On occasion, we do get many enquiries asking us what chiropractic care can do and whether it can do this or that. With the input from Dr. Loh Wei Chee, our resident chiropractor, we will attempt to debunk some of the common myths as well as clarify certain misconceptions surrounding chiropractic.
“Chiropractic care is harmful/dangerous.”
On the contrary, chiropractic adjustments (when the chiropractor administers their treatment by hand, manually) are very safe. Over here at Spinefit Chiropractic, we always get each individual who wishes to receive chiropractic care to undergo an initial consultation with our chiropractors. During this session, our team will ask a series of questions to get a detailed health history, conduct their assessments and come up with a working diagnosis before they proceed with any treatments. This session is very important for us so that the team is aware of any “red flags” and to rule out any doubts.
Each chiropractor at Spinefit has been certified, qualified and trained by their respective recognised medical institutions. They have received years of training to ensure they are competent to administer the necessary chiropractic adjustments. Chiropractors are also trained to ensure their Practice Members are comfortable and are fully aware of what treatments would be administered before they proceed.
“Chiropractic is all about the “cracking” and “popping” of your spine/bones.”
We’re sure you’ve seen videos on YouTube where a chiropractor adjusts their Practice Members and you hear a loud “crack” or “pop”. Or perhaps you’ve been told by a friend or relative that’s what happened. To reassure you, no bones are being broken in the process! What is actually happening are the sound of gas bubbles being released from the joints during the adjustments. This is why it sounds like a crack or a pop.
However, in saying this, there are many times when an individual is adjusted and there were no cracking or popping sounds. Everyone has a different body structure and our chiropractors are looking for the specific movement in the spine or joints, not in achieving the cracking or popping sounds.
“Chiropractic adjustments are painful.”
During the chiropractic adjustment, the chiropractor will always gently guide you to relax and put you at ease. The reason for this is so your muscles surrounding the spine and joints are relaxed and not tensed. When the muscles are tensed (muscle guarding), it would make it harder for the chiropractor to properly administer their treatments and the likelihood of muscle soreness after is quite high.However, post-adjustment soreness is a common side effect, especially in individuals who have never received chiropractic care before. This is completely normal and it is usually because the body is responding to the new treatment and our chiropractors would give the necessary advise after your visit with us.
“Chiropractic care requires multiple visits.”
We always tell both prospective and new Practice Members coming to our clinic that chiropractic care usually takes more than a single visit before you start seeing the intended results. For some, just a single treatment by our chiropractors result in an almost immediate relief. However, most individuals would require more than one visit as well as making certain personal lifestyle changes before they see the full effect of their chiropractic care.
Should a Practice Member decide to take up our recommended care plans after their initial consultation, our team would work with them to lay out their treatment goals and plan accordingly to see how they are able to achieve them together. This is why it may seem like multiple visits are required.
At Spinefit, the care you receive uses a multimodal approach in natural healing and this usually takes time as we work with your body’s natural ability in recovery. We do not prescribe any medication nor do we use any invasive methods to administer treatments. We do however prescribe specific rehabilitative exercises that a Practice Member can do both during and after their physiotherapy sessions with us to help the body to recover quickly.
“Chiropractors take lots of X-rays.”
This is not true. At Spinefit, because we take a multimodal approach to our chiropractic care, we will only refer a Practice Member to take an x-ray/MRI only when it is absolutely necessary. We always encourage prospective Practice Members to bring any of their X-rays/MRIs done previously. If they were done recently, it would definitely help the team greatly during the initial consultation.
“Chiropractic care is only for adults, is it?”
We treat a diverse demographic here at Spinefit. Our Practice Members range between 2 year old toddlers all the way up to senior adults who are 80+ years old!Although most of these individuals seek chiropractic care due to a pain-based complaint, one of the main reasons our Practice Members encourage their young children to receive chiropractic care is to promote overall health and wellbeing to encourage proper growth and development as well as improve the child’s immune system.We also treat young children who are active in gymnastics as well as teenagers who are in competitive sport (e.g. running, swimming, cycling, soccer, rugby etc.) and have seen how chiropractic care has greatly benefited them.
We hope to have clarified some of the most common misconceptions in chiropractic care with this post. We’re sure there are certainly more and unfortunately we aren’t able to address all of them here. Should you have a question regarding chiropractic care and the services we provide here at Spinefit, do reach out to us either via email or send us a WhatsApp message by clicking here (if you’re reading this on your mobile).
A side note however; our approach to chiropractic and physiotherapy rehabilitative care here is specific to our core values at Spinefit Chiropractic. Not every chiropractic and physiotherapy centre in Malaysia are the same and their approach may vary. However, one thing is for sure, we are all committed towards getting you better.