What Does a Chiropractic Adjustment Feel Like?
Most people are nervous before their first adjustment. Here's an honest description of what to expect.
The adjustment itself takes only seconds. Dr. Muren positions your body, applies a controlled and precise force to a specific spinal segment, and that's it. Many patients say they felt their body relax almost immediately after. Some feel a brief sensation of warmth or pressure in the treated area. Some feel nothing in the moment and notice the difference when they stand up and move around. Reactions vary based on the person, the technique used, and how much restriction was in the joint before treatment.
The popping sound that sometimes accompanies an adjustment is not bones cracking. It's a gas bubble releasing from the joint capsule, carbon dioxide and nitrogen specifically, when the joint surfaces briefly separate during the manipulation. This is called cavitation. The same mechanism produces the sound when you crack your knuckles. It doesn't always happen during an adjustment and it doesn't need to happen for the adjustment to be effective. If no sound occurs, the treatment still worked.
Dr. Muren uses four different adjustment techniques at Full Swing Healthcare: Diversified (the traditional hands-on method), Gonstead (a more precise contact-specific method), Activator (a low-force instrument-assisted technique), and Thompson drop table (which uses a segmented table that drops slightly during the thrust). If you're nervous about hands-on work or have a condition that makes it inadvisable, the Activator method delivers the therapeutic benefit without rotation or notable force. You'll still feel a response in the joint, but the sensation is noticeably different, more of a light tap than a thrust.
After your first few adjustments, mild soreness in the treated area is normal. It feels like the soreness you'd have the day after an unfamiliar workout, your body responding to movement it hasn't had in a while. That soreness typically resolves within 24 hours. Staying well hydrated before and after your visit helps, as does light activity like walking. Sitting completely still after an adjustment is not what the joint needs.
Patients who were apprehensive before their first visit often describe it afterward as less dramatic than they expected and more noticeably effective than they thought it would be. The anxiety about the sound and the force is usually bigger than the reality. Most patients start looking forward to their visits after the first one or two, because they've learned how they feel when they walk out versus how they felt walking in.
If you have specific concerns about how an adjustment might feel given your health history or a past injury, bring that up at your first visit. Dr. Muren will talk through the techniques with you and choose the method that fits your situation. Call (904) 539-3352 or book online to get started.