Newsletter Articles
October 2026

• Chiropractic Care and Improvements in a Child with ADHD and Dyslexia
• Chiropractic Care, Sense of Coherence and Quality of Life
• Chiropractic Care and Significant Improvement in Long-Standing Migraine
• Chiropractic Care, Headaches and Digestive Symptoms in a Child

Chiropractic Care and Improvements in a Child with ADHD and Dyslexia

Children with ADHD can struggle with far more than simply paying attention. Emotional outbursts, difficulty with transitions, poor coordination, sleep problems and challenges with social interaction can all affect everyday family and school life. A case report published in the Asia-Pacific Chiropractic Journal on September 1, 2026, followed an eight-year-old boy with previously diagnosed ADHD and dyslexia who received chiropractic care for approximately 11 months.

When he began chiropractic care, his parents described severe resistance to schoolwork and changes in routine, frequent emotional outbursts, sensory-seeking behavior such as chewing on objects, separation anxiety, clumsiness, poor spatial awareness and difficulty following rules and connecting socially. An evaluation for autism was also underway, while another behavioral disorder was suspected but had not been formally diagnosed. His parents felt these difficulties were interfering significantly with both his school performance and his quality of life.

The chiropractic examination identified spinal subluxations along with several findings related to coordination, eye tracking and motor control. The boy also showed several retained primitive reflexes. Primitive reflexes are automatic movement patterns present early in infancy that normally become less noticeable or disappear as the brain and nervous system mature. When these reflexes remain active beyond infancy, some researchers have found them more frequently in children with attention, coordination and developmental difficulties.

Over the course of chiropractic care, the child showed improvement in several objective measures of muscle activity and fine motor control. The primitive reflexes remained detectable throughout the study, although several showed improvement on repeated testing. Most striking were the changes reported by his parents. They described better sleep and mood, fewer emotional outbursts, improved self-control, greater social interest, better coordination and an improved ability to understand and follow multi-step instructions. As the months progressed, they described him as calmer, more resilient, more confident and better able to cope with changes in his daily routine.

His parents also reported improvements in planning, organization, emotional resilience and his ability to interact with family and peers. These changes made both school and home life less stressful. One of the family’s initial goals was to avoid stimulant medication for the boy’s ADHD. During the period reported in the case study, ADHD medication was avoided, meeting that family goal.

Chiropractic care does not treat or cure ADHD. In this case, chiropractic care was directed toward reducing the effects of subluxation and supporting better nervous system function and adaptability rather than treating a specific medical diagnosis. Still, the changes reported in sleep, emotional regulation, coordination, social engagement and executive function make this an interesting case. For families dealing with the many challenges that can accompany ADHD and other developmental concerns, this study adds to the growing body of information on how improving spinal and nervous system function through chiropractic care may support a child’s ability to function and adapt in everyday life.

Chiropractic Care, Sense of Coherence and Quality of Life

Most people think about health in terms of whether something hurts or whether they have been diagnosed with a disease. But health can also involve how well we function, adapt to stress, sleep, participate in everyday life and feel capable of handling the challenges we face. A study published in the Annals of Vertebral Subluxation Research on September 21, 2026, followed 1,419 adults receiving chiropractic care and looked at two broader measures of health called Sense of Coherence and Quality of Life.

Sense of Coherence may sound complicated, but the idea is actually fairly simple. It describes how well a person feels able to understand and deal with what is happening in life. Researchers break it into three parts: comprehensibility, meaning that what is happening to you makes sense; manageability, meaning you feel you have the resources and ability to deal with it; and meaningfulness, meaning you feel motivated and that dealing with life’s challenges is worthwhile. In everyday terms, a stronger Sense of Coherence means feeling better able to understand, manage and adapt to the stresses that life places on you.

Quality of Life is another broad measure of health. Rather than simply asking whether someone has pain or a particular condition, it looks at how that person is doing in everyday life. In this study, patients answered questions about anxiety, depression, sleep, fatigue, physical function, pain and their ability to participate in normal social activities. These are the kinds of things that often determine whether someone merely gets through the day or actually feels well enough to enjoy it.

The 1,419 participants averaged about 41 years of age and completed questionnaires before and after a course of chiropractic care. Following care, the group showed a statistically significant improvement in overall Sense of Coherence, including improvements in all three areas of understanding, manageability and meaningfulness. The researchers also found significant improvements across the Quality of Life measures they examined.

Looking more closely at Quality of Life, patients reported less anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance, fatigue, pain and interference from pain, while physical function and participation in social activities also improved. Interestingly, improvements in depression, anxiety, sleep, fatigue and social participation were among the factors most closely associated with improvements in Sense of Coherence. In other words, as people reported feeling and functioning better in several areas of their lives, they also tended to report feeling better able to understand, manage and cope with life’s challenges.

