No Pain, No Gain? Chiropractic Adjustments Don't Have to Hurt to be Effective

Another in the “Drive Your Chiropractor Nuts!” series.

I had a patient who lives in a retirement community come in one day and relate an experience she had had. I thought she was joking at first, but she convinced me that it was true.

Most of these communities have a club house with a common room filled with tables and chairs for holding meetings. She was sitting at one of the tables reading, or waiting for someone, and couldn’t help overhearing the conversation at the next table. A group of six or seven people were arguing over which of their chiropractors was the meanest. “My chiropractor hurts me so bad I have to crawl out of his office!” She said it sounded like they were comparing war wounds. I asked her if she had weighed in on the topic and she said, “They didn’t need my help!”

Over the years people have gotten chiropractic treatments and muscle building confused. The only way that a person can build up muscle bulk is to mildly injure the muscles through over-exercising. This obviously is going to cause discomfort for the body-builder – thus the phrase “No Pain, No Gain.”

On the other hand, many chiropractic adjustments are completely painless, particularly those administered in another manner than by manual means. Even more of the patients experience only a brief instant of discomfort during the movement of the vertebrae. While it is difficult to pull it down to this level in a patient who is experiencing excruciating pain and muscle spasms, I still question whether it was necessary for two different women to ask me if I had graduated from the “de Sade School of Chiropractic.”

I can guarantee that any competent chiropractor is delighted when he can provide a treatment for someone who then says, “that’s feeling better already!” Different therapies including hot packs, muscle stimulation, ultrasound, and massage are provided in many chiropractic offices, prior to the treatment, with the intent of decreasing the level of discomfort experienced by their patients. In our office we make available an intersegmental traction table, and advise our patients that icing the painful area prior to coming for care, increase the likelihood of a pleasant adjustment experience.

If you have never been to a chiropractor before, don’t let the unlikely possibility of an uncomfortable experience keep you from receiving the help you need. Many people go through much worse in other venues hoping to feel better. Chiropractic is the natural way to address the cause of your problems and get rid of the pain as quickly as your body is able.

Getting rid of your pain,

Dr. Steven Ray, Chiropractor

Val Vista Chiropractic