Village Chiropractic & Wellness Podcast
Welcome to the Village Chiropractic & Wellness Podcast with your host, Dr. Matt Green! Join us as we explore health, wellness, and the power of chiropractic care to help you live your best life
Village Chiropractic & Wellness Podcast
EP #9: Demystifying Chiropractic: What Really Happens During an Adjustment?
What actually happens during a chiropractic adjustment? Dr. Matt Green dispels myths and misconceptions while breaking down the science behind this powerful healing technique in accessible terms.
Whether you're curious about trying chiropractic for the first time or want to understand the science behind how it works, this episode provides clear, evidence-based insights that will help you make informed decisions about your health. Ready to transform your understanding of how your body heals? Listen now and discover why proper joint function is the foundation for optimal wellbeing.
Visit villagechiropracticoakland.com to learn more.
And there's three reasons why people come to see me. One is to get out of pain, and number two is to fix the problem that caused the pain in the first place. And three is to really excel and to be at people, for them to be at their optimum, for them to be working at their best level level.
Intro/Close:Welcome to the Village Chiropractic and Wellness Podcast with your host, dr Matt Green. Join us as we explore health, wellness and the power of chiropractic care to help you live your best life. Let's dive into today's episode.
Charlie McDermott:Well, welcome back listeners and viewers. Charlie McDermott, producer of the show, here once again with our host, our star, dr Matt Green. Dr Matt, how are you doing?
Dr. Matt Green:Yeah, I'm feeling great Looking outside. It's beautiful outside, thank goodness it's springtime and we're all feeling it out here it feels great.
Charlie McDermott:And you're refreshed.
Dr. Matt Green:You got a little little getaway there did, I did, I went to mexico with my family. It was really great yeah oh good, so good, to have that time to refresh and have lots of sun and lots of time with with my people my little tribe.
Charlie McDermott:yeah, so nice to that. Life is too short, as they say, right, oh yeah, life is too short to be in pain right.
Dr. Matt Green:It's a topic. It's the topic here.
Charlie McDermott:It's one of the topics. I know your passion to get people out of pain and make them feel better and give them the energy. And yeah, today's topic we're going to demystify chiropractic adjustments, because I know that kind of I'm sure you hear that a lot. You know what is that and it's great, you know, for the folks who take that step. See, you ask those questions, but there are a lot of people in the background going I don't know, I don't know.
Dr. Matt Green:So we're going to explore that today, right yeah, and it's so good for us to talk about the adjustment, right, because it is the primary tool that chiropractors use to bring about positive change. And that first podcast that we did, I felt like we talked a lot about chiropractic right, chiropractic care, more to the broader term. And then our second podcast, we talked about ART or active release technique, the kind of specialized, the primary tool that I use as a chiropractor. So we're going to really dive in and really dissect what is that? What is that? What is it? What's the chiropractic adjustment?
Charlie McDermott:And what exactly you know does that entail that adjustment?
Dr. Matt Green:Yeah, so, like I said, the adjustment is the primary tool that chiropractors use. And so what is it? It is the procedure that chiropractors use, and we use primarily our hands or a small instrument called an activator that uses a very controlled and specific and quick force to the joint. And specific and quick force to the joint. And most chiropractors work primarily with the spine and some do with most of the joints and with all the joints, and so that's me. So I'll not only primarily check the spine, but I'm also looking at the shoulders and the elbows and the wrists and the hips and the knees and the ankles and feet, as well as the jaw, so we're looking at the entire spectrum here.
Dr. Matt Green:When you are asking me about what the adjustment is and how to explain it and what it entails, I really I got to tell you, charlie, honestly, what I really want to say is that the adjustment is a controlled force that stimulates those mechanoreceptors around that spinal capsule, spinal joint capsule, that stimulates that proprioceptive input up through the spine to that prefrontal cortex in the brain that then illuminates that autonomic nervous system, shift from that sympathetic nervous system to that parasympathetic mode so that people can feel at ease in their body. Now, when I got out of school, I lost everybody, because if you could understand that process, then you could understand chiropractic.
Intro/Close:But people were left with are you going to take care of my neck?
