So, Doc... what is that popping and cracking, when I get adjusted?  Answer:

When the swollen or "stuck" joint gets released, it causes cavitation.  This is the gas released when you experience the popping sound. The fluid contains the gases oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. When you pop or crack a joint, you stretch the joint capsule. Gas is rapidly released, which forms bubbles. Here is a detailed but easy explanation of the joint capsule. When the joint is extended (opened up) gently or gapped,  the gas is released and you hear a distinctive popping sound. This process of release is much the same as opening a bottle of wine, or champagne...and the after effects of the adjustment, are just as pleasant. 

Most people who have had a joint stuck know what this feels like and how it causes the surrounding muscles to contract in protection therefore not be able to move very well with a stiff feeling. Following an adjustment there is relief. Of course how immediate the relief is depends on how acute or inflamed the joint is, and how long the subluxation has been aggravating the joint.


 Pop, crack, and rice-krispies (for the children) are all words I like to have the patient substitute with the actual experience of a "RELEASE" when they are explaining their adjustment to someone who has never been adjusted.  Think about it. If I drop a coffee cup and it CRACKS into pieces it's not very pleasant.  If I CRACK an egg open, I can't put it back like it was. If I POP a balloon it's finished. If I CRACK a stick or board in half, it can't be restored.  But, how about if I RELEASE you from jail.  Or RELEASE you from behind a locked door?  Or RELEASE you from harm's way.  That would be good wouldn't it?

I have, in the past 34 years of practice had people time and time again wait months before they could get up enough courage to have a chiropractic adjustment on their neck or back, for fear that the "cracking" would be unbearable.  It was because their referring friend explained their experience of getting their back "cracked" and how much better they felt and how quick the relief was.

So, I am Mr. Word Police in the clinic when they say or make reference to "crack" or "popping" from the adjustment.  What they really are feeling is the IMMEDIATE relief from the "RELEASE" of the immobile joint causing discomfort.

It's just as simple as that!

Yours in Life and Health,

drken

A patient asked me today,  
"I refer people to you, but they don't call you to go in."

 

ANSWER:

 

1. THE PATIENT DOESN'T THINK IT IS SAFE OR EFFECTIVE:
I tell them to ask themselves why most professional athletics go to the chiropractor for "Peak Performance", not pain. They know that their game is enhanced when their body is balanced and has no interference to the function. Besides, if they are benched for too long they know they are off the team and loose their amazing salary.  Madonna goes to the chiropractor, has bodyguards to protect her and a team of people making sure she is safe.  The Prince Charles gets adjusted and supports the  Chiropractic Colleges there, and has an entire entourage keeping him safe.  Barbara Streisand has a chiropractic room in her mansion and a personal chiropractor comes regularly to keep her "tuned" up. She also has a team of professionals that keep her safe.  The Olympics has a team of chiropractors on had to support the needs of the participants.  Recently the Super-Bowl had a team of chiropractors on had for the needs of the football players.  THIS WOULD NOT HAPPEN IF CHIROPRACTORS WERE NOT SAFE!

2.  THE PATIENT DOESN'T THINK IT WILL HELP THEM:
Prospective new chiropractic patients think that it won't work for them, based on their lack of knowledge, things they've heard from other people, and fear.  Like, "My aunt Susie's grandmothers brother went one time and felt worse after his adjustment".  Like, going to the gym won't make you sore after the first few workouts that CHANGE the muscles and ligaments from ill use.  It's called DOMS. Delayed Onset Muscle Syndrome, very common when you first start to exercise. Or, after you pull weeds and cut the grass and rake on a Saturday afternoon and you're sore as HE-double-hockey-sticks over the next few days. I blame the chiropractor for not warning the patient that he has to change the structure to start the healing process, and assure them that it is a gentle procedure...then MAKE IT SO.

3. THE PATIENT THINKS THAT ONCE YOU START, YOU HAVE TO GO FOREVER:
This is probably the biggest misconception of them all.  There are three stages to tissue healing. The first stage is to reduce the inflammation by gently decompressing the areas that are "stuck". this takes one-two weeks.  The second stage the production of new tissue to replaced the damaged and inflamed tissues, and that takes six-eight weeks. (think about it...how long is a person in a cast after they've broken a bone?)  The third stage is the strengthening of that new tissue and that takes two-four months.  However our GOAL is to educate the new chiropractic "client" to have a "wellness regime" which is smart and effective and we hope that they see the inherent need to get checked on a regular basis which I call "Spinal Hygiene". Of course, good nutrition, rest, meditation/relaxation and exercise is part of that ongoing package.

4. THE PATIENT THINKS IT WILL COST TOO MUCH:

IT DOESN'T....it pays!  Remember, it is much easier to keep a body HEALTHY and functioning properly than to get a SICK AND DISEASED body well and maintain health!

 Our clinic has family plans, monthly plans, prepay plans and we offer a buyers group called PCD (Preferred Chiropractic Doctor) which allows for SUBSTANTIAL reduction in the fees associated with the patients care.

