Orem Chiropractor, Ned McArthur Clarifies The Adjustment

Jan. 27, 2010 - PRLog -- As a Brain Based Chiropractor I utilize many different modalities but the one that may be the most misunderstood is the chiropractic adjustment.  The adjustment is referred to as an adjustment, spinal manipulation, cracking the back, etc.

The term we use doesn’t really matter as long as we have a mutual understanding of what we are talking about.  

For example some people like to ‘crack’ their back as a means of relieving stiffness, pressure or tension in their back and it most assuredly does that.  Now, don’t think just because someone can ‘crack’ their own back that they are providing themselves the same benefit as the therapeutic joint adjustment I provide.  

Before I go off on a tangent let’s answer the most basic questions of what an adjustment is?  What is the sound that is made during an adjustment?  What does an adjustment do? What can it help with?  Are their risks?

What is an adjustment?  An adjustment is the movement of a joint beyond the passive motion limits.  For example, I can bend my elbow so far on my own.  That’s active range of motion.  Someone could gently push my elbow a little bit farther and that’s passive range of motion.  With slightly more effort and speed we can move a joint past the passive range of motion limit to the paraphysiological space, and this is where the adjustment takes place.  So the adjustment is simply moving a joint to this point.  

Most times when this happens there is a ‘crack’ or a ‘pop.’  This is normal and is called cavitation.  This sound happens because there is fluid in the space between the bones and the movement of an adjustment causes air to come out of the fluid, which makes a ‘pop’ sound.  It’s like when you’ve got a wet counter top and you lift a cup or plate off that wet counter top and you get a ‘pop.’  The sound is simply air coming out of fluid.

Why does an adjustment do?  First off let me emphatically state that an adjustment is NOT intended to put a bone that has come out of place, back into place.  At least not in the way you may think.  If a bone really comes out of place it’s called a dislocation and there are techniques for putting it back into place, but it’s not what the adjustment does.  The adjustment improves range of motion, relieves pain, relaxes muscles and soft tissues and stimulates nerve endings in the joint.  The nerves in the joint travel into and up the spinal cord.  Then into the cerebellum, to the thalamus and finally into the brain.  Because the adjustment does affect the brain, an adjustment can be beneficial for many different conditions.  

What are the risks associated with the adjustment?  As with all forms of health care there are risks.  The risks associated with the adjustment are so low that it is nearly impossible to predict risk.  Let’s put it this way, my annual malpractice is less than someone would pay in a month for an average apartment.

Having said that I should explain that with some of my patients I choose to use other modalities to treat them and I DON’T adjust them because it wouldn’t be appropriate for their condition.

If you go to www.AskDrNed.com you can get a lot of information on the conditions I have successfully treated.  On the bottom right of the home page there are over a hundred videos you could watch.  There are also links to my facebook and twitter accounts.  You can listen to podcasts and read my blog.

If you would like to schedule a complimentary visit to my office please call 801-225-1311.

# # #

Do you experience fibromyalgia, headaches & migraines,numbness, sciatica, neck & back pain, dizziness, insomnia, restless leg syndrome or been in a car accident?

THESE ARE THE PEOPLE I HELP.