Dr. Matt Green:pain. So then I shifted and just went really simple Well, chiropractic can help your neck pain, chiropractic can help your low back pain. But then I felt like there was missing a element of really having a sense of understanding like, well, how are you different than a massage therapist? How are you different than a physical therapist? And so what I really want to do here in this podcast is to strike the middle, hit, that sweet spot, so that we can make it simplified, so that it's easy to understand, or easier to understand, but also give it some meat there. I am a research junkie. I love my research classes in chiropractic school and when I came out I did all my continuing education. I looked, always looked for what were the research. I wanted to know what was happening in the research world, because if I knew that, then I knew what was real. So a lot of what I'm going to be saying here is really it's evidence based, it's based on all that information that I've learned from those seminars all that information that I've learned from those seminars.
Charlie McDermott:Yeah, you bring such a wealth of knowledge and it never, never ends Right. I have a passion for it, I really. I have a real passion.
Dr. Matt Green:Yeah, and, and I think it's a continuing art to like, how do I translate that into a way that makes a difference for in people's lives?
Charlie McDermott:Well, let's let's start with the basics and what exactly happens during an adjustment and what's the primary purpose of it.
Dr. Matt Green:Yeah, yeah, the. The primary purpose of the adjustment has to do with the purpose of why someone's there to see me, and there's three reasons why people come to see me. One is to get out of pain, and number two is to fix the problem that caused the pain in the first place. And three is to really excel and to be at at at people for them to be at their optimum, for them to be working at people, for them to be at their optimum, for them to be working at their best level. So you know, to put it in that terms, it's like I want people to be able to work with these. Pick up their grandkids. Somebody just came in. They said every time I see my grandkids, they run at me and jump at me. I was like I want to be able to pick them up and hold them and not worry about my back going out. Um, but I want people to garden. Someone the other day came in says I come in here because I want to avoid chaos, because when their back goes out and they don't feel right, the life gets chaotic because now who's gonna do the dishes and the laundry and all the things that need to do with life? So they want to avoid chaos. And other people come in and say like I want to feel great, it feels good, it feels good to get adjusted, and so they want to feel good. So the purpose of that adjustment really has to do with where are they in that cycle of care, in that cycle of care?
Dr. Matt Green:Now, for me, my purpose, what I'm looking for, is that I want to correct the way the joints are functioning. I want to correct the way the joints are functioning, the way that people sometimes see the adjustment happen. On YouTube videos or TikTok. You know, I see teenagers. I got two teenagers. I see them. You know. Hey, come over here, crack my back and they turn around and they hold each other and they just kind of apply a force and they hear the crack. Imagine that sometimes people might see that that's what I'm doing. Just lay on the table, tell me where you have pain. I'm just going to put my hands on there and just and just go, and that's that's. That's not what's happening. What I want to see is I want to see balance and symmetry. So I'm looking for where is there, where are those joints moving and gliding the way, exactly the way that they're meant to and where are they stuck, if you will? In which way are they stuck? Are they not rotating? Are they not bending to the side? Is the combination of not rotating, bending to the side all the training and all the experience comes from is to be able to see where that problem is and then adjust, meaning put in that controlled, specific, quick force into that joint to help to remind it where it wants, where it originally wants to go or way it originally wants to move. And when it does that, then the brain receives that information, says, ah, that's familiar, that's what I want. So then it tells the muscles hey, everybody work like normal, right, left, everybody get together, everybody get along, you know, just, everybody move. And then I can feel that underneath my fingers, because a lot of times that happens instantaneously. And when I can feel that change from side, because a lot of times that happens instantaneously and when I can feel that change from side to side and where what was tight loosens and where it was unbalanced starts to bring about balance, now I know that the brain got the message and that person is going to feel better. Maybe not right away, but eventually they will.