So why does the patient need to see a chiropractor during this time? Think of it logically. If you have pain, you have tissue damage.  If you have tissue damage you have an inherent loss of strength and stamina to hold the adjustment (that zone of flexibility the vertebra must have to move and function properly).

This is where physical therapy misses it.  They jump right to the strengthening phase and skip the tissue production phase. So, in effect they are strengthening the problem. And while that causes temporary pain relief, the patient has lost the opportunity to replace damaged contracted tissue with healthier LONG STRETCH TISSUE FIBERS.  Research has proven that physical therapy and chiropractic are equally effective in the first thirty days, however the chiropractic patient that continues on with periodic care and ongoing spinal hygiene has better more lasting resolve in their problems

The chiropractor locates the subluxation in the vertebral column, restores the motion, takes the pressure of the nerve roots and aids the patient in producing new stretch tissues by specific movements that retrain the tissues.  The genetics of how the brain produces a specific tissue is initiated by the language of movement that the brain must produce to support the new action in the damaged area.

And THAT....is another topic that I will expand on soon.

Be well, think great thoughts and smile at yourself after you brush your teeth every morning. LOL

drken

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Misconceptions Concerning Modern Chiropractic Care

 

This article is an explanation of the misconceptions concerning the nature of chiropractic, and how it is represented. As a practicing chiropractor for 34 years, I have seen many changes in our profession, some good and some not so good. In the past 15 years, however, the predominant shift I have observed is the growing lack of emphasis placed on the proactive wellness and peak performance aspects of chiropractic “health” care, and the preeminence given to the treatment of symptoms.

Let me first explain briefly the tenets of the practice of medicine. By nature, it is the practice of ascertaining the chemistry of the patient’s body, and then adding chemistry in the form of (mostly synthetic) pharmaceutical drugs to try to help the body stabilize. In a state of extreme emergency, I am in agreement with this practice because it does save lives. However, case studies have proven that hundreds of thousands of people in the United States alone are “correctly” diagnosed and yet die from the treatment, while many more are mis-diagnosed and meet the same end. This result is understandable, because the practice of medicine is by and large “evidence based,” meaning a symptom must be identified before treatment can be administered. 

Medical doctors have long argued that chiropractic “wellness,” or the adjustment of the human frame even when it exhibits no symptoms, is not scientifically based. However, this view is changing. Chiropractors have been employed for decades during the Olympics, and, more recently, at events like the Superbowl. While it is true that injuries do occur during these competitions, most of the athletes will admit they like to get checked while they are playing as a preventative measure to maintain peak performance. Life University in Marietta, Georgia is conducting ongoing research to determine this very thing. Primarily, do regular chiropractic adjustments to the spinal column and extremities contribute significantly to peak performance in athletes, in contrast to the prevalent practice of seeing the chiropractor only to treat symptoms  for the removal of joint and muscle pain.

Chiropractic care is now accepted as equally effective for neck and back pain as the leading painkillers. But while this is a milestone, it does not get to the heart of chiropractic. The basis of painkillers is mostly to change the perception of pain by the brain. Painkillers are not a solution to the “cause” of the pain. Pain means damage to tissues, which by definition means that the associated tissues have lost their strength and stamina and have usually become contracted in defense. The human spine is made up of five layers of muscles and nine common ligaments, all of which allow the movement and functionality of the spinal column. Electromagnetic impulses generated in the brain travel down the spinal cord, out the spinal nerve roots, and down the peripheral nerve to their final destination. Pressure at the nerve root can cause the impulse to travel more slowly or quickly, changing both the signals being sent to the body part, and the signals being sent back to the brain.

Without interference to these impulses, the body is able to regulate homeostasis and balance, which leads to the regeneration of damaged tissues. Any harm to those structures causes muscle contraction and the inevitability of loss of motion and damaged tissue. When this pressure affects the nerve it is called a subluxation of the vertebral complex.

It is the subluxation that chiropractors are trained to detect and correct. However, herein lies the misconception. Should treatment be limited only to the presentation of spinal symptomatology, or should the final emphasis be on the functionality of the spine, not just at that area of pain but globally, taking the whole frame of the body and its extremities into account?

Thirty-four years of helping patients has put me firmly in the latter camp. I call this approach spinal hygiene. We have been lectured for decades about the importance of good oral hygiene and regular professional care, as opposed to seeing the dentist only when we have tooth and gum pain. Chiropractic spinal hygiene is similar. It takes three things - regular chiropractic care, diet and exercise - to continually signal the brain to recreate tissues to sustain flexibility and movement. This is the basis of bodybuilding, and body transformation. Chiropractors locate and correct these areas of lack of motion (which causes nerve impulses to change) and return the spinal column to its supple state, restoring motion.

Do chiropractors put the vertebra back “in place,” or do they restore motion? Chiropractors restore motion. 

What is the characteristic state of the associated muscles and ligaments, which support this condition? The answer is mobility and the removal of compression and the resultant lack of mobility between segments. Therefore, maintaining strength and stamina in the associated tissues is critical. Reduction of pain, even though it is produced “naturally,” is insufficient, does not contribute to full healing, and does not produce the lasting results every patient is seeking.