Chiropractic Adjustments
What are chiropractic adjustments?
Chiropractors have been utilizing a unique form of treatment - the adjustment - for over 100 years. Adjustments provide excellent relief from pain, stiffness, numbness, and poor health in general. Most notably, these adjustments (or sometimes called manipulations) have been tremendously successful in the treatment of back pain. In fact, most people think of chiropractic and relief of back pain as being synonymous.
According to a world-wide study done by the New Zealand government chiropractors have been (by far) the most consistent and most well trained utilizers of this “natural” form of therapy. There is good reason for the tremendous growth in the chiropractic profession.
Are they effective?
In 1993, a very large study was undertaken at the request of the U.S. federal government to determine the most effective and cost efficient methods for the treatment of back pain. A panel of doctors and therapists (composed of medical, chiropractic and osteopathic physicians and physical therapists) reviewed 15,000 research papers to come to their conclusions. Of all the in-office treatments, traditionally provided by these various types of doctors and therapists, spinal manipulation was found (overwhelmingly) to be the most effective form of treatment. Note: the study also found that over-the-counter pain remedies and anti-inflammatory drugs gave good relief in many cases. However, one should consider the risks of serious side effects that have been linked to the use of most of these drugs. Example: The New England Journal of Medicine’s report that anti-inflammatory drugs kill 16,000 people a year in the U.S. The authors of the study described their estimate as “conservative”. One might guess that the number of people who are hospitalized with serious health complications, from these drugs, must be much higher and the real reason for their catastrophic illnesses are often not known or not reported.
Are they safe?
Most concerns that have been expressed in the popular media focus on the practice of neck adjustments. Review of records (by impartial researchers) over the last several decades, shows that the risks for severe injury, as a result of this procedure, are extremely rare - between one in a million to one in ten million. When compared to other forms of care for common ailments such as headaches, one sees that this is a wise choice, especially since recent studies show that chiropractic adjustments were more effective than drugs and massage in the long-term reduction of headaches - without the dangerous side-effects of the drugs. Even with cases of migraine headache, adjustments were shown to be more effective than medications like amitriptyline.
My use of chiropractic adjustments:
I am a firm believer that an adjustment is often the most valuable treatment for back pain and headaches. There are times when adjustments must be modified or delayed to accommodate recent injuries, weakened bones, and pregnancy (to name a few) and it is in these times that one is best served by a chiropractor with skills in many different techniques. My training is in both chiropractic and massage. There is a whole spectrum of techniques that exist between these well known therapeutic procedures, and I feel I know most of them. Also, I have many patients that I don’t adjust at all, either because they chose not to be adjusted or I feel it isn’t the best therapy for their condition. Please refer to some of the other links on this site for explanations of other therapeutic methods I use.
Click here for a printable brochure about adjustments!
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