Dr. Kipp: Hi there again, and welcome to our second segment on introduction to chiropractic. What you’re about to hear is a follow-up question along with a short demonstration of an actual chiropractic adjustment. Bear in mind that chiropractors undergo years and years of training to be able to do this technique. Please do not try this at home.
Damon: I’ve been going to a chiropractor for three years. I think there’s a lot of misconceptions about what chiropractic care really is. You see I was in a car accident about twenty years ago, and those injuries came back to haunt me. I’m a carpenter. What I do is physically demanding everyday. I was hurting. So this chiropractic said commit to me for one year. I was a little skeptical at first. I didn’t know what a chiropractic person did. I didn’t know anything about chiropractic care. But I did. For 52 weeks, three days a week I committed. And you know what, it worked!
I think one of the biggest misconceptions about chiropractic care is the definition of what is an adjustment.
Dr. Kipp: When a patient comes into a chiropractic office, the first thing that we need to do every time is an assessment of the spine. Now that can be done lying down, or it can be done standing up. In this case we have Damon on his belly on the table, and what we do is we go through the spine at each and every one of the joint levels looking for the proper mobility. If we come across an area that more than likely does not have that proper motion, we’re going to notice a little bit of swelling in the joint itself because your body is trying to protect that joint. So when we come across that little bit of swelling, like we have here in Damon’s spine, what ends up happening is we need to test the motion in all the different ways that joint can move. This joint happens to move in two different directions: forward and back, and then a little side to side. This is in his mid back. When we do this - and this joint happens to be stuck in the forward and backward motion which is not uncommon here; the body will swell in that joint to protect itself. It’s kind of self preservation.
The nerve at that level of the spinal chord; that one happens to go out and come around into the heart and lungs. So we want that one working the best way possible. So from a chiropractic standpoint we deliver an adjustment. An adjustment is just what it sounds like: we are adjusting the mobility of that particular joint so that it works the correct way. When we do that, we choose a contact. Chiropractors are trained for different contacts. This one I particularly like to use the bottom side of my hand right on that joint, and in the direction that we need to press. We’re going in that forward motion the way the joint is not moving properly right now. As that occurs the patient may experience or hear a popping or clicking noise. Most people think: "Oh my God, that’s my bones hitting together." It’s not. It’s actually just a nitrogen gas bubble being released from that joint when you get the proper mobility back to it. Do you always hear that noise? Not necessarily. If we can get the motion and there’s not a lot of gas built up in that joint, chances are you won’t hear that. But typically you will, because it only takes about a half hour for your body to build up enough gas in there to cause that popping sound. Once we deliver that adjustment, we move on down the spine and find the next level. And we do that until full spine is complete or the problematic area has been addressed.
Thanks for watching our program on introduction to chiropractic. Hopefully you’ve taken away from this session that chiropractic is a viable alternative to traditional drugs and surgical approaches. From everything from neck aches, to back aches, to headaches, to a wellness care approach to your health status, chiropractic can be that alternative for you.