Who are Chiropractors and What do they Do? Part I

Nowadays, there are doctors for everything, it only makes sense that there should also be doctors for the spine, these doctors are called chiropractors. But what exactly do we do as chiropractors? In the most general sense, chiropractors align the spine with a technique called an “adjustment”. This is the treatment used for treatment of misalignments, called “subluxations”. Subluxations are very common because the spine is very movable to allow us to walk, bend, sit, reach, etc. In so many words evolution has allowed for our spine to be movable in order to be functional humans in society. But sometimes there are particular joints in our spine that get “stuck”, when this happens it affects the way we move, and this is when we need to go to a chiropractor in order to restore alignment and movement.

So, how is an adjustment performed? This is probably one of the most common questions I get from patients. Some people associate going to the chiropractor with “cracking” of the back, and even though this is a side effect of an adjustment, not all people “crack” or “pop”; however, that does not mean the joints aren’t being affected in a positive way. More will be explained about the “crack” or the “pop” in a future blog.

There are many ways to perform an adjustment, and every doctor is different in their methods. The most common type of adjustment is called manual adjustment, this is where the doctor physically has his or her hands on the patient in order to create movement into a particular joint that is subluxated. A manual adjustment is usually performed with a mild thrust or push which, as stated before, may create a “cracking” or “popping” sound.

Another form of adjustment also includes instrument-assisted adjustments, in which a chiropractor may find the need to use an instrument called an “activator”.  An activator is a spring-loaded instrument that is placed upon the spine to apply a specific movement to a specific joint. The patient mostly feels a tapping on their back or neck. The reasons for using one type of adjustment or another vary depending on patient preference and doctor’s clinical reasoning and experience.

These are the most common types of adjustments performed by chiropractors, but they are not the only ones, and even though manual adjustments and instrument-assisted adjustments essentially do the same thing, they are performed in different ways. Adjustments vary from  chiropractor to chiropractor in the way they are delivered so it is always advisable to speak to your chiropractor and see what is best for you as a patient.

Now that you have an understanding of who chiropractors are and what they do, in the next blog, I will focus on how chiropractors address pain to help people in their community. Stay tuned for part II of this blog series: How do Chiropractors Treat Pain?