Is It Normal For Joints To Pop During Chiropractor Visits?

During a chiropractic adjustment, you may hear a popping or cracking noise. This may be a little disconcerting, but don’t worry! It’s completely normal.

So, does the popping mean that the chiropractic adjustment did its job? Well, not exactly. The effectiveness of your adjustment is due to the skills of your chiropractor, and your body won’t always make a popping noise, even when the adjustment is done correctly.

Our Impact Medical Wesley Chapel chiropractic team explains what you need to know!

What is Chiropractic Care?

Chiropractic is a hands-on treatment that uses controlled force to improve and restore movement to the joints, especially in the spine. These are called “adjustments” and the quick movement often causes cracking or popping in the joint—more on that later!

Essentially, adjustments help deliver sensory input throughout the nervous system by activating or stimulating the small nerve endings within the joints. This helps the brain recognize movement and improve your sensory awareness of joint position, movement, and balance, known as proprioception. 

This is the best outcome of chiropractic adjustments, and when performed correctly, you should feel almost immediate relief from whatever symptoms you are experiencing.

What Causes Popping During an Adjustment?

Certain adjustments release nitrogen oxide, creating that satisfying popping sound. During your appointment, tiny air pockets open up in your joints, encouraging a release of pressure, and allowing enough space for the gas to escape. This is known as joint cavitation. 

A few reasons why you may not have heard a pop during manual manipulation include:

• Your spine was too stiff
• Your spine popped but you didn’t hear it
• You clenched your muscles during the adjustment

If your chiropractor uses low-force techniques or chiropractic equipment, you might not hear the popping sounds. But this doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been effective!

Do Adjustments Hurt?

Chiropractic care is safe, effective, and generally not painful. While patients may feel some discomfort during the process, this is often due to tension in the muscles and ligaments around the joint, not due to the adjustment itself.

Most people experience no pain or discomfort at all and often feel relief right after the adjustments are performed.

What to Expect from Chiropractic Adjustments

If you have never been to the chiropractor for an adjustment before, you may wonder what you’ll feel during your appointment. Generally, it depends on your chiropractor and what techniques they use.

Since this is a hands-on modality, you will feel bones shifting and loosening, as well as the build-up of pressure that will be released by specific adjustments. Yes, you may hear some cracking or popping too!

How you feel after your appointment depends on the severity of your misalignments. If you had to make significant adjustments you may experience some soreness or aches afterward. This is temporary. Generally, patients will feel relief moments after an adjustment whether it is for back or neck pain.

What Areas Can a Chiropractor Adjust?

Believe it or not, any area of the body with a joint can be adjusted by a chiropractor. We can adjust:

• Back
• Neck
• Wrists
• Elbows
• Ankles
• Knees
• Shoulders
• Hips

All of these joints can “pop” depending on the adjustment too. We can also adjust the ribs, ears, fingers, toes, and the TMJ!

Experience Relief Today

If you are experiencing any pain due to an accident or a chronic condition, our chiropractors at Impact Medical Wesley Chapel are here to help! We pride ourselves on offering the finest chiropractic and physical therapy care to every patient who walks through our doors. With state-of-the-art non-invasive treatment options, we can help you improve and maintain your spinal health!

Ready to get started? Contact us for a chiropractic consultation today at (813) 953-1002!