Dr. Matt Green:And the confusion is sometimes it's still confusing. Somebody came in. They'd never seen a chiropractor before. All their pain was on their right side, right below their neck and shoulder, right in that upper back. That's where the pain was. But all the tension and tightness and rib restriction was on the right. So I went over there to start to give that right side attention. And she says well, why are you on the right side? The pain's on the left. Like I said, my job is to correct the way the joints are functioning. Sometimes the pain is on the same side where the restriction is, sometimes it's on the opposite side. I'm just following where that restriction is and letting that go, so that then the brain and the nervous system does the rest. So I, that's the there's, there's. There's a little bit there on the the purpose. What's the purpose of the adjustment? And again, is to correct the way the joints are functioning and after that happens, the brain and the nervous system know what to do. We're self-healing mechanisms, so as things function better, people feel better.
Charlie McDermott:so that's that's the purpose of the adjustment okay, now you're using that word adjustment all through that explanation and you know there are different types of adjustments, right? What would be some of the more common techniques you use?
Dr. Matt Green:Oh, sure, sure. Well, if you're talking to other chiropractors, I'm going to say Gonstead, diversified Activator and Drop Table. Now, even sometimes people are very experienced with chiropractors. They might know some of what that means. But if we really had to break it down to the basics, I think most people think about chiropractors as like are you the one that does the cracking or not? I don't like that word cracking, obviously it has a certain negative connotation, but I would say that I do both.
Dr. Matt Green:Someone came in the other day, really scared Husband said you have to go see him. She came in and I said oh, so did you come here because you wanted to, or did your husband pull your ear and make you come here? She's like well, he made me come here. And she said Alyssa, I'm really afraid. I'm afraid that you're going to do that cracking thing on my neck. And I said, no problem, I have lots of different techniques to bring about to correct the way that the joints are functioning. Now, if the body and the mind is willing, then going about that type of adjustment is the quickest way to get there. But you know, I don't want somebody laying on the table where they're, you know where they're contracted, or they're worried or they're not able to be at ease. And so I would say that, to answer that question, that I do both and take care of. There's others, all boy. There's like 120 something registered chiropractic techniques. We it's, it's our greatest strength. It's also our greatest weakness. Right, it's our greatest strength.
Dr. Matt Green:Yeah, every practitioner can kind of 20 yeah, but I would say probably like like eight or nine or ten that I could like name off. I could probably name practitioners that are around me that do that. So I think that might be a little dramatic. I think I heard that somewhere. I certainly could name more than maybe 10 or 15, but I would say like eight or nine that are. You know, you have chiropractors that you know specialize in nutrition, chiropractors that specialize in pediatrics, ones that specialize in sports, so it's very varied. It's also our weakness, because I think the public has trouble kind of having a sense of who we are. So that's our challenge as a profession. But for the purpose of here, I would say, just to really make that simple, that that's I. I do both, I do both.
Charlie McDermott:Okay, yeah yeah, that's interesting. Wow, yeah, I, I didn't, you know. You, yeah, I guess, and this is my view. But you know when, especially when I first went to a chiropractor, you, you tend to think that they're kind of all doing the same thing and you know it goes back to the, you know the cracking, right, it's just yeah, right and and uh, but no, uh, I mean even my experience, uh, uh, the different as I've moved, you know, different chiropractors have different techniques, I guess, and uh, so yeah, interesting.
Charlie McDermott:So then, going back to the, a woman who was new and scared, and you know the fact that there's uh, a lot of folks out there that, yeah, it's like all things when it's new, um, yeah, what, what would you say to that person going in for their first adjustment? What, what should they expect?
Dr. Matt Green:yeah I'm going to. That visit is 45 minutes and for that first about third of that visit we're going to sit and I'm going to get a sense of where. I'm going to listen to them and I'm going to hear their history. I'm going to hear where their symptoms are, what's their subjective experience, what are they experiencing and, most importantly, what is it keeping them from doing? Because when they start to talk about I can't get out of bed this way or I can't do this motion, all that information starts to inform where I'm going to begin to become. Where am I suspicious of? What are the problems that I'm suspicious of? That next third of that visit is doing an exam, and I have a very research-based exam called SFMA Specific Functional Movement Assessment. It comes from an organization called FMS, functional Movement Systems. These people have done loads of research in terms of the way to be most effective to find the source of the pain as quickly as possible, and so once I'm done with that, then I want to go through the process of explaining the adjustment.
