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Chiropractic glossary
45 terms, techniques, body parts and conditions you will hear in a chiropractic office, explained in plain language. Use the search box or jump by letter.
- Activatortechnique
- A small spring-loaded hand-held instrument that delivers a quick, low-force tap to a joint. Used for patients who prefer not to be adjusted by hand or where a manual adjustment is not appropriate.
- Active Release Technique (ART)technique
- A soft-tissue treatment in which the practitioner holds tension on a muscle, tendon or nerve while the patient moves the body part through its range, freeing adhesions that limit motion.
- Adjustmenttechnique
- A specific, quick movement applied to a joint by hand or instrument to restore motion. Also called spinal manipulation or a high-velocity, low-amplitude (HVLA) thrust.
- Ankylosing spondylitiscondition
- An inflammatory arthritis of the spine and sacroiliac joints that can cause stiffness and, over years, fusion of vertebrae. Managed with a rheumatologist; manipulation is used cautiously, if at all.
- Annulus fibrosusanatomy
- The tough outer ring of a spinal disc. A tear in the annulus can let the soft inner material bulge or herniate.
- Bulging disccondition
- A disc whose outer wall has weakened and spreads outward beyond its normal edge. Common on scans of people with no pain at all; it matters only when it irritates a nerve.
- Cavitationanatomy
- The popping sound during an adjustment, caused by gas releasing from the fluid inside a joint as it is quickly stretched. It is not bones cracking and is not required for an adjustment to work.
- Cervical spineanatomy
- The seven vertebrae of the neck, labeled C1 to C7. C1 (the atlas) supports the skull; C2 (the axis) allows the head to turn.
- Cervicogenic headachecondition
- A headache that originates in the upper neck joints or muscles and is felt in the back of the head, the temple or behind one eye, usually on one side.
- Coccyxanatomy
- The tailbone, the small set of fused vertebrae at the base of the spine. Can be painful after a fall or childbirth.
- Degenerative disc diseasecondition
- Age-related wear of the spinal discs, which lose height and water content over time. Very common and often painless; the name sounds worse than the condition usually is.
- Diversified techniquetechnique
- The most widely taught chiropractic adjusting method, using manual high-velocity, low-amplitude thrusts applied to specific joints.
- