What are maintenance adjustments in Council Bluffs IA and why should you get them? Your back was hurting, you came in for active care and now the pain is gone and you are feeling great! Your Chiropractor now recommends that you come in for maintenance adjustments but do you need them?

Why Should You Get Adjusted in Council Bluffs IA

In our office, I recommend that after active care is complete, patients come in for a once a week retainer adjustment. We have worked hard for a long time getting you to a place where your pain is gone and your function is optimal. I don't want my patients to go backwards.

Just like if you've had braces after they come off you wear a retainer so they don't move back to their old positions. Retainer adjustments keep that from happening with your spine. After the retainer adjustments are complete, I recommend my patients get maintenance adjustments at least every two weeks.

There are a couple of reasons for this.

1. We cannot get rid of what causes subluxations in your spine which is everyday life and activities. We can recommend exercises or alternative forms of movement to reduce the impact and stress placed on the spine but ultimately there will be stress. Life happens. The best way to prevent these stresses from making it so you can't walk or bend over is to keep adjusted.
2. Studies have shown that if a joint is immobile for more than 10-15 days, the joint begins to degenerate. (Tapoi Videman, M.D. Clinical Biomechanics, 1987). Stress on the spine reduces motion in that joint. When the joint doesn't move it begins to degenerate. To prevent this, we adjust the joint and add specific motion through that joint.
3. If something reduces pain, improves function and overall makes you feel better, than why stop it. That's like working out for two months so you can bench 300 pounds and then you stop lifting and still expect to maintain that strength. That's not how it works. You need to still workout to maintain that level of fitness. In turn, you need to keep adjusted to maintain the progress we have achieved. An adjustment is a specific exercise for a specific joint.

Maintenance adjustments will not guarantee that you will never get sick or that you won't get back pain again. They are however the best way to prevent further degeneration and new or recurrences of old spinal injuries. If you have any questions, please call the office or message us on Facebook and I would be happy to answer any questions you have. As always, Have a Well-Adjusted Day!

Your Friendly Neighborhood Chiropractor,

Dr. Nate