Dr. Matt Green:Some people come in and say I've seen chiropractors for years. I'm very familiar. They know, like I know, you knew, gonstead Diversified. They know all the words. It's very easy for me. I can get a sense of what they're familiar with and I can just begin, but someone who has never been before.
Dr. Matt Green:My primary purpose is to put them at ease.
Dr. Matt Green:I want to hear where their concern is and let them know that they're in the right place and that I hear that concern. And I'm going to have that concern right in front of me the entire time, because I want people to trust me and I want to bring more ease to the body and never less, never less, and I don't want anybody to ever feel as if there's anything that's a surprise. When it comes to the adjustment, when it comes to finances, when it comes to anything, I want that process to be as smooth as possible. I'm a little biased, but I truly am a fan of chiropractic. I've been adjusting since I was 12 years old and it's made a huge difference for me personally, so I want people to have that same experience. So, yeah, I would say, like my, the things that I'm most attentive to when that person is first coming in is putting them at ease and really making sure to educate them about what this process means and really paying attention to what's most important to them Awesome awesome.
Charlie McDermott:So follow up to that many and again. Sure you hear this all the time, but this is really helpful. You know many people are curious. Uh, you know, haven't experienced chiropractic before and that sensation felt during an adjustment and is there discomfort in that?
Dr. Matt Green:Um, yeah, there can be. Uh, it would be the same thing as if we're talking, you know, if you were talking to a personal trainer, hey, you're going to go work out for the first time with a personal trainer Could there be discomfort? Yeah, you know, we're looking at healthy. But chiropractic is a healthy stress, just like flossing is a healthy stress, just like lifting weights is a healthy stress. Just like lifting weights is a healthy stress, just like fasting is a healthy stress, you know, sometimes like kind of intense therapy is a healthy stress.
Dr. Matt Green:All these are healthy stresses that do sometimes cause discomfort because the body has created a certain pattern that has moved away from what's healthy, and so to change that course back to the healthy course creates change, and the mind and the body sometimes resists change. And so I'm really aware of this and always talking with people about I want to hit the sweet spot, I want to do enough so that I create change, but I also want to do the least amount so that they're fairly comfortable, so that they can breathe through the experience and come the other way and say, hey, that was impactful. Yeah, but in never, ever, ever do I ever am feeling, always feeling, underneath my hands. Would I ever adjust somebody if I felt like they were guarding, if they were like getting ready for it, like fighting against it? No, never.
Dr. Matt Green:That's. That's where that's going against everything that we're about. We're about bringing more ease and never less. Um, so, yeah so, but I would say 80 percent of the people that come back after that first adjustment say I feel better. Because I say, hey, did you feel better? Do you feel worse? Did you feel about the same? And they about 80 of them say like I feel better.
Dr. Matt Green:10 say like ah you know, uh still about the same and about 80% of them say like I feel better. 10% say like ah, you know. Still about the same. Probably about 10% say like you know, I didn't feel too good, like right after, like I felt real sore.
Dr. Matt Green:But I'm certainly prepping them for that. Like, before I even adjust them, I say, hey, I want to let you know that, a you know you could feel a little worse. And, b, before I even adjust them, I say, hey, I want to let you know that, a, you know you could feel a little worse and be, you know, could feel about the same and see, hey, you know you could walk out of here feeling lighter and feeling great. So when they come back, it's not a like a surprise, yeah, I've, I've, I've, I've prepped them and and let them know, I'll tell you I'm definitely one of those feeling lighter and great boy.
Dr. Matt Green:I just love getting adjusted, because me too, me too, I come out and I feel like my feet are like grounded and my head is lifted and I feel my center. I feel centered and, um, okay, I notice a lot I mean with myself but with other people like, as soon as that first adjustment comes, that next breath comes and you, you know there's more breath, there's more ease, there's more lightness, there's more space. It's good stuff, it's good stuff Like I said I'm a fan as well.
Charlie McDermott:All right, let's talk safety again. Yeah, you hear this a lot, but how do you ensure that the adjustments are performed safely?
Dr. Matt Green:Sure, you know, I think a lot of it comes from that first third of that first visit where I'm collecting information. You know, somebody comes in and says like hey, I was just in a major car accident. It's going to be a lot different than hey. I'm about I'm training for a half Ironman and I got the little bit of soreness here or there. You know, I'm about I'm training for a half Ironman and I got the little bit of soreness here or there. You know I'm going to approach those very differently.
