On the Front Lines of Research–Chiropractic and the Military

Could the government save money and improve our nation’s safety by making chiropractic care available to soldiers? My opinion: yes, SIR! A $7.4 million-dollar research project has just been awarded jointly to the Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research, the RAND Corporation and the Samueli Institute. The four-year study will focus on the effects of chiropractic care on the military readiness of active-duty military personnel. While chiropractic care is currently available at 42 United States military bases worldwide, it is not available to most servicemen and women. The interesting thing about this study is that, besides seeing if chiropractic can help with the usual suspect, lower back pain, we’re going to be testing its effects on strength, balance, reflexes and reaction times in Special Operations Forces personnel.

In military terms, we are going to assess the “military readiness of active-duty personnel” with or without chiropractic. Essentially, the hypothesis we’re out to prove is that tuning the body’s nervous system through chiropractic care is going to save lives.  Many of our nation’s best ideas have trickled down from military innovations.  Perhaps one day soon, chiropractic care will be a regular part of duty for our firefighters and peace officers as well.