Chiropractors in Chicago IL Explain: What Is A Chiropractic Adjustment?

There are a wide variety of techniques a chiropractor may use to perform an adjustment, all of which are gentle, non-invasive, and proven safe and effective methods for treating various physical conditions and their related pain and other symptoms.

In an adjustment, the chiropractic physician aims to correct spinal subluxations (or partial dislocations) by using his/her hands to apply gentle but firm pressure to the bone in the form of sudden but controlled force, thereby unlocking it from its misaligned position. From here, the bone then becomes able to correctly realign itself, and any nerves that had been pinched or otherwise interfered with by the subluxation can now be freed and restored to proper functioning.

It is a common misunderstanding that a chiropractor’s work is to force a joint back into position. But on the contrary, the body is quite capable of doing that all by itself. It merely takes the freeing up of the subluxation for the body to then take over and put itself back into place.

What Chiropractic Techniques Are Available?

There is a vast assortment of techniques a chiropractic physician may use to perform an adjustment. In fact, it can be said that each chiropractic adjustment is as unique as the doctor performing it and the patient receiving it. That is why it is so important to find a chiropractic physician you feel comfortable with.

Here at Ravenwood Chiropractic & Wellness Center, our chiropractic physicians are trained in the following therapeutic techniques:

• Flexion Distraction
• Thompson Technique
• Motion palpation
• Diversified
• Directional Non-force
• High Velocity Low Amplitude Thrust
• Low Velocity
• Pelvic Blocks
• Cervical
• Upper Cervical
• Gonstead

The Right Chiropractic Adjustment For You

What’s right for one person may be different from what’s right for another. The right chiropractic adjustment for you is one that is “adjusted” for your level of comfort. The more you stay in active dialogue with your doctor before, during, and after your adjustment, giving as detailed feedback as you can, then the doctor can cater your treatment to suit your condition, your treatment goals, and your comfort level.

Why Might I Need More Than One Adjustment?

The reason why a patient will often need several chiropractic adjustments for the same subluxation is twofold:

• in part it is because the body grows accustomed to the improper positioning and begins adapting the structure of the surrounding muscle tissue to “support” this new and undesired position;
• and in part it is because any contributing lifestyle patterns that led to the subluxation in the first place may still be present, re-aggravating the subluxation.

Therefore it may often take more than one chiropractic adjustment, and often several, before the correction will “hold”.

What Can Be Adjusted?

Chiropractic adjustments are performed on joints—usually, the joints of and around the spine, from the sacrum (or tailbone) up to the cervical spine (or the neck). To make these adjustments, pressure is often applied to parts of the back, but adjustments can also be made to the joints of the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, ankle and foot.

Any pressure applied to bone is done so with the intention of causing movement in a related joint between that bone and connected bones. Joints, as a reminder, are the spaces between bones, and they are comprised of tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and other soft muscle tissue.

What's That Popping Sound?

One of the most common questions we get here in our office is, “What’s that popping sound?”

During a chiropractic adjustment, as the joint is being moved, an associated cracking or popping sound can often be heard. And while this may sound alarming, it is actually quite normal and harmless.

That popping sound is the sound of little pockets of gas being released in the course of an adjustment.   This is called a cavitation.