Does Everyone Get Chiropractic Adjustments the Same Way?

As you might expect, many people don't get adjusted the same way (the same adjustment, with the same technique and the same treatment plan) because there are many factors that determine what an adjustment looks like for someone. Let's dig deeper into why this can be!

Chiropractic Technique:

In the chiropractic world, there are many different techniques that allow a chiropractor to analyze someone's spine as well as to execute an adjustment. Depending on the technique that your chiropractor uses, your adjustment could include:

• Manual adjustments

• Drop tables

• Instruments

• Distraction tables

• Sacro-Occipital Technique blocks

• Soft tissue therapy

• Others

Age/Stage of Life

Expectedly, how you get chiropractic care as a baby is not the same way that you get care as a child or an adult. Babies are not tiny adults, which is why their adjustments looks different! When it comes to babies, their adjustments are much gentler and there is a more neurologically-based approach instead of a musculoskeletal one. Additionally, a young adult with a simple case of neck pain may be adjusted very differently than someone past their seventies who has a tougher time getting on the table, shifting positions or whose body is more sensitive to certain types of adjustments.

Past and Present Conditions

On the other hand, there are some people with either past or present medical conditions or issues that could change how a chiropractor approaches their body. For example, you may have a history of hardware in your body, such as spinal fusion surgery. This could mean that your chiropractor cannot directly adjust over the affected region and may have to focus on stabilizing the segments above and below it. People with disc herniations or disc extrusions may benefit greatly from chiropractic, but they will do better with adjustments that do not input excessive rotation into those segments. Patients with a history of cancer treatments may have osteopenia, which also means that they may benefit more from gentler chiropractic techniques when working on their midback. Abdominal aortic aneurysms, neuropathy, pregnant mommas, and people with a spondylolisthesis are more examples of people who typically require some modification to how one delivers their adjustment.

Congenital Anomalies

You might be surprised to hear that many people out in the world have congenital anomalies and many don't even know about it! Congenital anomalies are structural anomalies that occur during fetal development. From a chiropractic perspective, we may see that someone has eleven -instead of twelve- pairs of ribs, they might have an extra bone in their low back, or they may have a fusion between two or more segments in their neck. There are many other types of congenital anomalies that we see in the office and most of them are benign and don't change the way you experience life or get adjusted. However, there are some that may affect how we get chiropractic patients adjusted, such as having a posterior ponticle, a cervical rib, or Eagle's syndrome. These congenital anomalies can only be seen through imaging, which is why many chiropractors feel strongly about taking xrays of their new practice members.

Personal Preference:

One last reason why you may see that someone's chiropractic adjustment looks very different than someone else's is personal preference. Some chiropractic patients have years of experience with care, they've tried multiple techniques, and they already know how their body better responds to a spinal adjustment.