What is an adjustment? “Adjustment" refers to the manipulation techniques a doctor of chiropractic uses to direct and control pressure on spinal bones, restoring them to a more normal position and motion. Making specific, corrective adjustments to the spine is not as new an idea as one may think. Accounts of spinal manipulation appear in the writings of ancient Egypt, the Mayan and Incan cultures, and in the literature of Renaissance Europe where the practitioners of manipulation were known as "bonesetters." Whatever the culture where the art was used, these practitioners were considered gifted healers who treated a variety of illnesses, aches and pains by "repositioning" various bones, especially the bones of the spine. But the art and science of spinal adjusting was not truly understood and developed until chiropractic was founded in 1895. Today, chiropractors are masters of the skillful art of adjusting the bony parts of the body, especially the spine, by a hand manipulation technique. When a bone is adjusted by a hand manipulation technique, there is usually a faint popping sound. It is rarely painful, and in fact, just the opposite sensation usually occurs, as the released tension is accompanied by a feeling of relief and a pleasant sense of well-being. Patients often refer to it as "the sound of relief." Once the doctor of chiropractic determines that an adjustment is necessary, a series of further questions arise. For example: In which direction are the vertebrae out of place? What adjusting technique will correct the problem with the least amount of force? Are there any contraindications to adjusting this particular condition? Only after answering these and other questions is the doctor of chiropractic ready to deliver the appropriate adjustment. In order to use the different manipulative and adjusting techniques necessary, your doctor of chiropractic must have considerable skill and manual dexterity. Some doctors adjust using only their hands, others use instruments, and still others use high-speed, low-force adjusting tables that assist the doctor in his or her manipulative technique. The doctor of chiropractic has other treatment options as well, including: mechanical mobilization, muscle balancing, applied kinesiology, reflex techniques, passive motion therapies, manual and motorized traction, and other effective techniques. Whatever technique or combination your doctor uses, the objective is the same: to return as much normal position and motion to the spine as possible, thereby improving spinal dynamics and restoring a more normal nerve function to the body. Because your doctor works both directly and indirectly with the body's nervous system, chiropractic is recognized for its ability to promote improved health beyond just back, neck and head problems. Restoring normal nerve function to all spinal levels may allow the entire body to heal better. Doctors of chiropractic recognize that they do not heal patients at all, but merely remove interference to the body's own inborn healing ability. A fundamental principle in chiropractic philosophy is that the body has the ability to heal itself provided, in part, that it is free from interference and has a properly functioning nervous system.