This was a large real-world study involving chiropractic patients with many different health concerns. Because there was no control group, the researchers caution that this study cannot definitively prove that chiropractic care alone caused the improvements. Still, the results are encouraging because they suggest that the benefits experienced during chiropractic care may extend beyond simply reducing pain. For people interested in improving how they feel, function and adapt to the stresses of everyday life, chiropractic care may be one part of a broader approach toward better overall health and quality of life.

Chiropractic Care and Significant Improvement in Long-Standing Migraine

Migraine headaches can be far more disabling than an ordinary headache, sometimes bringing severe pain, sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, vomiting and difficulty functioning normally. A case report published in Cureus on October 2, 2026, described a 46-year-old woman with a 10-year history of migraine who had developed a new pattern of daily headaches. Her condition became severe enough that she was hospitalized for two nights with a prolonged migraine attack, vomiting and blurred vision.

Her headaches included sharp pain behind the left eye, throbbing pain at the top of her head and pressure across the forehead, along with strong sensitivity to light and sound. After leaving the hospital, she also experienced a period of confusion, memory difficulty, changes in color perception, intermittent speech difficulty and weakness in her arms and hands. She remained under the care of her medical team and was taking migraine medications when she later sought chiropractic care.

The chiropractic examination found several areas of concern, including a tilted head, uneven shoulder height, painful neck movement, unequal weight distribution and weakness in one arm during testing. X-rays showed straightening and loss of the normal cervical curve, along with mild degenerative changes in the lower neck. The chiropractic evaluation also identified an upper cervical subluxation. Because the type of care she sought was unavailable where she lived, she traveled from Sri Lanka to Singapore and received a concentrated course of chiropractic care.

During the first six days, she received 10 chiropractic visits, generally twice a day. By the end of that intensive period, several examination findings had improved. Her shoulder and head position had become more balanced, weight distribution was nearly even, arm strength had returned to normal and certain visual tracking findings had also normalized. More importantly to the patient, she reported a reduction in headache pain, improved ability to use her phone and the disappearance of her sensitivity to light and sound.

Approximately four months later, she returned for three additional visits. At that time, she reported that her headaches were about 95% improved compared with when she began care. She also reported improvement in brain fog and difficulty concentrating, as well as improvement in the color-vision changes she had previously experienced. No adverse reactions or side effects were reported during the period of chiropractic care

This case is interesting because nerves from the upper cervical spine and nerves involved in headache sensation share connections within the nervous system, providing a possible explanation for why improving upper cervical function may influence some headaches. The dramatic reduction in a long-standing and debilitating migraine problem following correction of upper cervical dysfunction and subluxation adds to the growing interest in the relationship between spinal function and migraine headaches and may offer hope for people who continue to suffer from migraines.

Chiropractic Care, Headaches and Digestive Symptoms in a Child

Children with recurring headaches can sometimes experience other symptoms at the same time, including nausea, vomiting and abdominal discomfort. A case report published in Cureus on October 1, 2026, described an eight-year-old girl who had been dealing with morning headaches, central abdominal pain, occasional vomiting, neck pain and numbness extending into one arm. Her headaches had been described medically as possibly migraine-related or tension-type, while her digestive symptoms had been considered possible gastritis, although neither condition had been definitively confirmed.

Before beginning chiropractic care, the child had already been evaluated by both a general medical practitioner and a gastrointestinal specialist and continued under their supervision. Examination at the chiropractic office found forward head posture, a tilt of the head to the right, restrictions in certain neck movements and tenderness throughout the neck and shoulders. X-rays showed straightening and loss of the normal curve of the cervical spine, although there was no evidence of abnormal vertebral height, disc-space narrowing or other obvious bone or disc problems.

The child began a course of gentle, age-appropriate chiropractic care, initially receiving care twice per week and later less frequently as her condition stabilized. According to her mother, stomach pain began improving during the first two months. By the 12th-visit reassessment, the child had less pain and numbness in her arm, improved abdominal discomfort and improved posture and head carriage. Muscle strength that had previously appeared reduced during parts of the examination had also returned to normal.

The longer course of the case was not completely straightforward. The abdominal pain later returned around the sixth month, during a period when visits had become less consistent, with gaps of four to six weeks. The child ultimately remained under care for about 16 months before the family moved overseas. The report also noted only one minor adverse reaction: brief soreness following one visit, which resolved quickly without the need for additional care.

The case is interesting because the upper neck contains joints, muscles and nerves that contribute to head and neck function, while headaches and gastrointestinal symptoms are also known to sometimes occur together in children. In this case, improvement in the child’s abdominal discomfort, arm symptoms, posture and other examination findings occurred during the period in which she was receiving chiropractic care.

For parents, the main message from this case is that spinal and postural function may be worth considering as one part of a broader health picture when children experience a combination of neck-related and other symptoms. Because this report involved only one child, further controlled research will be needed to determine whether correcting upper cervical dysfunction or subluxation can consistently influence these types of pediatric complaints.