Chiropractic myths, and what the research actually says

An adjustment is one tool, not the whole job. A typical plan starts with a proper assessment, then combines hands-on care (adjustments, mobilisation and soft tissue work) with exercises and practical advice you can use at home.

The “crack” isn’t bones moving or grinding. It’s a small gas bubble forming in the fluid inside the joint, called cavitation, which researchers have filmed with real-time MRI. It doesn’t hurt, and it isn’t a sign of how well an adjustment worked. If you’d rather avoid it, we use gentle, low-force techniques such as the Activator and drop-table.

This is the question we’re asked most, so here’s the full picture. A rare type of stroke can follow a tear in an artery in the neck. Those tears often cause neck pain or a headache before a stroke happens, which is exactly when people go looking for help from a chiropractor or their GP.

Large population studies have found that people who see a chiropractor are no more likely to have this kind of stroke than people who see their GP. The researchers concluded that the link is most likely because people with an early artery tear seek care for their symptoms, not because treatment causes the stroke.

We still take it seriously. Every new patient has a full history and examination, we screen for warning signs, and if anything doesn’t add up we’ll refer you for medical care straight away.

Read more: is chiropractic safe? →

Your care plan is built around your goals and how you respond, and we review it as you go. Plenty of people come for a short course of care, then keep things going on their own with the exercises we give them.

Some people choose regular check-ins because they find it helps them stay well, and there is research to support this for some people: a Scandinavian trial found that people with recurring low back pain who had planned maintenance care had fewer days with bothersome pain over a year than those who only came in when it hurt. Either way, it’s always your choice.

Bones in your spine don’t “pop out” and get pushed back in. When chiropractors use the word subluxation, they mean a part of the spine that isn’t moving or working as well as it should, and the effect that can have on how your nervous system senses and controls movement.

Researchers, including a group here in New Zealand, are studying how spinal adjustments change the way the brain processes information from the body and controls muscles. It’s promising work but still developing, and we’d rather tell you that honestly than oversell it. You can read summaries of this research in our research library.