What Does a Chiropractic Adjustment Feel Like?

When it comes to doctors – including chiropractors – many people simply don’t know what to expect. This can lead to fear, specifically fear of the unknown. There’s also the anxiety about a possible painful encounter that many worry about. For others, it’s simply fear of their personal space being violated.

To help calm some of these fears, we’re going to discuss what you can expect from a chiropractic adjustment.

Do Chiropractic Adjustments Hurt? 

Chiropractic adjustments generally don’t hurt. You might experience slight discomfort due to tension or inflammation, but this is minor compared to the existing pain that caused you to seek treament. After a proper chiropractic adjustment, most people feel immediate relief and improved mobility.

If there is inflammation in a joint, it may contribute to sensitivity and tenderness to the touch, but all of our clinicians are trained to detect any apprehension from the patient and they pull back instead of push forward. Causing the patient pain during treatment provides no benefits to healing, and in fact, it could cause the patient to avoid treatment altogether in the future. We want our patients to feel better, not worse.

Ever had your back popped? It usually feels really good. Going to a professional chiropractor, the sensation is even better than that. Aligning your spine or having the range of motion restored in your joints is an incredible feeling, often described as one of “release”.

Is It Normal to Hear Cracking or Popping Sounds?

This is completely normal. Sometimes suction occurs in a joint from two opposing forces in that joint. You know that popping sound when you pull a suction cup off the wall? That’s what causes these cracking and popping sounds; it is the vacuum sound of the release of gas from the fluid inside the joint. Some people worry that this is the sound of damage occurring the bones or spine, but that’s not what’s happening.

Sometimes, a chiropractic adjustment will result in no sound. That’s fine too, and doesn’t indicate that the procedure has failed.

How Will I Feel After a Chiropractic Adjustment?

Following a chiropractic appointment, you may experience some level of soreness, but it’s not something one would describe as “pain”. In fact, it’s often described as a “feel-good hurt”, one indicating that your body has been put back into alignment and all that remains is time for the tension and inflammation to settle.

An adjustment from a qualified chiropractor will relieve tension in certain areas of your spine, but your spine as a whole won’t feel loose or wobbly. When people describe the sense of “looseness” after an adjustment, a better word would be ”flexibility”. There is no instability that comes after a chiropractic adjustment.

Will I Feel Tired After a Chiropractic Adjustment? 

Feeling tired after a chiropractic adjustment is natural. The body undergoes realignment, releasing toxins that stress the nervous system. This can cause temporary fatigue, similar to how you might feel after a workout. These symptoms are usually short-lived and part of the healing process.

Results of a Chiropractic Adjustment

Most patients express immediate relief following an adjustment. Even though our bodies and their ailments are different, the result of a chiropractic adjustment is usually pretty similar from person to person: relief from tension and pain, enhanced mobility, and more energy. If you’ve had problems for quite some time, there may be a period where your body feels a bit unusual. This is because your body has been so used to being unaligned that it’s taking it some time to adjust to your new posture. This is perfectly normal and will subside over time.

Chiropractic care often leads to positive patient outcomes and is widely accepted for treating acute low back pain, providing relief from tension and pain, enhancing mobility, and boosting energy levels. Adjustments can also improve the immune system and sleep-wake cycle by stimulating the thalamus.

Other Types Of Chiropractic Adjustments

As stated above, you are likely to feel an immediate sense of relief and well-being immediately following an adjustment. However, there are other sensations you’re likely to feel depending on what kind of adjustment you receive. Not all chiropractic adjustments involve pushing on the back. There are adjustments that involve pulling, stretching, rocking, or simply the application of pressure. In some cases, all that’s required for a successful adjustment is for a chiropractor to knead gently on locked joints. Sometimes a massage is used to loosen various muscles that are keeping a joint from returning to its proper position.

In these cases, patients often experience a sense of not only relief, but also one of amazement. They can’t believe that all it took to release them from their pain was pressure or kneading applied to the right area of the body.