By using the hands to apply controlled force to a joint, the chiropractor pushes the joint beyond its usual range of motion. You might hear a click or. During a chiropractic adjustment, most of the time your chiropractor places you in certain poses to treat affected areas. You're likely to lie face down on a special padded chiropractic table.
You may hear popping or crackling sounds when your chiropractor moves joints during the treatment session. Manipulation of the spine (adjustments) is thought to help release those trapped elements and restore internal joint structures. This is probably why people feel that spinal alignment has been achieved after a spinal adjustment. Often, they can move better with much less discomfort or pain. After a chiropractic adjustment, you may feel mild pain or have very mild pain in the areas of the body where the chiropractor worked.
This sensation usually goes away within 24 hours and rarely affects people who see a chiropractor regularly. Our joints are surrounded by a capsule filled with synovial fluid. This fluid acts as a lubricant, reducing friction between bones and helping them to move smoothly. The synovial fluid is filled with gases such as carbon dioxide. When the chiropractor performs a chiropractic adjustment, he applies a sudden, controlled force to the joint.
This rapid movement increases space within the joint capsule, causing a drop in pressure. As pressure decreases, gases dissolved in the synovial fluid form bubbles. When bones become misaligned due to things like trauma, repetitive movements, poor ergonomics or poor postural habits, these ligaments become damaged and swell and lose the ability to do their job properly, what I mentioned before is keeping the bones in place and allowing them the necessary flexibility to move. The specialized adjustments that chiropractors make can release the tendons, joints and ligaments that pull and tighten muscles.
By releasing these tight tendons, joints and ligaments, the muscle can suddenly relax and regain its natural healing capacity. When a chiropractic adjustment occurs in the body, inflammation can decrease and circulation can increase, which can allow vital nutrients and oxygen to reach previously constricted muscles and surrounding tissues and restricted. A common misconception about chiropractic care, especially with a new patient, is that a chiropractor puts bones back in place. There is even the chiropractic term, “subluxation”, which has historically been characterized as a spinal bone that has moved out of position with respect to the adjacent vertebrae.
While chiropractic can affect much more than just the skeletal system, it's known to treat bones and joints for a reason. Therefore, even if it were true that chiropractic care only helps bones and joints, it would have the potential to be a transformative form of wellness care. As we have previously explored, chiropractic care is best known as therapeutic for the bones and joints of the body. Chiropractic care is intended to address the entire neuromusculoskeletal system, including not only bones and joints, but also muscles, tendons, and the nervous system.
Think of a chiropractor as a doctor who deals with any type of muscle, bone, or joint pain or dysfunction. Instead, the chiropractor applies pressure to the patient's body with knowledge of geometry and anatomy (or pressure is applied through traction) and allows bones and joints to align. When considering all of this research evidence, it's almost impossible to genuinely support an ongoing “totally out of place” hypothesis for chiropractic treatment.
