The short answer is no and here’s why.  While it is possible to turn or bend or twist in certain ways to create a “popping” sound that sometimes accompanies a Chiropractic adjustment, it is virtually impossible to adjust yourself correctly and accurately.

The Chiropractic adjustment is a specific force, applied in a specific direction to a specific joint with the intent of restoring normal alignment and function.  This in turn allows the nerve system connections to communicate a normal flow of life energy between our brain and body which then allows us to resume our natural state of ease. 

Unfortunately, the kind of popping Tom was referring to is a type of joint manipulation that can be counterproductive, often making an already unstable spine even more unstable not to mention in rare occasions it can be dangerous. What tends to happen is that through some form of stress or trauma, a portion of our spine locks up and stops moving. The strain this eventually places on nearby vertebrae and nerve tissue is such that they become lose and unstable leading to the earlier described “popping.”  

Keep in mind that everything happens for a reason and should you experience this “popping” in your spine, it’s a definite sign you should have your spine and nerve system professionally evaluated to make sure your natural state of health is not being obstructed.  The time spent will be well worth it as adjusting the spine is not for amateurs!

Not only that, improving the functioning of your nervous system, the principle goal in chiropractic, allows for proper development of the child and gives it the best environment with which to develop and grow to express its normal state…healthy and happy!

In our office, the adjusting tables and techniques allow us to adapt to the mothers size, weight, age and condition of health.  Having helped many mothers carry, deliver and nurture newborns into the world, we can have no greater effect on humanity than to encourage mothers to make chiropractic a key player on their families health care team.

 Chiropractic emphasis’s the innate healing power that already exists in each of us and that most often is suppressed under the strain of subluxation.  Our spine, while designed to protect and house our nervous system, can quit frequently strain the delicate nervous system to such a degree as to prevent it from communicating properly with the brain, which as you know, controls everything.  As a result our body finds itself unable to maintain normal health.

Locating interference (subluxation) and adjusting the spine works to restore the normal impulse of life that communicates through your nervous system.  The goal of Chiropractic then is to restore normal communication to the nervous system with specific chiropractic adjustments that allow your body to heal itself naturally.  So you see, chiropractic is not about removing anything, it’s about increasing the impulse that from conception has always done the right thing given the environment in which it is placed. The expression of health and vitality is normal. Maintaining a deliberate focus, a healthy lifestyle and a clear neurological connection are your keys to health and vitality!

Take for example a cold; three common symptoms related to a cold include a runny nose, stuffy head and fever.  Your body perceives a threat in the form of a virus and begins to act in your defense by trapping the virus (stuffy head) flushing the sinuses (runny nose) and raising the body temperature to kill the virus (fever).  Using medication, a decongestant for the stuffy head, Tylenol for the fever and a antihistamine  to stop the runny nose, only serves to interfere with the body’s efforts to overcome the virus.  You may ‘feel’ better but your body, now with one arm tied behind its back and under the influence of a chemical soup, is left to carry on its work with the extra labor of defending you against the drugs.

Chiropractic is the one art science and philosophy of health care specifically devoted to nurturing that built in intelligence, your life force, so that without interference, it can do what it’s designed to do… express health.  Your life force animates your body and flows over your nerves while your brain controls and coordinates everything perfectly so that you live harmoniously with the world around you! Because your spinal cord is surrounded and protected by your spinal column, if there is any dysfunction in your spine, it can impact the nerve system and the free flow of your Intelligent and healing life force.  Chiropractic adjustments restore normal alignment and function to your spine and therefore allow your life force to flow freely once again, and resume helping you adapt, heal and grow toward the full expression of your purpose and potential in life!

The fireman may be great for helping you save the house from completely burning down, but don’t ask him, with his axes and hoses, to help you remodel or rebuild your home when a carpenter is perfectly suited for the job.

A very good friend of mine, Joel Ward with Path of Harmony Massage, excels at helping restore normal function to muscles that should otherwise be supporting your body in the quest to heal from subluxation.  He says, “I offer compassionate quality massage therapy in a tranquil environment at an exceptional price” and he’s right.  He’s done wonders for me and can do a great deal to help you speed up the rehabilitative process.  Give him a call and let him know Dr. Siemers said hello.

Having been in this profession as long as I have, I sincerely appreciate his point; it used to be a challenge trying to explain what chiropractic is because there’s a perception that all doctors are trying to achieve the same things for the people who come to see them and by default, all methods used to lead them to this end are congruent.  A definition can mean everything and when it comes to restoring your health or the health of your family, a clear understanding is vital when the stakes are high and in many cases the ultimate price can be paid for being naive.

With that being said, what then is Chiropractic? Chiropractic is the lifestyle consecrated to nurturing the divine intelligence that heals, regulates, and expresses life in the body, love in humanity and light in the world.  Focusing particular attention on and uniquely qualified to detect and adjust subluxation, chiropractic is not about disease management for disease is simply the message, not the messenger; it’s drug-free, non-invasive and respectful of the body’s inborn ability to heal itself when given 100% of the nourishment needed to support life.

In a sentence, Chiropractic is about maximizing the full expression of life, love and the divine spirit in humanity through the restoration and support of a Clear Neurological Connection.