Why do I need to get adjusted?
You know that feeling when your knuckles, or your toes, or your neck just needs a good…pop? That feeling you get when you want to stretch, or crack, or move and just can’t is a good sign that you need an adjustment. A chiropractic adjustment is how a chiropractic physician finds the areas in your body that are not operating at their full range of motion, and restore that motion.
Chances are, you’ve heard someone talk about “alignment” of your spine. At Carolina Family Chiropractic, we’re not actually going to talk about alignment; we’re going to talk about how well you can move, and how to move better.
Now that you have the general idea, here’s the nerdy science part:
Anything that can move, can get stuck. In your body, you have a complex array of muscles, ligaments, tendons, bones and nerves. You sit, drive, sleep, walk and move in all your specific ways. Some muscles move a more than others, and it’s all like a personal movement signature. Plus, your have thoughts and emotions that translate directly into your body. You know that feeling of happiness in your chest? Or the pang of guilt or regret in your gut? How about the tension in your shoulders or jaw when you’re stressed? These are called psychosomatic responses—it’s how your mental state creates a reaction in your body.
A skilled chiropractor will use multiple ways to identify what your body needs, how to use focused application of force, and bring movement back to areas of your body—primarily your spine—that haven’t had their full range of motion.
$99 New Patient Special
Includes Motion Tracking Intake to assess movement, Grip strength measures to evaluate muscle recruitment, Orthopedic tests to confirm diagnoses, Imaging consultation to help you see and understand your own body, Referral for X-ray evaluation where necessary, and Custom treatment plan tailored to achieving your goals, based in objective measures and outcomes.
How Our Care Plan Works
Step 1
Address daily pain triggers through muscle therapy, regular chiropractic adjustments, and at-home recommendations
Step 2
Focus on healing core causes of chronic pain and stop degenerative processes so that the triggers for your daily pain are no longer activated
Step 3
Address nutrition, strength, and at-home remedies that propel you beyond pain and back into regaining your ability to perform to your body’s highest capacity
Why do I need to have multiple adjustments?
At Carolina Family Chiropractic, we’re proud to provide a drug-free way to do more than reduce your pain, but help your body get strong enough to stay out of pain. Medications, in most cases, mask pain rather than resolve an issue. Case in point: your low back pain is not the result of your body’s lack of painkillers.
But taking the non-pharmacological route means that you are on the road to remodeling the way your body works. Going to the gym once doesn’t get you very far; but go to the gym three times a week for 2 months, and see what happens. Whether you’re remodeling your body through nutrition, education, physical strengthening or chiropractic, repetition helps you to break old habits and start new movement patterns so that you can get stronger.
Why does it hurt sometimes when I get adjusted?
Sometimes muscles in your body can get so tight that they hurt—muscles in your neck can cause you headaches. Muscles in your back can cause shooting pain down your legs. And all of that can bring you to the chiropractor seeking relief.
When we apply force, however gently, to a muscle that is very tight and doesn’t want to let go, it can be sore. Remember talking about the gym earlier? Well when it has been a while since you’ve done focused exercise and then go back to the gym, chances are you’re going to have soreness the next day. Oh no! Did the trainer at the gym hurt you?! No, certainly not. Your muscles are just responding to something new, and that can be uncomfortable. Don’t worry—keep going back to the gym, and it will hurt less while you can do more. It’s the same principle at the chiropractor’s office!
Most people are not sore after their adjustments; in fact, Dr. Heath hears most often that new patients felt better after their first visit, but the pain came back before their next visit, usually the next week. But if you have an adjustment that leaves you a little more sore, just use ice in the area that is painful. Use over-the-counter pain medications (called NSAIDs) very sparingly, but they are there for you when you need them.
Check Out Our Location Near You
6415 Brookstone Ln #102, Fayetteville, NC 28314
How long will my treatment plan be?
Dr. Heath does not unilaterally prescribe the same treatment plans. Some people will need a lot of visits, because they’ve been struggling with an issue for a long time. Other people will start feeling better and moving better within a handful of visits.
In most cases, Dr. Heath will want to see a patient at least six times over the course of 3-6 weeks, and re-evaluate: How much progress have we made? How much more can you move? What activities are you able to do now without pain, or what have you been able to start doing which the pain prevented you from? At that point, you and Dr. Heath will discuss whether to keep going at a similar pace, or if you are in a place to start coming every other week, and see how well your body is able to maintain a largely pain-free, full-movement state.
Most people are very patient with their pain, and impatient with their healing. Most patients are experiencing this pain as a result of years or even decades of movement patterns. Those patterns may be compensation patterns, which means that they have learned to move a new way as a result of an injury somewhere in their body. After all that time spent protecting one area of your body at the expense of another, you’re going to need to dedicate some time before you can even begin to see progress.
Back to the gym concept: How many times would you need to work out before you see changes in your strength? With chiropractic care, we’re involving a complex array of muscles, ligaments, nerves and bones. Let’s give it a proper course of care to really start seeing results.
Are you ready to start moving better and feeling better? Request a new patient appointment today.
$99 New Patient Special
Includes Motion Tracking Intake to assess movement, Grip strength measures to evaluate muscle recruitment, Orthopedic tests to confirm diagnoses, Imaging consultation to help you see and understand your own body, Referral for X-ray evaluation where necessary, and Custom treatment plan tailored to achieving your goals, based in objective measures and outcomes.