Frequently Asked Chiropractic Questions!
1. How often should I get adjusted?
If you are not in pain I recommend getting adjusted between 1x a week and 1x a month. It will be different from person to person due to work load, level of stress, exercise, and prior injuries. Each of these factors play a major role in diminished joint and muscle mobility hence getting adjusted more frequently. I personally get adjusted once a week which is a great stress reliever and it keeps me aligned!
2. Should I ice or use heat when I have an injury?
This is a great question and patients often get confused about which modality to use. The general rule is as follows: the first 24-72 hours post injury use ice to decrease inflammation. After 72 hours use heat to promote blood flow and healing. A combination can also be used at any time with ice always being used last ( i.e. Heat 10 minutes then ice 10 minutes). When in doubt always use ice. Heat can increase blood flow, but it can also bring more inflammation to the area of complaint. The only negative associated with ice could be a freezer burn, but placing a layer of clothe between the skin and ice will prevent this from occurring.
3. What is the scientific basis behind chiropractic care?
Chiropractic is based on a few fundamental principles. 1) The body can heal itself 2) The nervous system controls everything throughout the body 3) A restricted or immobile joint leads to dysfunction of a joint. By restoring normal motion to joints, less irritation is placed on your body's nervous system to correct this instability. Joints that lose 1 degree of motion place more stress on the muscles around the joint and cause spasm. Depending on how much spasm one has can directly correlate to a persons pain level.
This is why you get adjusted! Restoring that 1 degree of motion that was lost will heal the injury before it turns into a 50 degree loss of motion or even a more serious condition like a disc herniation!
When an injury actually begins and when a patient initially feels pain are often different points in time. Pain is a sensation that is only felt once the stimulus reaches a high enough threshold to reach neurons in the brain. This can be explained by adding single drops of water to a bucket. One does not feel any pain until the bucket is filled to the top and starts to overflow! All the other drops are signals your body sends that might not be felt such as a tight or weak muscle. Once the bucket overflows is when one feels that constant, sharp, achy, burning or numbing pain. For specific literature about chiropractic, contact our office!
4. What is the popping noise I hear when I get adjusted?
The popping noise is a release of gas that is located within the joints being adjusted. This buildup of gas can increase the pressure within the joint and cause discomfort. The spinal joints are surrounded by a joint capsule or ligaments that hold them together. If pressure continually builds inside this capsule one can feel very stiff or tight and lose motion. When a joint is adjusted, the pressure is released and motion is restored. This pressure release is very similar to when one opens a soda can and hears a 'pop'.
5. If I am pregnant can I get adjusted?
Pregnancy causes many structural changes throughout a woman's body and can often lead to back pain. This leads many women to seek out chiropractic care and get adjusted. After the first trimester, it is perfectly safe to get adjusted to relieve back pain. Our patients often get adjusted the week leading up to the delivery!
6. When will the pain go away?
Pain tolerance is different for each patient and people with similar injuries may heal at different rates. One major factor that determines how long it will take to recover is how long it took to seek care. Patients that enter our office for treatment within a few days of their initial injury often have better outcomes than injuries that do not get treated for months. Taking this one step further, patients that are on a weekly or monthly maintenance care schedule often recover from Injuries quicker or even prevent these injuries from occurring.
7. I have numbness, tingling, or burning in my foot. Why are you treating my low back?
Disc herniations, disc bulges, or even inflammation can impinge on nerves that stem from the low back. These nerves in the low back extend down the legs all the way to the toes. If a nerve is impinged in the low back, it can cause symptoms to the gluteal muscles, hamstrings, shins, or toes. That is why an adjustment can help alleviate the impingement on nerves in the low back and decrease symptoms. Compression of a nerve and stretching of a nerve cause two distinct and separate symptoms. Compression leads to numbness or a
tingling sensation ( ie sleeping on your arm and your hand falls asleep). Stretching a nerve, similar to stretching a rubber band, leads to sharp electric pain.
8. How often should an athlete or someone who exercises regularly get chiropractic care?
Athletes should get adjusted more frequently than the average person. If an athlete is in season, practicing, or working out regularly an adjustment 1x a week is necessary to prevent the break down of their body. If an injury is present more frequent treatments are necessary. During the offseason, 1x a month would be appropriate. Athletes that get adjusted perform 10% better than those that do not!
9. I was sore after last treatment. Why is that?
Soreness after treatment is very common. The reason for the soreness is similar to the feeling after a workout. In order to create a change within a muscle or ligament, it will tear slightly and allow more blood flow to heal the area. When the area heals, the tissue will heal stronger than the previous state, but the tearing causes the whole process to get started. When a joint is adjusted, the scar tissue around the joint is
broken to restore normal motion. In turn, more blood flow comes to heal the area and it can feel sore. When Active Release Technique is performed, scar tissue is broken down on muscles and ligaments which allow muscle fibers to contract properly. The circulation of blood is increased in the area and the tissue can heal!
10. I have low back pain. What is the best position to sleep in?
Sleeping with low back pain can be difficult and until you get a full night sleep your low back pain can be a major factor toward increased stress levels or long recovery times. Sleeping on your back with pillows under both knees is one beneficial way to sleep. This will decrease tension on the hamstrings which can pull on the low back and cause pain. For side sleepers, you must sleep with pillows between the knees to create less tension on the pelvis. This will allow your knees to be parallel to your hips rather than tilted inward creating tension on the muscles and joints of the back
If you are not in pain I recommend getting adjusted between 1x a week and 1x a month. It will be different from person to person due to work load, level of stress, exercise, and prior injuries. Each of these factors play a major role in diminished joint and muscle mobility hence getting adjusted more frequently. I personally get adjusted once a week which is a great stress reliever and it keeps me aligned!