Dr. Matt Green:It does not happen that often, but every once in a while I just get a sense that I cannot adjust that person before we get some kind of imaging. And so it happens two ways. One, we have something called NorCal imaging. It's right by our office. I fill out a little form, I hand it to them and they just it's a walk-in clinic. They walk in there, they can bill people's insurance and if you have an HMO then I send them to their doctor or Kaiser or such. So that's a very easy process for me to lead people down that road so that then they can get imaging. Sometimes it's really comforting for people for me to ask that. Then they come back to like hey, you know, I'm really glad that you asked for that first, and it puts their mind at ease. But for a majority of people, between what they tell me and how I feel, in my sense, I can get a sense of whether that body is ready to be adjusted. And two, when I told this to somebody they said oh, that makes so much sense.
Dr. Matt Green:The adjustment is about like I was saying before is about me figuring out what line, what we call line of drive, or what direction that joint naturally already wants to go. So I'm just moving it in the way that the body already wants to know or already wants to go, and so it's not again. Sometimes, I imagine the picture is I just find it, where's the pain, put my hands on and just and just go, and that's not what happens. I'm feeling exactly where that line, where it wants to go, and that's probably why you have that sensation, why I have that sensation after getting adjusted, like, oh, now my body feels where it's back, to where it wants to be, yeah, I don't know what else Probably.
Dr. Matt Green:Then the other way that I ensure that it's safe is that there's no way I'm going to adjust somebody unless I feel them breathing in, breathing out. A lot of times I'll pry. Every time I had them before I put my hands on them, I tell them, like here's how to get adjusted. Wherever my hand is, I want you to imagine that your breath is pushing my hands up and away and you're expanding that area up and as you exhale, you just let that air fall out and you let everything get heavy. You're sinking into the tables. You're breathing in. You're expanding, you're opening. You're expanding, opening. You're exhaling. Everything's heavy. And if somebody can't do that, I'm not adjusting them.
Charlie McDermott:You're relaxing me as you talk. You have a very relaxing voice and way of doing it.
Dr. Matt Green:Yeah Well, thanks. Well, I feel like it's important for me to guide people in that direction. So the word floppy I found the word floppy. It's universal. When I want people to like let go, I I say just let this area just get floppy and everyone's like home job. I've tried relax. I've tried so many different things so when I, when people are sometimes like I'm not quite sure what to do, I said this is your time to perfect your art of floppiness, love it, love it love it sooppy doesn't get enough use nowadays.
Charlie McDermott:It used to get used all the time. Floppy disk yeah, that's right.
Dr. Matt Green:Yeah, see, I'm bringing it back. So I just think that then there just has to be an element of trust. Yeah, you know, you gotta, you gotta just trust me, and I think, yeah, so there, it is Good point, good point.
Charlie McDermott:So all your years of experience and the countless patients that you've worked with and helped get back to health, um, what have you found? I mean, what types of conditions have you found are most effective, effectively treated with chiropractic?
Dr. Matt Green:chiropractic? Uh well, my, my real answer to that is, charlie, what do you think, what symptoms, what things do you think would benefit from your system shifting from its fight or flight contracted protective mode to its relaxed, at ease, everything functioning normally, healing mode? Which mode would you rather be in? What do you think sciatica would be better at, during the protective mode or your relaxed healing mode? So it's very general. Now that doesn't really speak to people. When I'm listening for hey, who's going to help me? I want to hear the exact thing that I'm experiencing. So I can appreciate that.
Dr. Matt Green:You know anything, especially like neck pain, especially all the way up at the top, like right behind the ears, right there, um, that kind of neck pain, headaches, the upper back pain, shoulder pain, rotator cuff injuries, things that don't allow people to swim or play tennis or golf, that upper back things that are restrictive, when people can't take a deep breath, what we call antalgic lean, when somebody is like shifted to the side, feels like their whole torso shifted to the side, scoliosis, any kind of like low back pain that's going down into the buttocks, obviously, sciatica, carpal tunnel, any kind of like neurological symptoms that are coming into very specific fingers, like into these or into the middle finger, or into these fingers, um, any kind of like hip pain, like deep into the buttocks pain, uh, knee issues, especially on the outside or right down the middle, um, and then any kind of like plantar fasciitis, knee ankle, ankle or foot issues, and then any kind of problems with the jaw Wow, I just went through the body there. But those are the typical things that people come in with.
