The age range of people that we treat is anywhere between 20 to 50 years old. Most of our patients come in with some musculoskeletal pain, either back pain, neck pain or mid-back pain, and we treat them with the HVLA adjustment. It stands for high velocity, low amplitude adjustments. That is the most standard style of treatment for a chiropractor, coupled with manual soft tissue work, like muscle work or massage; they are essentially the same thing.
We can also use different techniques like Activator which is just a short little impulse delivered from a handheld device. It is a very mild adjustment. You barely even feel it but it is effective.
One other great treatment therapy is Flexion Distraction Technique. That is an amazing technique for anyone with radicular pain, meaning pain down the leg, your classic sciatica. Anyone with that type of pain, where they are getting nerve pain down their extremity, flexion distraction would be great for that.
We also have traction units. This is not necessarily a specialized chiropractic thing but we have traction machines that pull you and actually decompress your spine. The flexion distraction table itself does the same thing, but its manually targeted to each level of the spine with your hand as opposed to the machine, which just pulls at a certain angle.
There are also Drop Table techniques which are tables that raise up slightly and drop quickly.
We also use mobilizations, which are a mild, softer version of an adjustment. It would not be forceful; it would be like oscillations, or little impulses. It would be high amplitude, low velocity, so you are pushing in deeper but you are not giving the force as quickly, or you are not pushing in as quickly.
To summarize, the most popular chiropractic techniques are HVLA adjustments, Activator, Flexion Distraction, Drop Table, and Mobilizations.
Ferraro Spine & Rehabilitation is a multi-specialty wellness facility serving northern NJ and the NY metro area specializing in chiropractic care, physical rehabilitation and sports performance. If you are interested in learning more, you can call (973) 478-2212 to schedule an appointment or you can go to ferraro1.wpengine.com.