How Does a Chiropractic Adjustment Work?

Facet Joints: Gliding Your Way to Better Health

If you’ve had neck or back pain that you could put a finger on; or sharp pain when moving, it may be due to facet joints of your spine. It’s easy to think of your facet joints as the knuckles of your spine. They are small joints with a capsule and cartilage pad that glide and slide, allowing your spine and body to move.
As you go through life and your spinal discs go through the aging process, your facet joints take on the extra load. Unfortunately, this excess stress and pressure can wear down your facet joints. The result is the beginning of the degenerative process, which can end up causing adhesions, restriction motion, bone spurs, and pain.

• The facet joints of your spine slide and glide as you move
• Restrictions or adhesions in the facets can occur with age and injury
• Spinal adjustments help the facet joints move freely and decrease painful restrictions

The facet joints of your spine love to move. Movement helps them stay healthy and may even slow down the degenerative process. Spinal adjustments have been shown to reduce adhesions of the facet joints, allowing you to move more freely with less pain. We believe that when you are moving better, you are feeling better- and we’re proud to be a part of the healthcare team that helps you stay active!

Disc Issues and Chiropractic

Disc herniations, bulges, protrusions, and extrusions are the most common reasons people visit a chiropractor. Come to think of it; most people see a chiropractor not just because they have a disc issue but because the disc issue has caused a significant impact on their quality of life. Exciting new research has begun to showcase what we have witnessed for years; how chiropractic care provides outstanding results for people with spinal disc issues.

Specific chiropractic techniques are thought to influence the pressure in your spinal discs. Emerging research has shown that movement, reducing intra-discal stress, and opening up the channels your nerves pass through can improve how you feel and accelerate the healing process.

• Keeping your core muscles strong and flexible can decrease your likelihood of suffering a disc bulge or herniation
• Research has shown spinal adjustments to be very effective at reducing pain caused by disc bulges and herniations
• Spinal adjustments were found to be more effective than spinal injections for treating disc issues

Your body has an incredible ability to heal without drugs or surgery, even from disc herniations. A recent study showcased that people with an MRI-confirmed disc herniation received better results with chiropractic adjustments than injections. If you have an MRI that shows a disc issue, it does NOT mean that surgery or injections are your only options. If you have a disc issue slowing you down, call us today to discover a natural way to find relief.

The Brain + Spine Connection

Every thought and movement occurs through your brain or spinal cord, commonly known as the central nervous system. Your spinal column acts as the protection and pathway for your spinal cord to travel down and then split into the nerves that reach every cell of your body. Every moment, millions of messages are moving along your spinal cord to maintain the delicate balance between your brain and body.

Chiropractic adjustments can alter biochemical markers in your brain. New research has shown that the type of movement during a chiropractic adjustment can change the chemistry of your brain. These changes can result in everything from endorphin release (a feel-good hormone) to pain relief, and emerging research has even indicated increased strength (or cortical drive) after an adjustment.

• Your brain and body are in constant communication through your central and peripheral nervous system
• The spinal cord can send information to your brain at over 250 mph!
• Chiropractic adjustments to your neck or back have been shown to influence brain function, resulting in pain relief, endorphin release, and more.

Over the past 100 years, scientists and doctors have learned much about the brain/body connection, but we still have a long way to go. Aging, healing, and your entire life experience happen through the communication and coordination of your brain and body. Keeping your brain and body engaged and moving each day can help support a healthy life. If you’ve struggled to stay active due to pain, schedule an evaluation with us today.

Your Body is Designed to Move

Your body is built to move. Every spinal disc and joint is designed to help you sit, stand, run, and…move! Your discs are soft enough to flex as you bend forward and back, the spinal facet joints slide as you turn and twist, and the spinal bones are connected with ligaments that keep you supported as your muscles push and pull. It’s an incredibly strong and resilient system when you stop and think about it.

New research has begun to give us a glimpse at just how important movement is in our lives. For example, spine movement has now been shown to stimulate and accelerate the healing process. Movement is so crucial in the healing process that even people who have spine surgery are encouraged to get up and move as quickly as possible after surgery.

• All of the bones, muscles, ligaments, and joints of your spine are designed to support daily movement
• Blood flow, strength, and flexibility all are enhanced through movement
• Movement of the individual segments of your spine can affect how you heal

Next Steps:

I believe encouraging healthy movement and activity is part of my job as your chiropractor. If you have any questions about stretches, exercises, or other ways to proactively stay healthy- ask. There is an old saying, “You don’t get old then stiff; you get stiff then old.” We want to help you stay young by helping you keep your spine and body moving. Stay proactive with your health by ensuring you have your next appointment scheduled!

Science Sources:

(1) Comparative Clinical Effectiveness of Nonsurgical Treatment Methods in Patients With Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation 2019

(2) Magnetic resonance imaging zygapophyseal joint space changes (gapping) in low back pain patients following spinal manipulation and side-posture positioning: a randomized controlled mechanisms trial with blinding. JMPT 2013

(3) Symptomatic magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed lumbar disk herniation patients: a comparative effectiveness prospective observational study of 2 age- and sex-matched cohorts treated with high-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulative therapy or imaging-guided lumbar nerve root injections. JMPT 2013

(4) Changes in biochemical markers of pain perception and stress response after spinal manipulation. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2014

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Spinal Disc Health 101: The Proven Benefits of Proactive Care

“Move it or lose it!”

I’m not really sure where that started, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the person who originally coined that phrase was a chiropractor… thinking about spinal disc health and proactive care. Seriously, it seems that so many of us just don’t realize movement can and is often the best medicine for the spine!

Did you know that our spinal discs actually don’t have a good blood supply running to and through them to help keep them healthy? It’s actually movement – yes, movement – that drives the intake of the vital fluids, oxygen, and nutrients that our discs need to maintain their optimal structure.

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3 Key Ways to Prevent a Herniated, Bulging, or Slipped Disc

A neighbor of mine once told me “Getting old is not for the faint of heart,” and that’s always stuck with me.

After all, haven’t we all had one of those days where we wake up somehow having managed to injure ourselves in our sleep?

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When to Have Back Surgery and When to See a Chiropractor Instead

Bottom Line:
Many people think that surgery is the ultimate once-and-for-all “fix” for a problem area of their spine that has been injured.

They may believe that the answer to the question of when to have back surgery is if they’ve been living with it for more than a month or so.

And while in a very small percentage of back pain cases surgery has reportedly provided some level of relief… It’s also true that the permanent changes that surgery makes to your anatomy can cause a host of new problems to appear, and that’s in addition to the inherent risks that come along with such invasive procedures.

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