No, its impossible to adjust yourself. It is possible to make your spine pop and feel better, but its not possible to find the misalignment thats causing the problem and specifically move it. If you rely on adjusting yourself or having someone who is not a chiropractor adjust you, the parts of your spine that pop will become too loose and unstable, while the real problem, the locked misalignment, will become stuck and decay. Chiropractors would never attempt to adjust themselves. They go to another chiropractor to receive their adjustments.
Treatment is usually painless, and most patients look forward to and enjoy the experience. Sometimes though, especially after the first one or two treatments there may be a temporary reaction to treatment such as soreness similar to that felt after a work out, or tiredness (usually resulting in a good nights sleep)
Chiropractic maximises your health and healing by removing interference from your nervous system and allowing your innate healing ability to flow through you. A chiropractor is able to read and diagnose x-rays, thus allowing us to form a thorough examination. X-rays also show us the condition of a patients spine and allow us to be very specific in our adjustments. Osteopaths cannot utilise and diagnose from x-rays, and therefore their adjustments are far more general.
A chiropractor has 5 years of chiropractic schooling. Courses taken are the same as a medical doctor with the addition of studying spinal care, nutrition, exercise and advanced neuroanatomy in place of emergency procedures, surgery and pharmacology.
Absolutely not! Once is better than never, though most people choose to continue to receive the benefits of chiropractic care. Your chiropractor adjusts only those vertebrae that are misaligned, restoring your body back to the way it was designed to be in its natural state. Just like exercise or eating properly, when you feel what its like to be healthy with a healthy spine, you also notice when somethings not quite right. To keep this amazing body of ours running, it requires the correct kind of upkeep and just like anything else, if you dont put energy into health youll eventually put energy into fighting sickness. You dont have to keep going but most people choose to.
Of course. When developing a care plan the unique circumstances of each patient are considered. There are many ways to adjust the spine. The method selected will be best suited to your age, size and condition. Also, we can give you up to date advice on how to combat osteoporosis including what exercise to do, what foods and drinks to avoid that weaken your bones, and what supplements and foods may be of benefit.
The adjustment may cause a noise such as you hear when your knuckles pop. This is not the bones cracking. The noise is the pressure being released between the misaligned vertebrae – much like the built up pressure being released from inside a canned drink when it's opened.
Stress causes your spine to become misaligned. Stress can be physical (e.g. traumatic, repetitive), emotional ( e.g. from work, lifestyle or relationships) or chemical (e.g. toxic surroundings, poor diet). Everyone suffers from different degrees of each of these stresses.