A blog by Thomas Boto, co-founder of Natural Rhythm
[Note: This post is part of a larger series about the The Best Cures and Remedies for Heart Palpitations]
When my heart palpitations were at their worst and my spirits were at their lowest, I started telling people about my situation in hopes of finding someone with a solution (you can read my story HERE). An acquaintance of mine suggested that he may be able to help since he was a chiropractor. He laid out a compelling argument that heart palpitations could be caused by nerves being pinched in my spine. I had back and arm pain, especially when I was anxious, that mimicked a heart attack (or so I thought), so this sounded reasonable to me.
I visited his office and his staff was incredibly kind. However, his practice honestly felt like a sham. It was very expensive and once my name was called I would go lay down on a bed that rolled/massaged my back. The doctor would then come in and give me “electronic” acupuncture, which was painless and felt like he just put a tiny flashlight to different parts of my body. I was then told I would need to do this three times a week. Yikes!
So I blew it off and swore I would never go back to a chiropractor and their voodoo medicine again. I related my skepticism of Chiropractic medicine to a church home group I was in and a guy there happened to be a chiropractor. He said that there are different types of Chiropractors (good and bad ones just like other doctors), but that his practice placed more emphasis on sports and physical therapy. He didn’t promise to cure my heart palpitations but did reiterate that they could be the result of a compression of nerves in my back.
So I went to his office and the difference was amazing. He adjusted my back and neck and I felt incredibly better. I can’t say that it instantly cured my heart palpitations, but it certainly helped my back pain and did help lessen the severity of the palpitations. According to some of the articles I read, if your spine is out of proper alignment you can get altered blood flow to the brain and increased sympathetic stimulation in the nervous system that can drive up blood pressure and put your nervous system into overdrive, thus resulting in heart palpitations. I’m not sure how much of this is medically verified (which concerns me), but I have come across a number of articles online since that have claimed that going to a chiropractor has cured their heart palpitations, so I thought I would add it to my list of potential cures.
If you have gone down all the traditional routes of trying to stop your heart palpitations and nothing has worked, this may be a good route to try (with the consent of your doctor/cardiologist of course). Just be sure you talk to your friends and family and find a Chiropractor that knows what he/she is doing and is someone you can trust. It can be expensive but if it can cure your heart palpitations, or at least alleviate some pain or lower your blood pressure, it may be worth it.
What do you think? Have you found chiropractic medicine to help alleviate your heart palpitations?