There are dramatic differences between chiropractic adjustment vs. spinal manipulation. Ultimately, manipulation tends to target the entire spine, but an adjustment focuses on a specific area or areas of the spinal region. Typically, manipulation is used to provide short-term pain relief while a chiropractic adjustment offers long-term benefits.
Chiropractic adjustment: A chiropractic adjustment is typically used to treat lower back pain, neck pain, and other ailments. The chiropractor applies specific techniques to the vertebra that display abnormal movement patterns. The entire treatment focuses on reducing subluxation and increases range of motion. Ultimately, nerve irritability is reduced, and function improved.
Spinal manipulation: For thousands of years, pain sufferers have turned to spinal manipulation to gain relief from discomfort. Nowadays, various forms of spinal manipulation are used in both Western and Asian medicine. Spinal manipulation is often called manual therapy or spinal manipulative therapy. The treatment involves a combination of moving and jolting the joints. Pressure on joints is relieved, spots of inflammation reduced, and nerve function restored. Spinal manipulation is frequently used to treat neck, back, shoulder, and headache pain.
Is Spinal Manipulation Considered Safe?
When undertaken by a skilled healthcare professional, spinal manipulation is safe and can be an effective treatment. Treatments with spinal manipulation often take four to six weeks to render results.
Ultimately, there are many different techniques employed by various chiropractors. However, over time, most chiropractors fashion a style that works best for them and proves successful.
The intent of the adjustment is to correct the subluxation. The intent of manipulation is to “make looser.” This makes the adjustment a very specific and precise procedure, with attention to the specifics required to correct a subluxation, whilst a manipulation is random, non-precise and non-specific, simply designed to make a joint looser, regardless of the presence of underlying subluxation. The objective is to allow the body to work better – not to “treat” a specific condition from the outside in. This allows the body to function in a state of better ease.
Remember the goal should not be to chase pain or symptoms, but to remove the cause of pain and symptoms by improving the nerve function of the body. It is also important to remember that while a manipulation may appear like an adjustment, only chiropractors are allowed to adjust the spine. Be wary of any physical therapists who claim to adjust. Unless they also are a chiropractor, they are not licensed or trained to provide the specific adjustment.
Contact St. Paul Chiropractic and Natural Medicine Center today to request an appointment for a chiropractic treatment. Our team proudly serves patients in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
