I am always amazed when I meet people that really don’t know what I do when I tell them I’m a chiropractor. I of course get the “oh you’re a bone cracker or hey can you fix this spot in my neck”… But really a lot of people realize if you hurt your back chiropractic can help, but if you press them to say what we really do most will tell you they don’t know. So here it is.
A chiropractic adjustment is when the doctor moves a bone to decrease compression on a nerve. Your spinal cord runs down the center of your spine and there is a nerve that comes out at each level. When the bone rotates out of position it causes inflammation and pain by putting pressure on the nerves and joints. A chiropractic adjustment can be performed by hand or with an adjusting tool (see earlier blogs of mine). A chiropractic adjustment is different than a manipulation by your family doctor or a physical therapist. The latter does a gross stretching movement to increase range of motion, whereas, a chiropractor moves a specific bone to decompress a nerve. Of course the result is decreased pain, inflammation and increased range of motion, we are very specific to what segment we correct. It’s like a shotgun vs a sniper.
Dr. Myers at Elements Chiropractic is always available to sit down with you and help you find out if chiropractic care is right for you. What do you have to lose?