients starting with spinal manipulative therapy (chiropractic) had an 80% lower risk of opioid use disorder over two years compared to those starting with ibuprofen, plus 77% less long-term opioid use and 31% lower any opioid prescription.

That’s just low back pain!  That’s not even the full picture.  Studies are hard to come by though because unlike the pharmaceutical model where you patent the drug and do the study and rake in the money, chiropractic has no patent.  Thus, nobody’s funding any studies to save money on pharmaceuticals.  Those guys run the world and get your politicians elected.  And that’s how they mandated we all pay for their products.   It has nothing to do with health.  It’s a business model for treatment of disease, not improving health.

We love seeing the miracles that happen once people start working on their spine and their nervous system improves. 

As I write this, I ran across another study showing the curve in your neck, if lost, cuts blood flow to the brain.  It may play a role in dementia.   And, restoring the normal neck curve improves the blood flow and nutrition to the brain again.   I’ll get you that information next time. 

Until then, keep sharing the good news… Your body heals itself.  It needs no help, just no interference.

Vibrant Life Center

Oakdale, MN 55128

651-777-3611

Dr. Daniel T. Barrett

Dr. Danielle M. Fleming