What Does a Chiropractic Adjustment Feel Like? A Modbury Chiropractor Explains

What does a chiropractic adjustment feel like? If you’ve never had one, it’s usually the first thing you wonder about before booking. Will it hurt? What’s that cracking sound? Is it normal to be sore the next day? These are some of the most common questions we hear from new patients in Modbury and across Adelaide’s north-eastern suburbs, often while they’re lying on the table for the very first time.

This article walks you through an adjustment from start to finish: what you’ll feel, what you’ll hear, what’s happening inside the joint, and how you might feel afterwards. We’ve also explained the gentler options we use for people who would rather skip the crack altogether.

What does a chiropractic adjustment feel like?

Many people describe a chiropractic adjustment as a firm stretch followed by a quick sense of release. The adjustment itself is over in a fraction of a second. You’ll feel pressure from your chiropractor’s hands, a brief stretch through the area being treated, and you may hear a pop. It shouldn’t feel sharply painful.

Before the adjustment, your chiropractor positions you so the joint is gently taken to the end of its comfortable range. That part is slow and controlled, and you’ll often feel a stretch building. The adjustment is a short, quick movement from that position, small in distance and very precise.

Afterwards, many people notice the area feels looser or easier to move. Others feel very little at all, which is completely normal.

What happens before your chiropractor adjusts you?

Nothing happens without your say-so. Before any adjustment, your chiropractor will have assessed you, explained what they found, and talked you through the technique they recommend and why. You’ll have the chance to ask questions and give your consent, and you can change your mind at any point, even once you’re on the table.

Your chiropractor will also show you how to lie and explain where their hands will go. If you’re feeling tense, say so. It’s much easier to relax when you know exactly what’s coming, and a relaxed body is easier to adjust comfortably.

If it’s your first appointment, our first visit guide explains the assessment in more detail.

What is a side-lying lower back adjustment?

A side-lying adjustment is one of the most common ways chiropractors adjust the lower back and pelvis, and it’s the technique shown in the photo above. You lie on your side with your top knee bent, while your chiropractor places one hand on your shoulder and the other on your hip. They gently rotate your trunk to take up the slack, which feels like a comfortable twist through the lower back. Once you’re in position, a quick, small movement through the hip is directed at the stiff joint.

We often use it for lower back pain and stiffness linked to joints that aren’t moving well, including the familiar aches from desk work, long drives, or a physical day on the tools. It’s also only one option. If twisting isn’t suitable for you, or you simply don’t like the idea of it, there are other ways to work on the same area. More on those below.

What is the cracking sound during an adjustment?

The pop or crack you might hear isn’t your bones, and nothing is breaking or “going back into place.” Your spinal joints sit inside a capsule filled with lubricating fluid. When an adjustment briefly separates the joint surfaces, the pressure in that fluid drops and a small gas cavity forms. That’s the sound.

For decades the noise was thought to be a bubble bursting. In 2015, researchers at the University of Alberta used real-time MRI to watch a joint crack and found the sound happened as a cavity formed in the joint fluid, not as a bubble collapsed. Their work also explains something you may have noticed with your knuckles: once a joint has cracked, it can’t crack again for roughly 20 minutes. That’s why repeating an adjustment straight away usually won’t produce another sound.

Does an adjustment have to crack to work?

No. A 2022 systematic review published in Chiropractic & Manual Therapies looked at studies comparing people who did and didn’t have an audible pop during spinal manipulation. It found no evidence that the sound led to better pain outcomes, whichever part of the spine was treated.

In practice, a quiet adjustment isn’t a failed one. Your chiropractor is focused on how the joint moves and how you respond, not on chasing a noise.

Does a chiropractic adjustment hurt?

An adjustment shouldn’t be sharply painful. Most of the time it feels like firm pressure and a quick stretch. If an area is very irritated, for example during an acute flare-up of back pain, you might feel some tenderness as you’re positioned, and that’s useful information for your chiropractor.

Tell us if anything feels uncomfortable. We can change your position, reduce the force, or switch to a gentler technique on the spot. You’re always in control of your treatment.

Is it normal to feel sore after a chiropractic adjustment?

Yes. Mild soreness after an adjustment is common, especially in your first few visits. A study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, which tracked patients across 368 chiropractic treatments, found some kind of reaction after about a third of them, most often local soreness or stiffness. Nine in ten reactions were rated mild or moderate, and most had settled within 24 hours.

It often feels similar to the ache you get after using muscles you haven’t worked in a while. To help it settle:

• Keep moving gently. A walk usually helps more than resting on the couch.
• Carry on with your normal daily activities as much as is comfortable.
• A warm shower can help ease muscle tightness.

What if you don’t want your back cracked?

Then we won’t crack it. Plenty of our patients prefer not to have manual adjustments, and that’s a perfectly good choice. At Health First Chiropractic we also use gentle, low-force techniques that don’t involve twisting or popping:

These approaches are often a good fit for older adults, people with osteoporosis or arthritis, and anyone in the early, painful stage of a disc injury. Your chiropractor will talk through which options suit your situation, and you choose what you’re comfortable with. You can read more about each one on our chiropractic techniques page.

References

1. Kawchuk GN, et al. Real-time visualization of joint cavitation. PLOS ONE, 2015.
2. Impact of audible pops associated with spinal manipulation on perceived pain: a systematic review. Chiropractic & Manual Therapies, 2022.
3. Senstad O, et al. Side-effects of chiropractic spinal manipulation: types, frequency, discomfort and course. Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, 1996.

Written by

Dr Naomi Swan

Chiropractor and co-director of Health First Chiropractic in Modbury North, with over 20 years in practice and a Master of Chiropractic. Naomi is also a supervisor and examiner at the Australian Chiropractic College in Adelaide.

Meet Naomi →