Charlie McDermott:So I'm just curious Again back to you You've worked with so many over the years. Again back to you've worked with so many over the years. Any anyone come to mind that they came in for a certain condition? You know they had pain in a certain area, but then, after working with them, they said you know, what doc? This also cleared up, and they maybe didn't even mention it, sleeping, sleeping almost every time.
Dr. Matt Green:Yeah, yeah, people say like well, I came in for this. But like you know what, last night because I say it too and I said, hey, you know, you might feel a little worse. You know, like if you haven't flossed your teeth for a while, like that, your gums are kind of sore right, or you might not feel any difference at all, or you could feel lighter. And I say like your neck can pain. And then I always say, and you might sleep better too. And people almost always come back and say, like you know what that started to feel better. But you're right.
Dr. Matt Green:I slept better last night. That's the most of. That's the one that I'm going to expect people to say and that they almost always do, because you can imagine when your nervous system shifts from its fight or flight tight mode back into its easy mode. It's just, it's easier to, it's easier to sleep and easier to concentrate.
Charlie McDermott:How about that? That's a good one. So final thoughts. Someone considering chiropractic for the first time what's your advice?
Dr. Matt Green:Well, if they're in my area, I mean, just to be straight, it's, it's to trust me. Yeah, this is trust me. Yeah, just to trust me. I've been doing this for 22 years. I love it. It makes total sense to me. It's super important to me to put people at ease. I have a great time. I mean I'm dealing with some like sometimes pretty serious issues, but, boy, if you're a fly on the wall in my office, I'm smiling and laughing a lot. My space is great and I have amazing employees. We did a podcast with Katie, my office manager. You could listen to that one and to hear how tight our procedures are. We worked really hard to bring a very seamless process from beginning to end. Seamless process from beginning to end. You know, not I'm doing that in the room, but also we've worked hard to have that experience all the way through that experiences. It's a rocking place. Village Chiropractic and Wellness Center.
Charlie McDermott:Go ahead and fill everyone in. Dr Matt, how can they find you and get in touch?
Dr. Matt Green:Yeah sure you know. Our website is villagechiropracticok. Dr Matt, how can they find you and get in touch? Yeah sure, Our website is villagechiropracticoklandcom. It's right down there on the screen and, for those of you who are listening, you can reach our office at 510-281-1708. Again, I think it's a pretty seamless process to go to our website, click book an appointment, and it makes it really easy to get yourself and find yourself a time.
Charlie McDermott:All right, well, get on over there. Those of you living in the Oakland area, you'll feel just like Dr Matt and I said boy, once you go through the process it is Do you ever get people coming back? They see you in the morning. You feel so great. Can I get back this afternoon? Or maybe they never leave they never leave.
Dr. Matt Green:I want my cot right over here. I'm moving in.
Charlie McDermott:Well, hey, Dr Matt, this was awesome.
Dr. Matt Green:Thanks, Charlie. For sharing your experience and helping yeah, well, you're a great host, you ask great questions, I really. And helping yeah, well, you're, you're a you're you're a great host, you know, you. You ask great questions. I really appreciate it.
Charlie McDermott:Well, until next time, I assume you're going to, you're going to hang in the area for a bit. No more trips planned for in the near future.
Dr. Matt Green:Yeah, you know, here and there.
Charlie McDermott:Got to keep myself healthy, but yeah, no, no larger trips coming up. So, yeah, I'll be here. I can't wait. Can't wait to hear about it, all right? Yeah, we'll see you soon.
Intro/Close:Thanks, charlie, all right thanks for tuning in to the village chiropractic and wellness podcast with dr matt green. For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit our website at village chiropracticopelandcom or call us at 510-281-1708. Stay well and we'll see you next time.