The question of what actually happens in an adjustment is a common one.  Are bones moving back in place, is alignment improving, are the joints gapping?  There are a lot of different and conflicting explanations out there. Don’t fret, this question will be officially answered through research backed information today!

First let’s dispel a couple of common misconceptions.  Your bones are NOT moving in and out of place during the day or in an adjustment.  If that were the case, we’d have a lot more spinal cord injuries occurring!  Also, chiropractors aren’t putting your spine back in alignment. This one kind of plays off of putting bones back in place.  It just doesn’t work that way.

Alright, so we dispelled a couple of common misconceptions, but what is actually happening in an adjustment then?  The main thing that occurs is the affected joints gap, creating motion in a stuck joint. Also, that popping noise we all love so much is from gas being released in the joint.  Joints have gas inside them and when you add pressure or quick movement those gas bubbles get released (just like when you crack your knuckles).

A study published in The Spine Journal took participants with acute mechanical neck pain and assessed their range of motion and x-ray findings before and after an adjustment was administered.  They found that the facet joints of the target and adjacent segments gapped, pain levels improved, and range of motion improved in all three planes. This shows there are both clinical and functional improvements with adjustments, which is awesome!

Long story short, chiropractors don’t move bones back in place; we gap joints to add needed motion to those that aren’t moving well.  Adjustments increase your ranges of motion and decrease pain levels! So go see your chiropractor to get moving and feeling better!!

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1529943018310854