What is an adjustment and what causes the sound made by a chiropractic adjustment?
Chiropractic adjustments usually involve a quick thrust that helps add motion to spinal joints that aren’t moving right. Some methods use the doctor’s hands, an instrument, a special table or the force of gravity. There are many ways to adjust the spine. The purpose of the adjustment is to correct your spinal subluxation(s) thus removing the nerve interference in your body. That sound made by chiropractic adjustments is not your spine “cracking” or “popping” like most people think. Lubricating fluids separate the bones of each spinal joint. Some adjusting methods can produce a sound when the gas and fluids in the joint shift. It’s much like opening a bottle of champagne or removing a suction cup. Not all chiropractic adjusting techniques produce this noise. In fact, some adjusting techniques use little force and thus produce no noise at all.
