“So what’s the deal with chiropractic?”, I was asked last week. As in, “what is actually going on with that popping sound and is it truly valuable or is it kind of a fraud treatment?” This question has become more and more common in conversations I have with friends of friends or arbitrary restaurant/pub meetings. It is clear that general interest and doubt are linked to my profession, The most common question/worry is this:
Panic of Neck Popping
Steven Seagal has no doubt made my profession a little more difficult!!! (We don’t like his acting much, either) Hollywood has set over a little fear into the hearts of people on my table after I get neck and their head into my hands. I believe that over 80% of my using the word “relax” is linked to neck alterations.
This anxiety has created several kinds of alternatives that were Seattle Chiropractor. If this is a fear of yours, look for chiropractors that use tools to fix subluxations, deep tissue techniques, or “non-rotatory” adjustments (adjustments without the spinning or turning of your head). As for the conventional “popping” sound from an adjustment, I would like you to understand it is not a bone crunching, breaking or snapping.
It is as easy as a pop in the pull of a finger or a pop you get out of your knees when you squat down. The sound comes from your joints creating a small air bubble and being extended open. This air bubble pillow creates more space for a “pinched nerve”, enables better movement of the joint and indirectly loosens muscles by releasing endorphins (your natural opiates!). But as I tell my patients, it is common to have that straining, neck-shielding, survival mode panic and it is OK to pick-out of the “popping” alteration. Thus far, noone’s had anything more than a sore neck after treatment. Please let me know if that sound is something that bothers you, and we’ll find a way around it.
