What actually happens is a number of things. The damaged joint essentially becomes "stuck" and it loses its motion. It becomes inflamed, as do the tissues around the joint. This then irritates the spinal nerves which cause a lot of pain, and the surrounding muscles go into spasm.
This often starts out as a small thing, but the longer the joint and surrounding tissues remained stuck and damaged, the more the nerves are affected which then leads to compensation in other areas of the spine and body, and then more damage, inflammation and spasm. The cycle becomes endless.
Why is this such a bad thing? Besides the pain and loss of motion, these disturbances to the nervous system can affect anything that our nerves talk to, which is every cell in our body!
As a Chiropractor we are trained to find these damaged joints and areas of disrupted nervous system activity, and adjust you to relieve the problem. When we adjust a joint in your spine, we aren't "cracking" the bones as so many people have been lead to believe. We are applying a very fast, but tiny force to the joint to "gap" it, or open it up. When these two surfaces that have been stuck together open up, they produce a "pop" sound as all the gases are released - just like when you pop the cork on a champagne bottle!
Once the joint opens up, the fluid that surrounds the joint re-lubricates the joint surfaces and normal motion is restored. More importantly though, normal nervous system function is restored. And, as anybody who has ever had a "stuck" joint can attest, also what follows the adjustment is usually relief! How fast we get relief depends on how hot and inflamed the joint is and how long the damage has been occurring.
This also explains why people often describe other improvements in their body after a Chiropractic adjustment beyond just pain relief. By cleaning up the nervous system communication, everything functions better. You will usually sleep better; concentrate and think more clearly which allows you to deal with stress more easily; and you may notice other things like your immune system gets stronger, your bowels become more regular and the list goes on.
One last point. Because you haven't actually "knocked a bone out of place", you can feel free to exercise as much as you want immediately following your Chiropractic adjustment without fear of "undoing the adjustment!"
Please share this with anyone you know who is nervous or unsure about why they might need to see a Chiropractor! If you have any questions at all call us at (402) 593-9930.
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