Why do chiropractors adjust necks?

Question

Is it safe? What does it help you with?

Answer 1

Chiropractic is a section of the health and medical industry specifically concerned in addressing spine, muscle, and skeleton, disorders and injuries. Chiropractors address these conditions with gentle manipulation and movement of spine bones. Spine bones and discs can often pinch nerves, spasm muscles, and in some cases affect organs such as bowel and bladder movement. The spine bones of the neck can also interrupt blood supply to the base of the brain (vertebral arteries) resulting in dizziness (cervicogenic vertigo), headaches or migraines.
A medical general practitioner often employs pharmaceuticals to manage the pain and symptoms of a spinal condition.
A neurologist will generally utilize potent pharmaceuticals such as anti epileptics (used to reduce spasms), anti depressants (reduces the effects of chronic pain on the nervous system), and muscle relaxants. The neurologist is also concerned with surgical intervention, often removing sections of bone in the spine (laminectomy), removing a disc, or fusing spine bones together.

A physical therapist is concerned with strengthening the spinal muscles to sport the spine in its current state.

The initial chiropractic consultation will determine if the patient is a good candidate for successful chiropractic treatment.  A medical history will be assessed to determine other pathological causes for the patients symptoms. An orthopedic examination assessing the integrity of the bone and muscle structure will also be conducted. Also  clinical nerve tests will be performed, such as reflex, balance, and coordination testing. Finally X-rays may be taken to assess for bone pathology, disc space integrity, and spinal structure.
The performance of the consultation limits any reaction to care, but as with any procedure and profession there are risks. These risks are dependent on the chiropractors skill and patients pre existing conditions. The most common risk is a sprain to a joint, which occurs between 1/50,000 to 1/200,000 cases. There have been extreme cases of patient injury, particularly with unqualified people performing manipulations with inappropriate manner, resulting in severe impairment or a stroke. These cases occur at a rate of 1/500,000 to 1/1,000,000 cases. However, these cases have also been documented  in hair salons (Beauty Parlor Stroke), where the patient has been lying with their head back over a basin washing their hair, and a spontaneous stroke has occurred Or similar incidence in sport (Bow Hunter's Stroke.

Chiropractic procedures can often resolve a spinal injury without the use of drugs or surgery. This is particularly important for patients which are unable to consume pharmaceuticals due to reactions or gastrointestinal bleeding, and also those patients who are unfit or unwilling to undergo surgery.