Have you ever wondered how do doctors of Chiropractic know how to adjust a patient with just the right amount of force and not do any damage? Or how about what is that popping or crack noise? Can other joints be adjusted other than the spine? Well, keep reading to find out the why and the how to answer those questions.

A manual Chiropractic adjustment is a high velocity, short lever arm thrust applied to a vertebra or any synovial joint. Adjusting can also be done with tools like an Activator or Chiropractic Adjusting Tool (CAT), Pro-Adjustor, Impulse Adjustor, Guardian… to name a few.

When manual adjusting is being done, there is a lot of practice and instruction when learning the MANY adjustments for all the different areas, which happens in school than in clinicals then when starting to practice. Just like any sport or technical move – a jump shot, a swing of a racquet, an arm swing, a throw… it takes practice to perfect.

There’s an end range to every joint, then there’s a physiologically normal range, then there’s an abnormal range or damage zone. The art of adjusting is staying within the normal physiological range or the limit for the joint being adjusted. Some joints have very easy normal physiological ranges and some have very difficult normal physiological ranges.

An accompanying, audible release of gas (joint cavitation) after most Chiropractic adjustments is caused by the release of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide, which releases joint pressure causing the cavitation. There is nothing breaking or being cracked, as a lot of people have and will continue to say. I describe what happens with joint cavitation by using the example of a soda or carbonated beverage bottle. When opening the cap to one of these drinks, a gassy hiss is noted. Also, when shaking or movement happens to a bottle, we get increased gas production (and sometimes a big mess). A similar reaction happens with the synovial joint, without the mess. With movement, nutrients in the synovium (fluid in the synovial joint or joint capsule) are absorbed through the cartilage in an articular joint with the byproducts being the gases named above. There’s a relieving sensation most of the time, although minor discomfort has been reported (that can last for a few seconds to no more than 2 days) if the surrounding muscles are having a hard time acclimating to the adjustment or the patient tenses up during the adjustment.

Other joints that can be adjusted include but are not limited to are ribs, pelvis, hips, knees, ankles, feet, toes, shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers, jaws, even tail bones.

When getting adjusted, now you’ll know a lot more of the science happening, making you a well-informed Chiropractic patient.