Watch your language, please!
Here at Family First Chiropractic, there are a couple of words that we would prefer patients don’t use when talking about their adjustments:
CRACK
POP
Have you used one of these words to describe any aspect of your appointments in our office? To be fair, many patients experience a sound when the doctor performs an adjustment. This is due to small amounts of gas that become trapped between the joints of the spine. During an adjustment, this gas can be released and result in a sound occurring at the moment of the adjustment.
However, the doctor’s objective isn’t to make sure your adjustment is “noisy.” In fact, you can’t judge the effectiveness of your adjustment on whether or not any sound occurs during your adjustment. The sound is simply one possible byproduct of the adjustment.
If you look up these words in a dictionary, here’s a formal definition of each:
CRACK: (verb) to break or cause to break without complete separation of the parts
POP: (verb) to cause to explode or burst open
Yikes! That might not be the ideal word choice when describing your appointments at Family First Chiropractic.
You’re not an egg… we won’t CRACK you!
You’re not a bubble… we won’t POP you!
Instead of using one of these words to describe what happens when you come to see us, might we suggest using one of the following alternatives:
CHECK: (verb) to inspect or examine to obtain information; to compare with a source or original
ADJUST: (verb) to alter or move slightly in order to achieve the desired fit, appearance, or result
The first thing you do when you see the doctor on your adjustment day is sit down so the doctor can CHECK your spine. What does this mean? Doctors use five criteria to assess your spine on every visit:
- VISUALIZATION
- INSTRUMENTATION
- STATIC PALPATION
- MOTION PALPATION
- X-RAY ANALYSIS
You can take a look at our page on Gonstead Chiropractic Care to learn more about the specific steps that doctors use to determine where and how to adjust your spine on each visit. The short version of the story is that the doctors will first analyze various aspects of your spine to make decisions in that moment about the adjustment that will be most beneficial to you that day.
After completing an analysis of your spine, the doctor will then ADJUST your spine. This involves applying a specific force in a specific direction with the objective of moving your vertebrae in an intentional line of drive. The objective of adjustments is to move the bones of your spine into a more ideal position, which then allows your nervous system to function at a more optimal level.
I don’t know about you, but I would much prefer to have my spine CHECKED and ADJUSTED, rather than CRACKED or POPPED! 😆
The next time you’re talking about your chiropractic care, please watch your language!
And if you’ve been hesitant to visit a chiropractor because you don’t want to be CRACKED or POPPED, it might be time to click the link below and schedule an appointment at Family First Chiropractic. We can’t promise that there won’t be some kind of noise when you get adjusted. But we can guarantee that every adjustment delivered in our office is the result of years of intensive study by our doctors and careful analysis of your spine and will be exactly what you need to get back on the path toward optimal health!
We look forward to hearing from you soon!
