I want to tell you about my patient, Emily (not her real name). Emily swore to her husband that she’d never have her neck adjusted – not willfully, at least. That was five years ago. She stayed true to that promise until she and her husband got into a freeway accident, which saw their car spin three times before slamming into the median (thank God for medians!). Poor Emily was jacked up, and so not having her neck adjusted was not an option.
This, of course, was a blessing in disguise. Not only did Emily have her neck adjusted several times (which allowed her body to heal), but she has been a loyal customer ever since. She even had me adjust her son when he was one week old (that’s right, birthing can be tough on a baby, too). While adjusting Emily last week, I asked her, “Did you ever in your wildest dreams think you’d be getting your neck adjusted five years later on your own volition?” Her answer was, “Heck no!”
It’s no surprise that some people are afraid of being adjusted. Whenever we encounter something new or unfamiliar, it can be frightening, especially when it involves trusting a stranger with his hands around your neck. Making matters worse, when you finally give in to your ambivalence, a quick move and a loud crack can wipe away any feelings of calmness you might have been mustering.
If you feel this way every time you get on a chiropractor’s table, don’t fret. The instantaneous relief you receive from that same chiropractic adjustment will make up for the jitters you had just a microsecond earlier. The fear and hesitation Emily had are not uncommon – many people come into my office feeling that same nervousness. However, I find that the best way to ease one’s fears of being adjusted requires a simple explanation of what’s happening during the adjustment.
Subluxations
First, people need to know exactly what we are adjusting. Chiropractors adjust subluxations. Some chiropractors explain a subluxation as a misaligned bone – and there’s truth to that – but I find it more accurate and easier to grasp explaining it as a joint that has become stuck. A subluxation is a joint that has lost its full range of motion; basically, it is a stuck joint.
Stuck joints cause some dire consequences for the body. The first and most obvious is a lack of motion: stiffness, feeling locked up, or the inability to turn one’s head or stand up straight. Some other major problems inherent in the subluxation are pain, inflammation, and loss of function. And then there is the neurological component: Subluxations can, and often do, irritate the nerves as they exit the spine. This can lead to a disruption in the normal functioning of this very delicate and precise system. Left uncorrected, especially for long periods (months, years, decades), subluxations can cumulatively disrupt the body’s function and its various systems, leaving it out of sync.
Chiropractic Adjustments
When a chiropractor detects a subluxation, he or she will then correct it with a chiropractic adjustment. There are many techniques a chiropractor might use to adjust a subluxation. In my office, you get it the old-fashioned way – hands contact the spine, quick and painless thrust, a loud pop, and voilà: subluxation corrected.
I find that it’s the loud pop that really unnerves some patients. However, understanding what’s happening physically can help ease the mind and smooth the entire process. To begin with, a chiropractic adjustment is not “bones cracking.” The only thing a chiropractor does with the bone is use it as a lever. When the adjustment is administered, the joint opens – we call it gapping the joint – pulling apart its two surfaces, which have been stuck together. When they release, you hear a “pop!”
The Pop!
The popping noise is called a cavitation, a combined release of suction and gas, which makes a cracking sound. The spinal joints are synovial (check out this simple and detailed description here), which produce a fluid called synovial fluid. This fluid lubricates the joint (for movement) and nourishes it. The byproducts formed in the production of synovial fluid are the gasses oxygen, nitrogen, and CO2. Gapping or opening the joint (pulling apart the suctioned ends) releases gas, making the distinctive cracking/popping sound. It is similar to releasing gas bubbles when you cork a champagne bottle and equally pleasant in its after-effects.
Speaking of after-effects, what happens next? Once the joint is opened, the synovial fluids re-lubricate the joint surfaces, restoring normal motion. Anybody who has ever had a stuck joint and has been unable to move correctly (probably most people reading this article) knows precisely what follows the adjustment – relief. True, it depends on how severe the subluxation is, how long it has been festering, and how “hot” or acute it is to determine how complete the relief will be. But without a doubt, most people feel better almost immediately.
That’s why Emily could never stay true to her promise. She couldn’t deny how great she felt following an adjustment. Sure, she came in initially to facilitate the healing of her severely battered body. However, she kept coming back because getting adjusted has allowed her to function optimally, keep up with a tireless three-year-old, and feel darn good doing it. If that ain’t worth a “pop,” I don’t know what is.
Originally published on June 4, 2007
