How will I feel afterwards?
If you are visiting a chiropractor for the first time, you may wonder how your body will react to this kind of care. Most of us make a first appointment because of pain, so it can be helpful to understand how your body will go about healing and what you can expect along the way.
Let’s remind ourselves of the purpose of a chiropractic adjustment. The goal is to restore normal alignment and balance to the body, which frees up the nervous system and allows the whole body to function better. So, what happens when we receive that first adjustment? Some people feel instantly better and go happily bouncing out of the practice. But for the majority of us, there is a healing process our body needs to go through, and that can sometimes mean feeling a bit worse before you feel better.
Imagine that you take your car to the garage for a bit of a tune-up. The tyres get changed and realigned. The engine gets tweaked and the steering readjusted. Will the car feel different to drive afterwards? Yes of course! The same goes for your body. When the chiropractor sorts out any misalignments and imbalances in your body, it will feel different afterwards. If you’ve been out of balance for some time, your body may not accept this new normal right away. You may feel some discomfort and stiffness as your body adapts, and any symptoms you came in with may initially flare up a little. Muscle soreness is also very common and totally normal. If you imagine going to the gym for the first time in a few months or years, you’re going to feel it the day afterwards. The same is true with an adjustment. All those muscles supporting your spine may have been working out of sync for some time, with certain muscles weakening over time and others working too hard. Once your body is realigned, your muscles need to readapt and strengthen into a new position, which takes some time and can mean some stiffness and soreness at first.
What many people are also surprised to notice is that they may experience some cold-like symptoms in the days after an adjustment, particularly the first one. This is the result of a phenomenon called toxic release. When the body is brought back into balance during an adjustment, blood flow is improved, and immune function optimized. This means that any toxins that have built up in the body are finally free to be eliminated. This elimination can come in many forms, but most commonly people may experience a runny nose, a cough, or altered digestion for a couple of days. Some people experience more frequent bowel movements as their body rids itself of built-up toxins, while others may simply find that their digestion improves and becomes more efficient. Equally, people sometimes surprise us with the reactions their body experiences. When we free up the nervous system, all bodily systems start to function better, so you could experience many very positive side effects, from improved sleep, to more energy and a healthier immune system!
So what can you do to help your body after an adjustment?? Drinking water is an excellent way of helping your body to rid itself of toxins and rehydrate your cells as they start the task of healing your body. Having a restful day or even a nap is also a very good way to let your body focus completely on healing and restoration rather than diving straight back into a busy day. You could also add in a gentle walk after your adjustment which is a great way to stabilize your locomotor system and integrate what has happened during your adjustment. In our experience, babies are the very best at listening to their bodies after an adjustment. They usually have a good digestive clear-out, a longer feed than usual and then snooze for longer than their parents have ever experienced! Is it then any wonder that they tend to be symptom-free far quicker than us adults?!
We can fully appreciate that it can feel rather demoralizing to come for your first adjustment full of high hopes and expectations of instant pain relief, and then experience some of the reactions we’ve just talked about. But the important thing to remember is that chiropractic is all about promoting change in your body. This change will always be positive, but it’s a process, and if we can guide and support our bodies along the journey, they will be so much more grateful for it. Our body is our home we live in for the rest of our lives, so it’s worth taking good care of.
