Chiropractic Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a Chiropractic adjustment?
Giving a Chiropractic adjustment is a skill developed over multiple years during the Chiropractic Physician’s intensive studies of Chiropractic education. The adjustment is typically performed with the physician’s hands or an adjusting instrument. The physician will use his evaluation to determine specific placement of his hands and/or instrument to apply a very quick but short pressure. This sometimes creates a “pop” or “crack” as some patients call it.
- Why is there a “popping” sound during an adjustment?
A popping sound isn’t always heard, and isn’t necessary for the adjustment to be effective; however, when it is heard, it is due to a rapid change in pressure within the joint space which causes gases to be released and a “pop.” The same thing occurs when you “pop” or “crack” your knuckles.
- Is a Chiropractic adjustment safe?
Chiropractic has an excellent safety record! No form of health care (ie. Medicine, surgery, etc) is completely free of potential adverse effects, but Chiropractic is known as being one of the safest non-invasive, drug-free forms of treatment for neuromusculoskeletal complaints. A good way to look at this is through how much Doctors of Chiropractic and Medical Doctors pay in malpractice insurance. Malpractice insurance costs paid by physicians are determined by the amount of risk associated with a certain discipline (ie. Chiropractic, Medicine, Surgery). Therefore, the higher the risk to the patient, the higher the cost to the physician. To illustrate, Medical Doctors malpractice insurance can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000 per year, whereas a Chiropractic Physician’s insurance is typically between $100 and $2,500 per year.
- How many times will I have to come? How many visits or treatments will I need?
This is a very important question for patients, as it relates to both time and cost of care. Many individuals have heard different stories about Chiropractic care, from the miracle cures, to the horrible contracts patients are convinced to purchase for 50 or more visits. In all honesty, no patient is the same, and it is impossible to determine exactly how many visits are needed. The best we can do is use our clinical expertise, as well as Chiropractic research to determine an approximate number of visits based on the patients case.
A 2009 study of 65 randomized controlled trials on low back pain suggests that patients should experience about a 50% decrease in pain in roughly 8 visits based on the visual analog scale or numeric rating scale (“What is your pain on a scale of 0-10”). The same study demonstrated an average of 20 visits needed to completely resolve a patient’s low back pain. The study was based on Spinal Manipulative Therapy alone, with no adjunct treatments (ie. Soft-Tissue Therapy, Taping, Exercises). At XCEL Sports Clinic we take a more aggressive approach combining multiple therapies to get the fastest results. This is applied to all conditions, from neck/Low-back pain, to sports and extremity injuries involving the shoulders, elbows, knees etc.
One thing we will never do at XCEL Sports Clinic is suggesting unnecessary treatments to patients, or sign patients up in binding contracts. The patient will always be in charge, with the Physician guiding the care to the patients needs.
Patients should understand that recovery from an injury is always a process. The length of time of that process is dependent on both the physician as well as the patient! A physician and a patient must work together in order to get the best results.
References:
John K. Maltby, DC1 Donald D. Harrison, PhD, DC, MSE.2 Deed E. Harrison, DC3
Joseph W. Betz, BS, DC 4 Joseph R. Ferrantelli, BS, DC 5 Gerard W. Clum, DC6. Program of Care Derived from Pain Data Reported in RCTs on Low Back Pain. 2009.