Staying Adjusted

Falling in love with chiropractic care

I am in love with chiropractic. Across the wide and ever-widening landscape of healthcare, there is nothing that does what an adjustment can do. Truly, nothing matches it.

The challenge of how to stay adjusted

The thrill fades, however, when that first good adjustment becomes only a glimpse of success, turning into a long trail of adjustments without real lasting change. I’ve been there, and hope is still possible. The high bar for success in chiropractic care is truly staying adjusted—being fully restored. But how? Let’s dive in.

What is an adjustment and why does it matter to stay adjusted?

What is an adjustment? [1] There are official definitions of the entity that the adjustment seeks to address. This is called a subluxation. In fairness to our consumer public, it is a broad and technical definition that, in my opinion, fails to yield the firm handles required to grasp the matter and steer it to it’s successful end. In the moment an adjustment is delivered, two things are addressed. Motion and alignment. The chicken and the egg, but for this one I’ve chosen which came first. It’s the motion. With a good adjustment, a segment that was “out of line” is put back. But wasn’t the real problem the fact that it couldn’t move back on it’s own? If a joint is really well, isn’t it able to move normally?

Joints or muscles? Which comes first for staying adjusted?

When the issue is motion, no joint can move properly without normalized muscle function. Muscles must yield and participate; otherwise, the joints remain restricted. Without joint mobility, muscles cannot lengthen or shorten normally.

Beyond the nuts and bolts: how to stay adjusted as a whole person

So much for the nuts and bolts. You aren’t an automobile, you’re a person. In fact, you are far more than just muscles and joints.

Structure and function: The chiropractic key to staying adjusted

There is a triad that imposes itself upon us- the structural, the functional and the environmental. We’ve discussed structure, but what about function. It has been said that form follows function follows form follows function. It’s true. If you come to us and your frame needs adjusting, your form and your function have accommodated your disorder. You have become it and it has become you. Some function disorders require a healthy dose of wax-on/wax-off. Meanwhile, disorders of form always require some combination of conditioning and healing. Everyone is different, therefor we always find ourselves engaging the fundamentals.

The role of the environment in how to stay adjusted

Environmental. This can be elusive. Nutrients, toxins, stresses– all of which affect us from within and without. This part of the picture can take more time to develop. As for intervention, do we test, or do we treat? The upper management person proudly proclaims, “what you can’t measure, you can’t manage.” The lower management person snickers and says, “those that can’t manage, measure”. They are both right. Often our most valuable diagnostics come to us in the form of response to care efforts. There are times, however, when the path forward requires more vision and possible testing.

Health is a journey: findings your path to staying adjusted

Life is a journey, and your health, strength and wellness are part of that journey and are, as well, essential to it. We feel our role is to find the need and fill it. Ministration and care as treatment as well as counsel and guidance are how we find a way to help people stay adjusted. We look forward to being of service.

[1]U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.-a). Spinal manipulation: What you need to know. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/spinal-manipulation-what-you-need-to-know