What is the Adjustment?

What does a Chiropractor do and how often does it need to be done?

What is the Adjustment? The objective of the chiropractor is to bring about the correction of vertebral subluxations to allow the nerve system to function better and the individual to express more of what he or she was intended to be.

What does a chiropractor do? After analyzing your spine, your chiropractor introduces a sufficient force into your body to set the subluxated vertebra into it's proper relationship with the adjacent vertebrae.

The adjustment or force introduced by the chiropractor is very simple, yet requires skill and accuracy. Anyone can move bones. Everyone knows someone who can "crack his neck" Unfortunately, that takes no great skill. The skill and training required to locate subluxated vertebrae and to know when and where to make an adjustment makes the chiropractor unique.

All people do not necessarily receive the same adjustment. Through a spinal analysis, the chiropractor determines which of twenty-four spinal vertebrae are subluxated and in which direction. The adjustment is then given accordingly. It has been found that because of anatomical factors and the similarity of living habits among people, certain areas of the spine are more prone to subluxation than others, such as the upper neck area.

How often do I need to be adjusted?The simplest answer to that question is "As often as your spine becomes subluxated." The problem is that you cannot know whether or not you need an adjustment.

You can guess that after falling down a flight of stairs you may well have a subluxated spine, but from day to day you have no way of knowing, unless your chiropractor analyzes your spine. This is why a schedule of regular weekly visits will be made according to your particular need.

Why doesn't the spine stay in place?The spine is not an inanimate object. It is a living organ which is constantly in motion. When the first adjustment is given, a vertebra that may have been subluxated for fifteen or twenty years is now back in the proper relationship with the adjacent vertebrae. It has become accustomed to being in the wrong orientation. The muscles and ligaments that should hold the vertebra in the correct orientation are stretched and weakened. They may have been deprived of their nerve supply for many years. Due to this weakness, the bone slips back out of the proper relationship again, perhaps the very same day. As the spine is continually adjusted, the vertebra spends more and more time in the proper orientation. Consequently, the muscles strengthen and are better able to hold the bone in the proper relationship.

Regular chiropractic care is essential for optimum health. A properly functioning nerve system enables the body to reach its full potential in restoring and maintaining health as well as enhancing other areas of life such as job performance, academic excellence and athletic accomplishment.

When a vertebra subluxates to the degree that it interferes with the proper function of the nerve system, the inborn, self-regulating mechanism of the body cannot function as it should. This results in a decrease in the quality of life. Chiropractors bring about the correction of these subluxations.

Nathan Nix DC, serving Tyler, Flint, Bullard, Whitehouse TX