Chiropractic treatment for neck pain is safe and effective. The Doctor of Chiropractic or D.C. receives extensive training in the chiropractic curriculum at any number of accredited chiropractic schools nationwide. The academic requirements for entrance to one of these schools are commensurate with the necessary studies to begin a medical school education-all of the basic sciences, physics, math and chemistries. The main difference is that the aspiring chiropractic doctor seeks a drugless approach to pain management and general health. The chiropractor receives additional training in chiropractic philosophy, more in-depth nutrition studies, more hours in radiology and specific coursework and practicum in chiropractic adjusting techniques.
As with medical education the chiropractor must satisfy outpatient requirements, treating the general populace at the schools’ clinics. The care is managed and monitored by faculty D.C.’s and the student D.C. must see a predetermined number of outpatients as part of the graduation requirement, not unlike M.D.’s who must participate in hospital rounds and outpatient care.
A chiropractor is trained to manipulate the spinal articulations and this procedure is called an adjustment. The purpose of the adjustment is to correct spinal biomechanics, consisting of two physical factors, namely the motion and position of the vertebrae. These two aspects are necessary for nerve root patency without which a person has a “pinched nerve”, literally nerve root pressure creating pain, dysfunction and lifestyle compromise.
Abnormal spinal motion is the inability to move one’s neck in certain ranges of motion: flexing the head forward on the chest, extending the head and looking upward, rotating the head to left or right and laterally flexing the head to either side. An overt example of abnormal position of spinal vertebrae is a spinal scoliosis, a curvature of the spine when viewed from the back; or an individual vertebral misalignment wherein one vertebra is rotated, laterally displaced or translated forward or backward.
It is important to understand that a single vertebra or multiple vertebrae can be out of normal position without the presence of a scoliosis. If history, clinical findings and orthopedic exam dictate a chiropractic doctor may order x-rays for further analysis of the patient’s neck and back pain. However, x-rays are not a requirement to adjust the spine to correct motion and position insults since the adjustment is very safe.
There are numerous chiropractic techniques to correct aberrant spinal motion and position, or “subluxation”. One technique, simply called Diversified technique, consists of manual procedures to deliver the adjustment wherein the doctor uses certain hand positions to correct the subluxation(s). Hand positions and force of adjustment vary depending on the area of the spine needing the corrective procedure, e.g. a lumbar adjustment requires more force and different hand positioning than a neck adjustment. For the lumbar adjustment the patient is either face down, or prone, or lying on their side. A cervical adjustment requires that the patient is in any number of positions-prone, supine or with the patient on their side, recumbent.
Some of the more commonly utilized chiropractic techniques to correct subluxations are Diversified, described above; Activator, the proprietary name of a handheld, spring-loaded device which requires the patient to remain in the prone position so that the Activator can deliver a lighter, specific thrust to previously analyzed spinal segments using Activator analysis; and Upper Cervical Specific wherein the patient is recumbent and the doctor adjusts the position of the Atlas, the first cervical vertebra situated directly under the occiput. Upper Cervical Specific practitioners promulgate the concept that the Atlas, which surrounds the brain stem, is the most necessary adjustment and oftentimes the only adjustment needed to correct painful spinal conditions and health challenges.
One very salient clinical fact-a person cannot adjust their own neck as this is physiologically impossible and attempts to do so can result in damage to the sensitive structures in the neck and at worst chronic neck pain. Sometimes there is a cracking sound, called cavitation, with neck and back adjustments and this is simply the interface of air and fluid and the resulting release of articular pressure. It is not necessary to hear the cracking sound to effect the needed therapeutic benefits of chiropractic care.
Guest Author:
Dr. Peter J. Williams
is a multi-decade D.C., Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Blood Type
Diet Practitioner and natural health researcher
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