The Chiropractic Pain Pill?

Have you ever gone to the chiropractor and after the first adjustment felt a little worse. In some cases, felt a lot worse. This may sound a little weird but my response is almost always, "Great!". Why do I want people to feel worse you may ask? Don't get me wrong, I do not like seeing my patients suffer. As a matter of fact I do not like seeing anyone suffer.

The body is a very simple, while at the same time complex, logical mechanism that responds in a very logical manner IF you understand what is happening. Exercise is a very good comparison. Have you ever decided to start and exercise routine? You get excited, jump in with both feet and really over do it. The next day you have a hard time getting out of bed and walking across the room. Your muscles are responding to the new stress placed on them and are going through their normal natural healing cycle.

Getting back to feeling worse after the first adjustment. Before the adjustment, your body was working in a distorted position that it had adapted to over a very long period of time. Soft tissues (ligaments, tendons, muscles) have all adapted to accommodate this new position. For a period of time your body can handle this distortion. Eventually this abnormal position causes inflammation, muscle tension, nerve distortion/irritation (subluxation) which changes the body even more. The result of the previous mentioned usually leads people to the office to take care of the problem. The "problem" is the distorted position in which the body is working and the result of that is pain.

Granted, everyone wants to be pain free. I hate pain as much as the next person and want it gone as quickly as possible. But, looking beyond the pain to what is causing the problem is the key. When the abnormal body is returned back to the "normal" position a lot of change happens. For example, certain muscles, ligaments, and tendons stretch, other muscles spasm to move the structures and hold them in place; joints work in a different manner than they had previously been. For some people this change can be dramatic. What I see is the longer they have been dealing with this problem the more change their body has to make.

Just like exercising, when your body gets use to the new stresses it no longer gets sore. It has adapted. The same is true with your body. When your body adapts to the correct way of working it now has a chance to heal the damaged areas and not just mask the symptoms temporarily. Time is key. It took a long time for your body to get in the shape it is in, it will not go away quickly.