Chiropractors are known for using many different styles and modalities for treatment of various musculoskeletal pains and conditions. But, what we are known for most is the Chiropractic Manipulative Technique(CMT), or “The Adjustment”. It can be performed on any joint in the body where we shift 1 or more bones very quickly yet gently, and are most typically thought of in regards to the spine. The CMT is a powerful tool in that it helps realign our posture, improves our biomechanics, relaxes muscle tension, and even positively affects our neurological system. They rarely cause any discomfort, but the results frequently speak for themselves, almost literally at times.
More often than not during a CMT, an audible “pop” is heard. To some, this noise is grotesque, to others it is pleasant or perhaps frightful. Some people believe it to be the noise of bones squishing or scraping together, and this couldn’t be farther from the truth. This popping sound is actually gas bubbles being formed and released due to the speed of the moving joint. It’s similar in concept to the noise when opening a carbonated beverage like a soda. It is not a requirement for a successful chiropractic adjustment, and there have even been a few techniques created to lower the chance of these sounds for those that prefer its avoidance, but many correlate that little auditory reaction with a sense of satisfaction and relief.
When a chiropractor performs an adjustment, it is used as a medical therapy, most commonly to assist with pain. The bones in our body, especially our spine can slide, shift, twist, rotate, in various and compounded ways. I have been asked many times about those who adjust themselves, if it is the same as when performed by a medical provider, and is it something that we should do on our own; the answer is mostly a large resounding no. However, there may be a few acceptable exceptions. How about adjusting or “cracking” non-spinal aspects of your own body such as hips, shoulders, or even the controversial knuckles?
“Don’t crack your fingers, it will give you arthritis!”. We have all heard this, and likely, we all believed it. Good news though, the increased risk of arthritis via knuckle cracking been repetitively debunked. Personal opinions of the sound or feeling associated with it aside, we have all at one point or another been curious about potential damage caused from “cracking” or adjusting our own fingers. All the research shows that there is no supportive evidence when comparing chronic knuckle poppers to those that abstain from it, of it causing any increased risk for arthritis by doing it. There is however the risk of losing some grip strength over time, but this could still be used therapeutically in moderation. Why though, would we do this in the first place, and can it become addicting? Slightly over 50% of the population cracks their knuckles on at least a semi regular basis. Men tend to do it more often than women, but there has also been an occupational connection as well. Those that use their hands on a daily basis for their job such as massage therapists, receptionists, construction workers, etc are more likely to be regular “finger snappers”. This usually begins from a feeling of tightness in the hands or fingers, and the act of bending or pulling on them gives relief. We then tend to associate that popping noise that generally occurs with the relief feeling, and many of us tend to over do it and it can easily become a subconscious habit
The potential issue for loss of grip strength comes in over time due to constantly stretching the ligaments in the finger joint capsules. With the ligaments being over stretched, they may become less stable, and lose the supporting characteristics they are meant for which could lead to the fingers exhibiting weakness over the years. It also can begin to wear down the cartilage that is meant to protect the bone and keep the joint taught. If you are a crazed knuckle cracker, there is however a preferred method of doing it.
There are 2 standard ways you will see people “crack” their knuckles. One is by flexing the fingers and pressing on them to get the noise and sensation that they were after. This causes a mild inflammatory response and causes an ever so slight stretch on the finger’s supporting structures, the ligaments and joint capsule. An alternative to this is by simply distracting or pulling the fingers outward. This way of doing it appears to give less force and pressure on the joint and allows for minimal chances of hyper mobility/instability of the fingers to maintain full hand strength. Now taking what we know here, lets use this to investigate the idea of self adjusting or “popping” your own spine. Before going too in depth, in this scenario I am talking about when you purposefully adjust your own neck or back, and not when it just accidently moves during normal activity. For the same reason as to why we do it to our fingers, some of us will adjust our spine due to a pain or discomfort. Almost all of us at one point or another have either had or seen somebody get their thoracic spine/mid back cracked by someone giving a lifting bear-hug, or having a small child walk across their back in hopes for some spinal relief. Though it can cause occasional short-term relief, it is far from recommended due to safety concerns of specificity.
Back to how it was mentioned that chiropractors are specific to which level of the spine, which direction/s the bone needs to shift, but we also have to examine and make sure the area is safe to be manipulated. Just because there is pain in your neck, or back we don’t know if its due to a herniated disc, if there is plaquing of the cervical arties in the neck, if a nerve is or almost being impinged, or other potential dangerous red flags. So it’s hard to self check to see if it’s actually safe for you to be adjusted and then let a lone the concept of how much force and amplitude to perform. But let’s say for argument sake, it is all safe to be performed.
In many ways, adjusting the neck is similar in concept to adjusting fingers, but far more delicate due to the anatomical nature of having both an emotional and structural importance to our necks. I have seen people “crack” their own necks by various means; anything from making a fist and pushing their jaw, using 2 hands and bending/twisting rapidly, and even just flailing their neck around in a circle. All of these are very non-specific and though it may relax the pain that is there at the time, it rarely gets the spinal segment they desired, and instead it gets the one above or below. The pain comes back shortly, and they do it again. This is dangerous just alone due to not knowing which specific direction and which vertebra needs moved. When this happens routinely, just like with the fingers, our neck starts losing stability, and though hyper mobility is something we don’t want anywhere, the neck can have some costly side effects and lead to some major issues down the road. There are ways to strengthen the neck in these circumstances, but it must be noted that this will only increase the muscle aspect that is supporting the structure. Muscle does atrophy or diminish over time. The most stable joints in our bodies (hip is a great example) are held with mostly tight ligaments, and less with muscle. Compare this to say our shoulders, which are held much more in place with muscle over ligaments. Our shoulders (unless trained specifically through stretching and dynamic movements for years) have far more range of motion than our hips. Our neck has these ligaments there for a reason, and keeping them healthy and taut is imperative to cervical spine health. Something chiropractors need to do to keep manipulation safe is to distract the neck prior to adjusting, and that is one of the many fine details lost when attempting this by oneself. Like the difference between pulling ones finger compared to bending it, this too can lead to the neck becoming unstable. Think of a rubber band that has been over stretched, this is not a characteristic that we want our necks to gain. We need them supportive and strong, not just to hold up our heads (which is quite the important task) but also to keep everything that transports through the neck vertebrae like nerves and arteries, away from being damaged and impinged. This could cause peripheral neuropathies like numbness, tingling, pain, and even muscle weakness leading down into the hand and fingers. Also, as this is a nonspecific movement with more unsteady force than should be applied, you can actually sprain your own neck, similar to how one can sprain their wrist or ankle when those ligaments become over stretched. To compound this issue, since the self-adjustment is hitting the target area, the pain comes back, and we do it repetitively, and the decrease in pain and satisfaction becomes shorter and shorter in duration to where the individual will feel the need to do it more often. This leads to an addiction which is causing damage to our spine! It’s similar in concept to taking an opiod for pain. The more often we do it, the tolerance of the treatment decreases, and then we have to take more medications to get the same effect. None of this appears to be the case when performed by another skilled practitioner who is skilled in knowing the correct level and direction required to safely manipulate the joint..
If you have reoccurring spinal pain, whether you are a self-adjusting junkie or not, schedule a chiropractic examination at Functionised in Colts Neck NJ today. Stay strong, get FIT, and get Functionised
|
We really appreciate your interest and support of the podcast. We know life is busy, but if you are inclined to give the show a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes or your favored podcast provider, we would greatly appreciate it. This is how shows rise up the rankings and attract more listeners!
|
all rights reserved copyright 2020 to present
|
Privacy Notice |