When people begin chiropractic care in our office, we find they can have a wide range of “chiropractic history” prior to walking through our doors. What I mean by “chiropractic history” is a range of having been under ongoing chiropractic care previously in their life to having never been to a chiropractor before and everything in between. No matter people’s history of chiropractic care, many seem to be surprised at the technique we use in our office.
Chiropractors all have the same goal in mind when they adjust: to remove interference to the nerve system so your body can function at it’s best. The amazing thing is there are many different ways to arrive at this goal. I love explaining it this way: think of chiropractic as art (go with me here…). Art itself is a very broad term, as is chiropractic. Under that general umbrella of art, there are many specific forms (abstract, media, landscapes, etc)–same with chiropractic. The way a chiropractor adjusts-the technique used, is the specific art form used to accomplish the end goal of removing interference from the nerve system. Many people seem to be familiar with a few techniques chiropractors use; the average person describes these techniques as “twisting, cracking, bending” when talking about it. In reality these techniques (called Gonstead, Diversified, etc) are specific types of adjustments performed after analyzing a person’s spine for subluxations. In our office, we use a specific adjusting technique called Thompson, which uses certain types of adjusting tables called Thompson drop tables. The biggest difference between them is the technique we use doesn’t involve the “twisting, bending, cracking” that others use; instead it combines the use of our hands and the movements of the table pieces to specifically perform the adjustments. One of the more specific differences that using the Thompson drop tables accomplishes is the way we adjust your neck (the cervical area of your spine). Remember, you ideally should have a forward facing, c-shape curve in your neck. When adjusting your whole spine, including your neck, with Thompson drops, you are laying face down on our adjusting tables. This position during the cervical (neck) adjustment helps your body to work towards obtaining the best correction in your neck since we are thrusting into the ideal shape for your neck curve.
All these techniques most definitely feel and look different, yet they ALL are accomplishing the same goal of removing the interference to your nerve system so you can function at your best. Chiropractors are taught all the adjusting techniques while in chiropractic college. They then choose to focus in on the technique that works best for them and spend their time mastering it. A driving factor in choosing one technique over another is figuring out which one works best for the chiropractor’s body. What I mean by this is, which technique is the most comfortable for that person to physically use, and which one will allow them to adjust for the longest. Think about it, performing adjustments is a physical job, and the chiropractor wants to be able to do their job for as long as possible in life. When choosing the technique they will specialize in, chiropractors need to think about which one will cause the least wear and tear on their bodies and allow them to comfortably adjust for many years. Makes sense, right?
Now, to take it one step further! Even with using the same technique of adjusting, it may “feel” different to a person when adjusted by different chiropractors. This is due to the fact that chiropractors (just like all people) are uniquely individual. Think of all the chiropractors in our office; we are all different sizes, different body shapes, different sized hands, etc. When performing the same adjustment, we may use slightly different hand placements because of our own body dynamics. We may feel more comfortable adjusting from one side of the table versus the other while adjusting. If we have different sized hands it could “feel” different on your back yet we are performing the exact same adjustment. I know that for some adjustments I use a different hand placement because it physically works better for my body since I have broken a collar bone and elbow in the past. Some of us may use our thumbs versus a cross-handed placement while performing the same type of adjustment in your lower back. These are all small variations made by the chiropractor based solely on what works better for that chiropractor’s body, yet the same adjusting technique is being used with the same goal in mind. We are adjusting to remove the interference within your nerve system so you can function at your best.
There are so many benefits to having multiple chiropractors within one office. We are able to collaborate on the best care possible for you. Our offices are able to be open more throughout the year since there are 5 chiropractors within 3 locations. Typically when one office is closed for a break, the others are open and you are able to be continue with your adjusting schedule at a different location. Also, when one chiropractor needs to be out for a day, the office won’t close since there is more than one of us. Offices with only one chiropractor typically would have to close if that chiropractor was out for a reason, but we are able to stay open so you can get adjusted since there are multiple chiropractors in our offices.
I suppose if I wanted to sum up this semi-long-winded blog I’d say this:
- There are many different techniques used to adjust the spine.
- ALL techniques are working towards the same goal of removing interference from your nerve system so you can function your best.
- Even when specializing and adjusting with the same technique, it can “feel” different from different chiropractors.
- It “feels” different due to the fact that each chiropractor is performing the technique based solely on what is best for their own(the chiropractors) body.
- All of the chiropractors in the Crossroads Chiropractic family are using the same technique to adjust your spine with the same goal of removing the interference from your nerve system so you can function your best.
In health,
Dr Jen
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