Adjustments

Benefits to You

This is the most important part of chiropractic treatment.  In our office, most adjustments are given with the doctors hand contacting the spinal bone (vertebra) or other bone.  The movement is rapid and is well within the joints normal range of motion.  A sound frequently(but not always) occurs.  The adjustment is used a the direct way to correct a large component of the Subluxation Complex. Several things happen after an adjustment is given:

1)  Nerves are stimulated, sending a powerful stimulus to the brain, distinctly greater than what happens with normal head and neck movements.(http://www.clinph-journal.com/article/S1388-2457%2806%2901441-6/abstract)  Even short-term sensory stimulation creates long-term changes in the brain.(http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v1/n1/abs/nn0598_64.html)  It is amazingly powerful what can happen when you give the body what it needs.

2)  Joint motion is restored (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2485362/).

3)  Nerves continue to communicate from the newly mobilized joint.  This continues to send information to the brain.  The brain responds with improved control and the promotion of healing to the tissues.  (See #1)
                
4)  Since the Nervous System is the Master System (controlling all other organs of the body), this improved nerve communication and brain activity can powerfully regulate healing in your body, including your immune system, like your spleen  (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1555416/), and through the nervous system’s powerful influence on all the lymphoid(immune) tissue and even bone marrow
(http://pharmrev.aspetjournals.org/content/52/4/595.short).

Common Concerns/Rumors

There are a few concerns that some people have about seeing a chiropractor.  These tend to be passed around as rumors…like,  from a person that had an uncle that once knew someone who…
There are Safety Concerns and Comfort Concerns

         Click this link for answers about commonCommon SAFETY Concerns/Rumors

For Comfort Concerns read below.

Either way, you deserve to have your questions answered.

Here are some Common Concerns we have heard:

1) Will it hurt?

  • Sometimes it hurts a little.  Great care is given to limit the amount of discomfort you feel.  The adjustment must be given through muscles, and muscles are often tender when the bones and joints are dysfunctioning.  So, sometimes even just touching the muscles and spinal bones is uncomfortable.  But with chiropractic treatment, the muscles begin to relax and the adjustments are less uncomfortable.
  • Patients with chronic, systemic conditions (like fibromyalgia and the like) are given neurological stimulation is modified ways, so that they are not made worse through excessive stimulation.  These modified ways include the Activator instrument and stimulation through alternative pathways, like light, sound, active movement, etc.


2) Will I have to come for ever?

  • No.  After being treated, you need further treatment less  than before the treatment.  Then where did the rumor come from?  Once people realize how well their body can work and how good they can feel, most people choose to maintain it at this higher level of performance.  For more information of the ways of treating, see the Office Tour Page, in the Treatment Plansection.


3) What is that “popping sound”?

  • The release of gases.  Lubricating(synovial) fluids separate the bone surfaces.  Sometimes the rapid shifting of these fluids or gases produces a sound.  This is much like what happens when you open a bottle of wine.  The sound is NOT a factor in whether or not the adjustment was helpful.