Frequently Asked Questions About Chiropractic Care in New Smyrna Beach, Edgewater and Port Orange, FL
What is a chiropractic adjustment?
Chiropractors feel for proper motion between joints. When improper movement is discovered chiropractors will use various contact points with there hands or an instrument to deliver a "controlled movement" to restore joint mobility. Chiropractors work predominately with the spine but any joint can be adjusted. The purpose is to allow joints to move as naturally as possible thus increasing blood flow and removing nerve interference.
Does it hurt to get adjusted?
Spinal adjustments are usually pain free but may be uncomfortable depending on the amount of inflammation and irritation in the affected area. Once you start receiving your adjustments, you will begin to look forward to them. They will become one of the highlights of your week. When you allow the vertebrae in your spine to return to their proper position, you will notice much less stress and tension.
Is chiropractic care safe?
Yes. Research proves that chiropractic care is one of the safest types of healthcare. You only need to compare the malpractice premiums paid by chiropractors to those paid by medical doctors. Doctors of Chiropractic pay only a small fraction (approx. 1/20) of the price medical doctors pay in malpractice premiums. 250,000 people will die this year as a result of bad medicine, making this the third leading cause of death in the United States (The Journal of The American Medical Association, JAMA; Vol.284, July 26, 2000). Of the millions of people receiving chiropractic adjustments each year, only a handful will even make a complaint.
What causes the sound made during a chiropractic adjustment?
That sound is not your spine "cracking" or "popping" like most people think. The sound is created by gas (in this case, nitrogen) rushing in to fill the partial vacuum created when the joints are slightly separated. Another example of this phenomenon would be the "pop" sound you hear when the cork is taken out of a champagne bottle. Not all chiropractic adjusting techniques produce this noise. In fact, some adjusting techniques use little force and thus produce no noise at all.
Is it bad to "crack" your back or neck a lot?
This question is frequently asked because people associate the "cracking" or "popping" of one's back or neck with a chiropractic adjustment. The two are not the same thing. If a person has a desire to "crack" his/her back or neck it is often because one area of their spine is fixated or jammed causing another area to move too much and "pop", sometimes by itself. It is the fixated or jammed area that needs to be properly adjusted by a chiropractor so that the other parts of the spine will not be hypermobile and noisy. When you "crack" your back, you may be relieving the tension for a little while. Do you notice how it keeps coming back? That is because you are not giving yourself a specific chiropractic adjustment. The cause of the spinal tension, the fixated or jammed (subluxated) vertebrae, has not been corrected. Any person who makes a habit out of "cracking" or "popping" their back or neck should to go to a chiropractor to have their spine checked.
Once you see a chiropractor, do you have to go for the rest of your life?
No. The extent to which you choose to benefit from your chiropractic care is ultimately up to you. Each & every one of us is solely responsible for the quality of our health and well-being. However, we do strongly urge all to consider lifetime, wellness chiropractic care. This is where the long-term, lasting benefits of care are enjoyed. Regular exercise and healthy eating habits are a lifestyle decision and so is lifetime, wellness chiropractic care. You need to remain subluxation free for life.
Should I continue chiropractic care if I don't have any symptoms and I feel better?
Yes. Just because symptoms disappear it does not mean your subluxations are corrected. Most have spinal degeneration (decay) which has taken years to develop. The trauma of the birth process, slips, falls, accidents and countless other stresses over the course of your lifetime adversely affect the health of your spine. The longer you wait to have your spine checked by a chiropractor, the longer it will take to correct your subluxations. However, how you choose to use chiropractic care is ultimately up to you. It has been our experience that those who stop care when they are "feeling fine" return with the same health challenge(s) which brought them to our office in the first place...only it's usually gotten worse. On the other hand, those practice members who commit to long-term, wellness chiropractic care, find their health challenge(s) rarely return and they enjoy a higher quality of life &health.
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