Commercial Drive - East Vancouver Chiropractor; Dr. Dominic Chan DC - "The Science Behind a Chiropractic Adjustment"

I saw a new patient yesterday and we had an interesting conversation about her complaints and how Chiropractic could help her. The reason for her visiting my office was for long standing, significant hip pain that had lasted for about 3-4 weeks and did not respond to conventional treatment. She had tried heat/ice, visits to her doctor who in turn recommended pain killers, a few visits with her Physiotherapist and eventually a visit to a massage therapist. All these things gave her little to no relief and understandably her frustration grew. Finally, her massage therapist realized something was seriously wrong with her hip and suggested she consult my office.

To make a long story short, our initial conversation included a statement from this patient along the lines of,”……so you’re just going to “CRACK” my back right? How is that going to help?”. Well I used a very simple scenario that most everyone can relate to. I explained that her hip works in unison with her other hip, pelvis, low back, legs etc. Now just imagine you are riding a bicycle. If I came along and put a significant ‘kink’ or bend in one of your wheels, what do you think would happen? Well, you might still be able to ride the bike, but I bet it would be much harder. I explained that this scenario was similar to what was happening with her hip. She’s got two hips but they weren’t working like they’re supposed to. I reasoned with her, no amount of pain killers is going to solve that problem. She agreed.

So here’s a more scientific explanation of what a Chiropractic adjustment does and why patients feel better.

– Releasing entrapped intraarticular menisci and synovial folds.

– Acutely reducing intradiscal pressure, thus promoting replacement of decentralized disc material.

– Stretching of deep periarticular muscles to break the cycle of chronic autonomous muscle contraction by lengthening the muscles and thereby releasing excessive actin-myosin binding.

– Promoting restoration of proper kinesthesia and proprioception.

– Promoting relaxation of paraspinal muscles by stretching facet joint capsules.

– Promoting relaxation of paraspinal muscles via “postactivation depression,” which is the temporary depletion of contractile neurotransmitters.

– Temporarily elevating plasma beta-endorphins.

– Temporarily enhancing phagocytic ability of neutrophils and monocytes.

– Activation of the diffuse descending pain inhibitory system located in the periaqueductal gray matter (an important aspect of nociceptive inhibition by intense sensory/mechanoreceptor stimulation)

What this means is that a Chiropractic adjustment is more than just ‘Cracking’ of bones. It’s actually much more than that. A properly administered adjustment is a non-invasive, therapy to allow a person’s injury to heal naturally!

Going back to my analogy before, a Chiropractic adjustment is like fixing your bike and making sure the ‘wheels’ are straight and aligned. This in turns ensures all the other parts work like they are meant to. The chain works better, steering the bike is improved and you can simply enjoy your bike again.

So don’t be fooled into thinking Chiropractors just ‘Crack’ your back! Please leave a comment and tell me what you think of this article. As always, if you’re in the Commercial Drive area of East Vancouver, come visit my office or visit my website here COMMERCIAL DRIVE – EAST VANCOUVER CHIROPRACTOR; DR. DOMINIC CHAN DC!!!!

Notes:

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