2. Should I ice or use heat when I have an injury?
This is a great question and patients often get confused about which modality to use. The general rule is as follows: the first 24-72 hours post injury use ice to decrease inflammation. After 72 hours use heat to promote blood flow and healing. A combination can also be used at any time with ice always being used last ( i.e. Heat 10 minutes then ice 10 minutes). When in doubt always use ice. Heat can increase blood flow, but it can also bring more inflammation to the area of complaint. The only negative associated with ice could be a freezer burn, but placing a layer of clothe between the skin and ice will prevent this from occurring.
3. What is the scientific basis behind chiropractic care?
Chiropractic is based on a few fundamental principles. 1) The body can heal itself 2) The nervous system controls everything throughout the body 3) A restricted or immobile joint leads to dysfunction of a joint. By restoring normal motion to joints, less irritation is placed on your body's nervous system to correct this instability. Joints that lose 1 degree of motion place more stress on the muscles around the joint and cause spasm. Depending on how much spasm one has can directly correlate to a persons pain level.
This is why you get adjusted! Restoring that 1 degree of motion that was lost will heal the injury before it turns into a 50 degree loss of motion or even a more serious condition like a disc herniation!
When an injury actually begins and when a patient initially feels pain are often different points in time. Pain is a sensation that is only felt once the stimulus reaches a high enough threshold to reach neurons in the brain. This can be explained by adding single drops of water to a bucket. One does not feel any pain until the bucket is filled to the top and starts to overflow! All the other drops are signals your body sends that might not be felt such as a tight or weak muscle. Once the bucket overflows is when one feels that constant, sharp, achy, burning or numbing pain. For specific literature about chiropractic, contact our office!
4. What is the popping noise I hear when I get adjusted?
The popping noise is a release of gas that is located within the joints being adjusted. This buildup of gas can increase the pressure within the joint and cause discomfort. The spinal joints are surrounded by a joint capsule or ligaments that hold them together. If pressure continually builds inside this capsule one can feel very stiff or tight and lose motion. When a joint is adjusted, the pressure is released and motion is restored. This pressure release is very similar to when one opens a soda can and hears a 'pop'.
5. If I am pregnant can I get adjusted?
Pregnancy causes many structural changes throughout a woman's body and can often lead to back pain. This leads many women to seek out chiropractic care and get adjusted. After the first trimester, it is perfectly safe to get adjusted to relieve back pain. Our patients often get adjusted the week leading up to the delivery!
6. When will the pain go away?
Pain tolerance is different for each patient and people with similar injuries may heal at different rates. One major factor that determines how long it will take to recover is how long it took to seek care. Patients that enter our office for treatment within a few days of their initial injury often have better outcomes than injuries that do not get treated for months. Taking this one step further, patients that are on a weekly or monthly maintenance care schedule often recover from Injuries quicker or even prevent these injuries from occurring.
7. I have numbness, tingling, or burning in my foot. Why are you treating my low back?
Disc herniations, disc bulges, or even inflammation can impinge on nerves that stem from the low back. These nerves in the low back extend down the legs all the way to the toes. If a nerve is impinged in the low back, it can cause symptoms to the gluteal muscles, hamstrings, shins, or toes. That is why an adjustment can help alleviate the impingement on nerves in the low back and decrease symptoms. Compression of a nerve and stretching of a nerve cause two distinct and separate symptoms. Compression leads to numbness or a
tingling sensation ( ie sleeping on your arm and your hand falls asleep). Stretching a nerve, similar to stretching a rubber band, leads to sharp electric pain.
8. How often should an athlete or someone who exercises regularly get chiropractic care?
Athletes should get adjusted more frequently than the average person. If an athlete is in season, practicing, or working out regularly an adjustment 1x a week is necessary to prevent the break down of their body. If an injury is present more frequent treatments are necessary. During the offseason, 1x a month would be appropriate. Athletes that get adjusted perform 10% better than those that do not!
9. I was sore after last treatment. Why is that?
Soreness after treatment is very common. The reason for the soreness is similar to the feeling after a workout. In order to create a change within a muscle or ligament, it will tear slightly and allow more blood flow to heal the area. When the area heals, the tissue will heal stronger than the previous state, but the tearing causes the whole process to get started. When a joint is adjusted, the scar tissue around the joint is
broken to restore normal motion. In turn, more blood flow comes to heal the area and it can feel sore. When Active Release Technique is performed, scar tissue is broken down on muscles and ligaments which allow muscle fibers to contract properly. The circulation of blood is increased in the area and the tissue can heal!
10. I have low back pain. What is the best position to sleep in?
Sleeping with low back pain can be difficult and until you get a full night sleep your low back pain can be a major factor toward increased stress levels or long recovery times. Sleeping on your back with pillows under both knees is one beneficial way to sleep. This will decrease tension on the hamstrings which can pull on the low back and cause pain. For side sleepers, you must sleep with pillows between the knees to create less tension on the pelvis. This will allow your knees to be parallel to your hips rather than tilted inward creating tension on the muscles and joints of the back