Adjustments - they feel good, they sound cool, but what actually is happening? The main goal of an adjustment is to restore joint motion. If our joints are put in a position for too long, they often get restricted or stuck. This is similar to supergluing your fingers together on accident. The longer you hold them together without moving them, the firmer the adhesion becomes and soon your fingers get stuck. Restrictions can also be caused by posture, compensation or protective muscular activation, stress, age, movement dysfunction, trauma, abnormal development, poor nutrition, and more. 

Adjustments work by bringing joints to their end range of motion and providing a little force to free those joints. Dr. Porter and Dr. Bates use a technique that applies a high-volume, low amplitude thrust to your restricted joints. This means that the adjustment is quick, instead of forceful. As the thrust is provided, the adhesions within joints are broken and therefore it increases your range of motion.

In addition to increasing your range of motion, adjustments also work to increase communication between your joints and your brain. Within your muscles and joints are mechanoreceptors, or tiny receptors that help communicate information to and from your brain. Thus, the better you are moving, the more coordinated, efficient, and able you become. As mechanoreceptors become activated, they also inhibit nociceptors. These are the receptors that signal pain, which is why you feel less pain after being adjusted. 

Furthermore, if we have a restricted joint and the brain cannot communicate effectively, it won't be able to inhibit muscles. This leads to hyperactive muscles. On the other hand, when a joint can't stabilize properly, the joint will not be able to dissipate the load properly onto muscles and thus some muscles become underactive. When joints are moving and communicating effectively after an adjustment, muscle tone becomes normalized again.

In summary, adjustments can improve joint mobility, decrease pain, reduce muscle tension, enhance recovery time, decrease inflammation, improve communication, and so much more!