The Chiropractic Adjustment
When most people in Vancouver WA think about chiropractic care, the adjustment is normally what comes to mind. It's the "pop", it's getting your "back cracked"... but there's a bit more to it!
On this page we're going to dive into an overview of the adjustment and answer some of the following questions:
- What is an Adjustment?
- How Does It Help?
- What Does it Treat?
- What Happens After?
- How Does it Keep My Joints Healthy?
- Is it Safe?
- Does it Hurt?
- Do I Need an X-Ray?
- Does Insurance Cover it?
What is a Chiropractic Adjustment?
When our Vancouver chiropractor assesses your joints it may be determined that there are areas where the joints are stiff and not moving as much as they should. For instance, have you ever sat in the same position for a while and felt stiffness in your upper back? That’s probably joint stiffness.
One way to treat these stiff joints and get them moving more freely is to apply a chiropractic adjustment!
A chiropractic adjustment can be performed using a wide variety of techniques. It may include using a tool, a chiropractors hands, or even using a special chiropractic table to assist.
Our Vancouver chiropractor utilizes mainly hands-on techniques to apply a shallow and gentle thrust. This quickly stretches the joint and gets it moving again.
The quick stretching of the joint during a chiropractic adjustment is what actually causes the “pop”.
Here is a video of our chiropractor demonstrating an adjustment...
How Does A Chiropractic Adjustment Help With Pain?
When our joints stiffen up and don't move like they should, other things can happen along with it.
- Pain
- Stiffness
- Tight muscles
- Loss of flexibility
- Early degenerative changes (e.g. bone spurs, osteoarthritis, degenerative disc disease)
A chiropractor can examine and detect specifically which joints aren't moving like they should. The adjustment literally stretches those joints out and gets them moving again.
And some other great things can happen as well…
Many of our Vancouver chiropractic patients experience a decrease in pain, muscle stiffness and new range of motion after a chiropractic adjustment.
"Dr. Henry is great! He gives helpful adjustments that last and are pain free. He’s one of the best. I recommend him."
What Does a Chiropractic Adjustment Treat?
Many people in Vancouver Washington seek a chiropractic adjustment for a wide range of reasons including general wellness or if they’re recovering from an injury.
Our Vancouver chiropractic office treats a wide range of injuries. Here are some of the more common injuries we treat with a chiropractic adjustment:
Neck pain, Low back pain, disc herniations, headaches, arthritis, injuries form a car accident/ whiplash, sports injury.
How Do I Know if a Chiropractic Adjustment Will Help?
A chiropractic adjustment is beneficial for a wide range of musculoskeletal conditions. The best way to find out if a chiropractic adjustment can help is to set up an appointment with our chiropractor in Vancouver WA and speak with the chiropractor.
Sometimes a chiropractic adjustment isn’t the right solution for someone’s condition. This is why being a sports chiropractor comes in handy...
We can perform other forms of manual therapy or even assisted stretching. We even treat some patients who have conditions that an adjustment is contraindicated and they never get an adjustment at our office. Instead, they rely on hands-on manual therapy, mobilizations and rehab exercises or stretching.
What Happens After a Chiropractic Adjustment?
Besides putting a little extra pep in your step! Depending on what you’re seeking treatment for, our Vancouver chiropractor may suggest specific stretches, exercises, foam rolling or even strategies to avoid pain (like how to pick up your kids without flaring up your back!) to accompany your chiropractic adjustment.
Staying active and performing the stretches or exercises also help maintain the progress you made in-between visits.
"I don’t think I’ve been cracked so much in my whole life. I’ve only been to three sessions and I haven’t had a headache, my lower back feels so much better, and Dr. Henry sends you home with exercises to help keep everything loose and open. You really feel like you’re being taken care of and you can tell he’s sincere and loves what he does. Highly recommended in my crack addicted opinion 😁"
How Can A Chiropractic Adjustment keep my joints healthy?
A healthy joint is one that can move in full range of motion. When a joint loses range of motion, it no longer stimulates the entire surface of the joint. And you know what they say, if you don’t use it you lose it!
That’s right, when you stimulate and load all the surface of a joint. It signals to you body to use resources to make sure that joint stays strong and healthy.
So when joints stiffen up and lose mobility, it can lead to things like degenerative joint disease (osteoarthritis), muscle stiffness, and pain.
A chiropractic adjustment stretches the joint so you can start using that new joint range of motion and get back to living an active life in Vancouver Washington!
Are Chiropractic Adjustments Safe?
Before any chiropractic adjustment (or any treatment for that matter) is performed at our Vancouver chiropractic office, a thorough Examination is performed by the chiropractor.
The chiropractic examination usually includes a thorough history, range of motion, neurological exam and orthopedic testing to establish a diagnosis and chiropractic treatment plan.
But yes, chiropractic adjustments are safe and serious complications are extremely rare.
Does an Adjustment Hurt?
Any kind of procedure has the risk of flaring up an injury whether it’s an adjustment or even doing a simple stretch!
This is why our chiropractor performs a thorough history and physical examination on every patient in our Vancouver WA chiropractic office.
Another way our chiropractor minimizes the risk of discomfort following an adjustment is to begin treating with a low level of force when working with a new patient.
The most common negative reaction to chiropractic adjustments is soreness that is often described as a “good workout sore” by our patients in Vancouver Washington.
Do I Need an X-ray?
No. Most musculoskeletal issues don’t require an x-ray to perform a chiropractic adjustment. However, some of our Vancouver Washington patients come into the office after a car accident or serious trauma. In those cases an x-ray will be taken to ensure a more serious injury such is not present.
But our Vancouver chiropractic office does not require x-rays for our patients prior to treatment.
Does Insurance Cover Chiropractic Adjustments?
Yes! Our chiropractor in Vancouver WA is in-network with many insurances. We even treat many people in Vancouver Washington who opt to pay out-of-pocket because of the benefit they feel adding in regular chiropractic adjustments to their health routine.
Book A Chiropractic Appointment in Vancouver Washington
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