How To Do Chiropractic Adjustments On Yourself

“Can I adjust my back myself?” and “Is it bad to self adjust?” are among the questions that we hear often. And while we don’t recommend that you crack your body without a doctor’s guidance, in this post, we’ll talk about how to do chiropractic adjustments on yourself as part of a personalized wellness care treatment.

According to numerous studies, back pain is so common that 31 million Americans experience it at any given time. With 8 in 10 people suffering from spine or neck pain, it is no wonder that many individuals resort to self-manipulation when trying to find an efficient solution to end chronic suffering. With many of us having to spend a lot of time being confined in our homes, self-adjustments might seem like a doable thing. 

But as tempting as manipulating your bones and joints by yourself might seem, you should never attempt to do it without learning first what helps and what can harm your condition even more. Without proper guidance, other than the risk of self-damage, you’ll also fail to get the professional alignment you need for lasting results. 

To help you get an idea about how to do chiropractic adjustments on yourself the safe way, keep on reading. We’ll tell it all and explain how to adjust yourself and when it’s recommended that you do it.

What You Need To Know Before Self Adjusting

When you are in pain, the first thing you need to do before learning how to do chiropractic adjustments on yourself is to investigate the cause of your suffering.

And while modern medicine doesn’t always have a definitive cure for chronic pain, chiropractic care can offer a more natural approach that doesn’t involve pills or surgery. Chiropractors will generally recommend a personalized program that includes a balance of adjustments, rest, stretching, exercise, heat, and time.

Before a recommendation can be made, the first step in any chiropractic treatment is to make an appointment with a trusted chiropractor and have a full evaluation of your state of health. In our Los Gatos chiropractic office, a thorough exam includes a complete body appraisal, specific orthopedic and neurological tests, and sometimes even X-rays in our Los Gatos chiropractic office. Once your spine health has been evaluated, and your report is ready, your doctor will give you a detailed description of all the findings concluded upon and recommend a treatment plan.

Other than the spinal manipulations you’ll receive in the office, you’ll also get guidance on a wellness program to incorporate outside of treatment. And this is when your doctor might even teach you how to do chiropractic adjustments on yourself.

How To Do a Self Chiropractic Adjustment For Back Pain

Knowing how to do chiropractic adjustments on yourself can help you feel like your neck or back is stiff or to complete the treatment received earlier in the clinic. Many people are practicing self chiropractic without even realizing it. Probably you’ve done it too when popping your joints or stretching your body.

And although relief from self-popping doesn’t last, for many people, self-cracking becomes an easy habit that they repeat throughout the day. And since we got to talk about popping and cracking, let’s see what this “popping” thing is all about. 

With the official name “cavitation,” the popping sound can be heard during realignment caused by the releasing gasses in the synovial fluid from the joint space. When looking for how to do chiropractic adjustments on yourself, you should know that as good as the pop might feel at the moment, this should not be your final goal. The goal is to improve joint function, relax the muscles, and reduce nerve irritation. But these can only be done by an experienced chiropractor who knows how to create specific cavitations that lead to long-lasting relief. Chiropractic adjustments are more than simple crackings. They are particular maneuvers designed to either place a vertebra in its usual position or restore proper motion to a joint.

To learn how to do self chiropractic adjustments that are efficient, you need to ask your chiropractor to show you some maneuvers that you can safely do by yourself at home. Trying to fix your back or neck without the medical knowledge of how it’s supposed to work can’t get the same results as professional care. Other than that, without your doctor’s supervision, your underlying condition can expand into severe health conditions and lead to chronic pain.

The conclusion is that if you want to learn how to do chiropractic adjustments on yourself you can do it, but just keep in mind that relief will be short-lived. If you are looking for the type of healing that is long-lasting, why not have the first visit to discuss more our chiropractic services and techniques. 

In the meantime, we feel you might also enjoy:

• Should You See a Chiropractor For Knee Pain?

• Chiropractic Care for Shoulder Pain: A Natural Solution

• Chiropractic and Ear Infections