Different approach…Same result

“Did it pop?”, asks everyone that has ever visited a chiropractor. Sometimes joints cavitate (pop) and sometimes they don’t. I was adjusted hundreds and hundreds of times while completing chiropractic school, sometimes my joints would pop and sometimes they wouldn’t. I have segments of my spine that are typically noisier than others when it comes to getting adjusted.

I like to analogize the 2 different ways to score the basketball to chiropractic adjustments. If you’re athletic enough you have the option to dunk the ball or lay it in. Both will ultimately accomplish the same result, yet there are different strategies associated with both. When comparing a chiropractic adjustment that does not cause any popping to an adjustment where a pop is heard, both will provide an increase in motion at the segment of the spine or extremity being treated, a slight decrease in pain, and improved motor control of the treated region. An adjustment where the joint cavitates (pops) is typically associated with a strong placebo effect as we all love to hear that pop as it seems to provide us a with a sense of relief that everything is fixed. This cannot be further from the case, the pop is simply part of the treatment.

There is a strong placebo effect that takes place with an adjustment where popping is heard. A placebo is a procedure/treatment that delivers a far greater psychological effect than it does physiologically. However, placeboes are real and help people every day; it should be understood though that there is no true physiological difference between and adjustment that garners a popping noise and one that does not. Thus, just as a lay up accomplishes the goal of scoring 2 points, so does the dunk; it’s just a different way to do it. I believe there is an appropriate time and place for both types of adjustments.

If we should associate anything with chiropractic adjustments; it should be exercise not the popping sound. The physiological benefit of pairing adjustments with exercise is far greater than pairing popping to the adjustment.