Eighty percent of Americans will experience back pain at one point.1 A chiropractic adjustment can be a safe and effective treatment for many types of back pain. Dr. Travis Dockery dives into two of the most commonly asked questions in our office:
“What is a chiropractic adjustment?”
“Can it help out with my back pain?”
We’ll want to take a step back and look at the spine to understand better how the body works. The spine is comprised of 24 individual bones, which we call vertebrae, sitting on top of our pelvis. Each of these bones has a pad in between them called a disc. In a perfect world, each section will move fluidly.
Unfortunately, that is not always the case. We can experience large traumas, like a car accident or a slip and fall injury. Or we can experience repetitive smaller injuries that build up to larger ones. This can consist of things like sitting too long or bending forward improperly. These traumas can cause the spine’s joints to “jam up.”
The Symptoms:
When the spine’s bones don’t move well, your body doesn’t like this. You can experience many different symptoms:
- Inflammation of the joint – as the surfaces of the joints of the spine aren’t moving, they can draw inflammatory chemicals to the area.
- Tight muscles – the muscles around the joint contract to ‘lockdown’ and protect the area.
- Loss of motion – the individual joints of the spine not moving will create a larger, global loss of motion of the neck, midback, or lower back.
- Pain in the arms or legs – the nerves that travel down the arms and legs exit the spine near these joints. The joints can either directly put pressure on the nerve in some instances or draw inflammation to the area to irritate the nerves. In either instance, the results are problems elsewhere in the body.
The Solution:
If this is the cause of your back pain, a chiropractic adjustment is the perfect treatment for you. A chiropractic doctor will scan your body to determine these fixated segments. Then, using either an instrument or their hands, deliver pressure to that joint to get it moving.
Sometimes, a byproduct can be a ‘popping’ noise from the spine. This isn’t anything to worry about, as the gapping of the joint creates it. A great analogy is when you open a can of soda. If enough pressure is built up in the can, the carbon dioxide quickly forms from liquid to gas. This creates the fizz noise that you hear. However, you don’t hear that sound every time you open the can, just like the popping noise isn’t always heard when adjusting the spine.
After the adjustment is applied to the spine, the body can MOVE better. This allows you to FEEL better and gets your body on the path to healing.
Whether seeking relief from chronic pain or simply aiming for optimal health, your Livonia chiropractor guides you every step of the way. Contact our office to schedule an appointment by Clicking Here or giving us a call today: 734-427-6333