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The sound of "cracking knuckles" is most often associated with adjustments, but not all techniques produce sound. What causes it? There have been x-rays taken of people "popping" their knuckles, and the sound appeared to be caused by gas being forced back into joint fluid. Cracking or popping your neck gives relief for a short while, but soon the urge to pop or crack comes back because the cause of the spinal tension hasn't been corrected.

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Is It Bad To "Crack" Your Back Or Neck A Lot?

Tension from jammed or fixated vertebra can cause other overworked nearby joints to pressurize. The desire to pop these pressurized joints of the neck or back occurs. The jammed part should be adjusted by a chiropractor so that the rest of the spoinal solumn will balance and stop being so movable and noisy.

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Can A Person Who's Had Back Surgery See A Chiropractor?

Yes! It's a shame that up to half of people who have had back surgery see a return of their original symptoms months or years later and face the prospect of more surgery. Chiropractic may help prevent "Failed Back Surgery Syndrome" and repeated surgical procedures.

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Do Chiropractors Work In Hospitals?

Chiropractors have privileges in many hospitals today. In an ideal world, doctors of chiropractic would be able to check the spines of all hospitalized patients; because after all, who needs healthy spines more than people facing possibly life-threatening diseases or procedures? What can be more important than a properly working nervous system to the healing process? Hopefully, the increasing presence of doctors of chiropractic in hospitals will pave the way towards making drug-free, natural methods of chiropractic care available to all patients.

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Can Chiropractic Prevent Back Surgery?

Yes! - in a majority of cases.

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Can A Person With A Broken Back Or Neck See A Chiropractor?

Yes - after the break has healed. In fact, a broken bone forms a callus, or bone scar, when it heals that is stronger than the rest of the bone. This should dispel any concerns about the safety of an adjustment. People who have had broken bones need chiropractic checkups because accidents usually cause spinal subluxations that initially go undetected because of the intensity of immediate crisis.

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Chiropractic is one of the safest of the healing arts. Just compare malpractice insurance rates of chiropractors to other health professionals. Chiropractors' malpractice premiums are a small fraction of those for medical doctors, especially orthopedists and surgeons.

Yes, because symptoms are not a good way to judge health. Symptoms may sometimes surface only after years of body malfunction.

No. Chiropractic deals with the spinal column, nervous system, meninges and body structure. Massage therapists work with muscle tension, circulation and body fluid drainage.

Chiropractors have Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degrees granted from chiropractic colleges. Chiropractic education and medical education are similar in some respects and different in others because chiropractors do not prescribe drugs and medical doctors do not correct the vertebral subluxation complex.

Not always. A subluxation is like a dental cavity - you may have it for a long time before symptoms appear. That is why regular spinal checkups are important. Although it may be possible to know you have a subluxation, it is rarely possible to be sure you don't.

I wish it were! Then we wouldn't have so many sick people around and chiropractors wouldn't be seeing people who last saw a chiropractor "a few years ago when I had a back problem." It's possible to get used to feeling more centered, less stressed and more energetic as a result of regular chiropractic care. You might become more attuned to your body and its needs than before and that would be a good thing.

Spinal and nerve stress will continue to build up but won't be reduced or eliminated. If the stress is not relieved, your body and overall health will suffer.

Yes. Having subluxations corrected is important, no matter what other type of medical care you are receiving. Today, many MDs and DCs are working together at clinics and on joint research projects. MDs are quite likely to have patients who are under chiropractic care - in fact, many MDs see a doctor of chiropractic themselves.

Yes they do. Most chiropractors believe that there are times when intervention in the form of medicine or surgery is absolutely necessary.

Yes. There are verified instances of blind people recovering their eyesight after a fall, amnesiacs recovering their memory after receiving a trauma. These are examples of "accidental adjustments." Visit a chiropractor - it's a lot safer!

"As soon as you develop subluxations" is the right answer. But, because you don't know when this occurs, it's good to get your spine checked periodically, just as you get your teeth checked for "painless" cavities on a regular basis!