A chiropractic technique delivered by a chiropractor trained to correct a biomechanical problem of a joint. This is a gentle, specific procedure in the most conservative of approaches.

Not normally. Chiropractic adjustments are not usually painful at all. An adjustment to a joint usually relieves a lot of pressure and feels very comfortable. This can help heal your body and give you a sense of relief and relaxation after care.

Yes. Scientific research in peer reviewed Medical Journals all provide evidence that chiropractic care is one of the safest types of healthcare in the world. Of the millions of people receiving chiropractic adjustments (from infants to seniors), each year, only a handful will even make a complaint.

It depends. Just because your symptoms disappear, does not mean the problem is gone. Just imagine not brushing your teeth over time. Over time your teeth and gums will go bad and can even rot away and fall out. Yet not brushing your teeth you would feel no pain until it is too late.

The same can happen to your body. A lot of times you may feel fine, but try to perform activity that can “stress” your body which can cause injury or health problems to show up.

You have most likely heard someone complain of a significant injury that was attributed to very little trauma. The most common might be: I just bent over to pick up the newspaper and my back totally locked up on me. Many times it is not the light paper, the person had problems in the past that finally caught up to them.

Most people incorrectly think your spine makes “cracking” or “popping” sounds of bones rubbing together. That sound actually is created by gas (in this case, nitrogen) rushing in to fill the partial vacuum created when the joints are slightly separated.

Another example of this phenomenon would be the “pop” sound you hear when the cork is taken out of a champagne bottle.

Not all chiropractic adjusting techniques produce this noise. In fact, some adjusting techniques use little force and thus produce no noise at all.

Scientific research shows that 80% of pain will resolve over time (average 4-6 weeks). The problem often times does not disappear. In time the pain will return because the problem is not fix. Not only does it perpetuate a cycle, it often gets worse with each subsequent episode.

A chiropractic subluxation is a misalignment of a joint in the body, such as the spine (back, neck), knee, wrist, shoulder, etc.

This chiropractic subluxation can cause nerve interference which in turn can affect the affect your body’s natural ability to heal itself.

A chiropractor’s job is to reduce or remove such chiropractic subluxations, allowing the body to heal it.

This question is frequently asked to Dr. Mark Mashike, D.C., because people associate the “cracking” or “popping” of one’s back or neck with a chiropractic adjustment. The two are not the same thing. If a person has a desire to “crack” his/her neck or back it is often because one area of their spine is fixated or jammed causing another area to move too much and “pop”, sometimes by itself.

It’s the fixated or jammed area that needs to be specifically adjusted by a chiropractor so that the other parts of the spine or joints will not be hypermobile (too much motion between the joints) and noisy.

When you “crack” your back you may be relieving the tension for a little while. Do you notice how it keeps coming back? That is because you are not giving yourself a specific chiropractic adjustment. The cause of the spinal tension, the fixated or jammed (subluxated) vertebrae, has not been corrected.

Any person who makes a habit out of “cracking” or “popping” their back or neck needs to go to a Doctor of Chiropractic to have their spine checked. Even a chiropractor gets chiropractic adjustments from another chiropractor.

No. The extent to which you choose to benefit from your chiropractic care is ultimately up to you and your life style.

However, we do strongly encourage you to seek help before there is a major problem. There are always warning signs, and a chiropractor can help teach you how to recognize them.

Yes. It is just as safe for a child or baby to be adjusted by a chiropractor as it is for an adult. From the time of birth to repeated falls as children learn to walk, run, jump, play in the yard or in sports will often cause your child to become subluxated or fixated. Most of the time, a child’s symptom shows as pain but other times show as health problems or sickness. This is usually diagnosed later on in life as the symptoms progress and affects the child’s health.

Chiropractic care offers your child a more responsive body, more comfortable growth spurts, and overall increased performance as she/he passes through their windows of development.