Expert: Dr. Nekessa Remy - 12/3/2009

Question
Hi~

I've suffered with migraines for 10 years and just started getting chiropractic adjustments 4 months ago. It has definitely been life changing!!  I started my treatment with a general chiropractor who's appointments consisted of 30 min of TENS therapy, 10 minutes of an ultrasound wand on my upper back and then a complete cracking of my spine, first the neck, then thoracic, then lumbar.  After seeing him 3 times a week for two months, I was experiencing severe pain in my neck, sort of like it was ripping on the inside.  Looking back, it must have been retracing, but he never told me about that.  Anyhoo, afraid that my neck was being further damaged, I found an Upper Cervical Chiropractor in Indialantic, FL (who explained retracing to me#.  His simple touch is absolutely magical!  I see him 3-4 times a week and he only adjusts my atlas, based on the length of my feet.  So here's my problem:  my atlas still seems to be going out almost everyday!  When I feel pain in my left tooth or when I get the insane itchiness on my arms, I know that either my C2 or C5 is out, and the atlas is either also out or about to go out, and I can't keep running back to the Chiro 3 times a day.  I know that you'll definitely frown upon this, but my solution is that I have my husband crack my neck in between appointments #the traditional "cracking" way) because he does a great job and I  get immediate relief.  Could this amount of adjusting be causing any harm?  Could it possibly be slowing down the healing process?  My theory is  that the longer I can keep my atlas in, the quicker my body will heal itself...it can't be in healing mode if the atlas is out for a day or two, right?  Thanks for your expertise!!

Liz


Answer
It is my clinical opinion that there is no condition that requires adjusting 3-4 times per week for more than 1-2 weeks in a row. What you need to do is some active rehabilitation. Adjusting is a passive treatment, it helps relieve pain but it may not always correct the problem forever. You need to work on strengthening your postural muscles as well. Tight muscles in the neck region need to be stretched and weak muscles need to be strengthened. I would recommend discussing this with your chiropractor

Best of Luck