NUCCA Frequently Asked Questions

There are three possible effects that are demonstrated after an adjustment;

• Person feels no significant change.
• Person feels a change in symptoms with immediate improvement.
• Person experiences new short-term symptoms associated with functioning in a new structural position.

Long Answer: Responses to the adjustment vary from nothing, to muscle soreness, and from fatigue to a feeling of euphoria. Due to these individualized responses all patients are given a list of things they may experience so they are familiar with what responses are normal to expect. Due to the significant postural rebalancing that occurs with the upper cervical adjustment people will often feel stiff and sore for 2-4 days as the body adapts to its new position. This discomfort is usually associated only with the first and/or second adjustment.

Long Answer: Although the patient feels only a slight pressure behind their ear while being adjusted, there is adequate force being put into the neck. Using the first vertebra and the weight of the head to gain a biomechanical advantage, the doctor places their own body on a calculated angle to ensure the adjustment is specific to the patient’s individual misalignment. The force generated by the doctor is transferred to the patient in such a gentle and precise fashion that many patients are unaware of any intervention whatsoever.

Long Answer: How often you get adjusted is directly related to your body’s ability to maintain your alignment. You will be given recommendations throughout your period of care in the office which is intentioned to help you achieve and maintain an aligned state. Our goal is to adjust you as few times as possible, however quarterly to semi-annual assessments are usually recommended to assure that any progress isn’t lost along the way.

Long Answer: After your first adjustment in our office you will be given recommendations regarding daily activities to help maintain alignment. The three T’s (thoughts, traumas and toxins) are all contributors to maintaining or losing alignment. Thoughts include negativity or stress Ð think about the tightness in your shoulders after a long day at work. Have you ever considered what those muscles are connected to? Traumas are a more obvious cause, however doesn’t necessarily have to be a car accident or fall. Daily repetitive postures or movements can be considered an ongoing traumatic event. Toxins can be dietary or environmental and can also play a role in maintaining or losing alignment due to the stress they place on your body’s systems.

Long Answer: The healing process takes time. If you were to break an arm, the medical physician would cast it and you would be instructed to keep it in the cast for approximately six to eight weeks. That is because this is the typical healing time for bone. When dealing with spinal misalignment, the integrity of the musculature and ligaments has been compromised and you must allow adequate time for these structures to heal in the aligned position. The longer your spine has been out of alignment, the more possible damage has occurred and therefore the more required healing time.

Long Answer: There is a misconception that once one begins seeing a chiropractor, they need to see one for the rest of their life. A possibility for this perception may be due to the fact that the healing process requires time and multiple visits to the Chiropractor may be indicated to stabilize the spine until the body knows how to hold the spine in an aligned position on its own. The longer your spine has been breaking down (which is usually much earlier than the initial onset of symptoms), the longer it will typically take to attain a stabilized state.

Long Answer: Many feel significant relief in discomfort following the first few visits. Our goal is not just to provide relief but to create a situation where the spinal stresses that caused the issue are minimized, stabilized and you no longer need to be adjusted regularly. This level of care can involve significant work on your part. Although we can’t always achieve this status with a patient, it is this situation that provides optimal long-term benefit.

Symptoms are the last to show up and the first to leave (think of how cancer or heart attacks occur). A symptom-free state does not necessarily mean healing has completed or that you are in your optimal alignment. Once your body begins showing signs that it is stabilizing and holding alignment for an extended period of time, recommended time between visits will be lengthened.

Long Answer: Our assessment includes objective measures that are independent from subjective symptoms. It is best to be assessed periodically to ensure that if you are misaligned but non-symptomatic you can be adjusted to prevent your body from being accustomed to a misaligned state once again and avoid the spinal deterioration that often involves a return to pain.

Long Answer: There are many postural muscles that are constantly contracting and relaxing in response to normal body movements to prevent us from falling over and allow us to maintain an upright posture. When our first vertebra is misaligned, the weight of the head is no longer evenly distributed over the neck and the rest of the body. The body therefore reflexively responds to this imbalance by contracting different postural muscles in its attempt to maintain an upright posture. It is the reflexive contractions of the postural muscles that result in the contracted/ shortened leg.

Long Answer: Many times patients may feel that they were “out of alignment” and they were able to regain alignment on their own. A true subluxation can only be corrected by a third party. What the individual likely felt was the adaptation of the body to stress that they were able to manage without assistance. Our goal in this office is to maintain the body in a state of reduced stress so the body can adapt to the stresses and strains of everyday life without requiring assistance to manage a breakdown.

Long Answer: By improving spinal alignment people experience improved posture as correction of non-adapting reflexive contracture of skeletal musculature is attained. This postural balance leads to better body-weight distribution which improves the position of internal organs and helps protect those structures acting to stabilize the spine. As less energy is required to oppose gravity, you will have more energy to think, function, heal and maintain yourself.