10/20/2026
Excellent news, Dr. Ward!
**Can the disc spaces in your neck actually expand with chiropractic care?** 🧐
A fascinating new chiropractic study suggests they might!
Researchers reviewed cervical spine X-rays from 38 patients, averaging 52 years old, who received Blair Upper Cervical Chiropractic Care over a 12-month period.
**The surprising finding?** Average disc-space height increased from 4.60 mm to 6.52 mm — approximately a **42% increase!**
Why does this matter?
As we age, the discs between our vertebrae often become thinner, contributing to degenerative changes commonly called spinal arthritis. Seeing disc spaces actually increase in height is an encouraging finding.
I personally incorporate aspects of the Blair approach when adjusting the neck, so this research is particularly interesting to me.
**Does this mean chiropractic care can regenerate spinal discs or reverse arthritis?**
Not 100%.
The study measured disc spaces on X-rays, not the actual disc tissue with MRI. It was also a small, retrospective study without a control group, so we can't conclude that chiropractic adjustments caused the changes.
However, the researchers found statistically significant increases in disc-space height over time.
**The takeaway:** This is promising preliminary evidence that deserves further investigation.
It raises interesting questions about whether long-term chiropractic care might positively influence some of the structural changes associated with spinal degeneration.
