Are Chiropractic Adjustments Effective?

“The adjustment is a universal force which the innate intelligence of the body changes (invests with new character) into an innate force. It uses that force to move a bone from the position in which the innate intelligence cannot move it to correct the vertebral subluxation and reduce the nerve interference to one in which it can and will correct the vertebral subluxation.” – Joe Strauss, DC

In order to understand that Chiropractic Adjustments are safe, let’s look at what the data says, how the adjustments are safely facilitated, and why they can be replicated with accuracy and reliability.

First…Data Shows That Chiropractic Adjustments Are Safe!

A study in 2017 found that the most common adverse event that occurs with chiropractic adjustments are soft tissue soreness and same-day tiredness. The risk of adverse events is low, the risk of serious adverse events such as stroke is exceedingly low, and we are well-trained and equipped to determine who may be at risk for them.

I’ve personally been adjusted for over 20 years and can’t think of one time where during or after I was in pain after the adjustment—but that’s just one account specifically on how my body has responded.

I’ve professionally adjusted people in my community for over 10 years now and have accumulated over a million chiropractic adjustments in my career and can only recall just a couple of times where the person receiving the specific force reacted to the adjustive force with soft tissue soreness right after the adjustment occurred—but that’s just a small population of people and demographics.

Remember, research and reports are there to give you an understanding of numbers and unless you were in that pool of demographics, that’s not you.

The research and reports are there for you to see how other people responded to the chiropractic adjustments. The question you need to ask yourself is how will you respond?

You see, for everything in life there is risk, and there is a small chance that how you respond to the specific force being delivered to facilitate the adjustment of vertebral subluxation could result in an adjustment reaction of soft tissue soreness.

Your response to the adjustment is directly proportional to your current state of condition. How healthy you are correlates to the risk levels associated with chiropractic adjustments.

There is risk with everything we do in life, and there is the risk of muscle strains, ribs breaking, and the occasional adjustment reaction where the anticipation of the adjustment may interfere with the amount of force being used to facilitate it.

Your current state of condition can be a factor, and that’s why Chiropractors are trained and equipped to evaluate you from the initial start of care.

But that risk is minimal based on the data being reported in the industry that I’d like to focus on now: how chiropractic adjustment is facilitated and why it can be replicated with accuracy and reliability for an effective approach in enhancing your well-being.

Second…How Chiropractic Adjustments Are Facilitated

Because the neurological system coordinates every cell and organ in your body, chiropractors focus on spinal integrity.

If spinal integrity interferes with neurological function due to vertebral subluxation, then chiropractic adjustments are used to help bring the spine back into alignment.

Vertebral subluxations are misaligned spinal bones that interfere with neurological impulses. The objective of the chiropractic adjustment is to reduce vertebral subluxations so that the neurological system can express normal function.

How Chiropractic Adjustments Are Typically Facilitated:

1. First-time chiropractic adjustments are always preceded by a proper consultation, history, and physical examination that typically includes biomechanical and neurological evaluation.

2. The spinal analysis to determine the exact vertebral alignment and integrity is designed to facilitate a specific and appropriate force.

3. The chiropractor will find the desired subluxation to adjust and apply high-velocity, low-amplitude pressure to the vertebrae.

4. During the adjustment, sometimes a joint cavitation is experienced, which is an audible release of joint pressure—not tissue or bones “cracking.”

5. After the subluxated vertebrae increases range of motion from the adjustment, the vertebrae can realign with the vertebrae above and below with improved function.

Chiropractic adjustments strengthen the body’s powerful innate ability to heal itself. The chiropractic adjustment helps facilitate an environment that enhances this inner potential to function at a higher capacity.

Third…Proper Analysis and Specific Chiropractic Adjustments

Specific in the nature of a proper chiropractic analysis and introduction of force at the right location and right amount of pressure.

Let’s look at one specific chiropractic analysis that looks at neurodynamics within the spine to determine where to facilitate a safe and effective adjustment.

The protection of the neurological system by bone such as the skull and vertebrae affirms its importance to the body’s state of condition.

In order for the neurological system to perform its duties of coordinating function throughout the body, it needs protection by osseous structures such as bones in the spine.

The vertebrae in the spine are knit together by ligamentous structures and stabilized by hundreds of small muscles that are stretch-sensitive due to their inherent muscle spindles and sensory innervation.

The mechanism which causes the muscles to respond is called a stretch reflex. The stretch reflex occurs when the neurological system at the vertebra level is informed that the vertebrae are improperly functioning (vertebral subluxation).

The stretch reflex commands contraction of the stretched muscle or muscles that are attempting to correct the vertebral subluxation by pulling toward the proper position and control of the vertebrae.

Chiropractors have a method of analysis of these muscles called Advanced Muscle Palpation.

Advanced Muscle Palpation allows the chiropractor to have a specific and appropriate introduction of force into the muscles that are already attempting to self-correct the vertebral subluxation, creating an opportunity for a safe and reliable chiropractic adjustment.

How Do You Know If You Need Chiropractic Care?

Traditionally, chiropractic adjustments have been effectively utilized for society when something isn’t working well within the body such as back pain, neck pain, or maybe a recent injury with the hope that the amazing benefits of each adjustment influence healing and restoration.

The challenge with waiting till the body is broken down or injured before benefiting from chiropractic adjustments is using how the body is feeling as a yardstick to measure well-being doesn’t always align. How you feel and how you function are not always aligned. You can feel good and have poor function and feel bad and have good function. Chiropractic adjustments can boost your well-being, including your children’s quality of life regardless of the presence of back pain, neck pain, headaches, earaches, etc.

Often, people may wait for a sign or symptom to decide there is a problem within the body before seeking help, the mentality of “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

A current challenge when considering chiropractic care may reside within a lack of understanding that how you feel doesn’t always correlate to how the body is functioning. Within the human body, breakdown and malfunction can occur well before signs or symptoms present themselves in an evident manner. For instance, you can have a dental cavity rotting your healthy tooth away without any physical sensation that the cavity is present.

Chiropractic care can restore proper relationships within the spinal joints due to misaligned vertebrae that can negatively affect the structural and functional state of the neurological system. Spinal bones protect the nerves, but if spinal integrity is less than optimal, neurological interference can result due to vertebral subluxation. When dysfunction is located within the spine due to vertebral subluxation, communication can be less than optimal between the brain and body, in turn, creating a lower quality of function. This lower quality of function may or may not be noticed.

The following key steps may help you in the decision-making process of considering chiropractic care:

1. What are the current challenges with your quality of life?

2. Can becoming healthier and investing in your well-being help you overcome those challenges?

3. What options or alternatives are there besides chiropractic care?

4. Consult with a chiropractor about your current state to help determine if chiropractic is appropriate for you after the findings from an evaluation.

5. Implement the professional recommendations that have been given to you from your chiropractor.