The Chiropractic Subluxation and Insomnia: Could there be a Connection? - Abstract
Sleep disorders in general are a common occurrence in today’s society, with the most common of these disorders being insomnia. The Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition defines insomnia as having difficulty initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, or difficulty obtaining restorative sleep with associated daytime dysfunction or distress due to that lack of sleep. While precise figures as to the prevalence of insomnia are not known it has been estimated that approximately two thirds of adults will have one or more episodes of insomnia each year and approximately 15% of adults per year will have a serious chronic episode.
Etiology of Insomnia is multifaceted and includes physiological, psychological and environmental factors with the most common treatment being pharmacological intervention. While studies have shown this form of treatment to be effective in increasing sleep time and decreasing sleep latency they carry with them the high risk of dependency and subsequent withdrawal symptoms if the patient elects to cease using them. They are somewhat successful in treating the symptom of insomnia, but not its underlying cause.
While insomnia is a common co-morbidity with chronic pain conditions such as chronic low back and chronic neck pain and chiropractic has been demonstrated to effectively treat such conditions, this paper will not look on the musculoskeletal effects of the chiropractic adjustment, but instead will examine a potential hypothesis as to why traditional subluxation based chiropractic can have on patients suffering from primary insomnia and examine the neuro-physiology behind such theory.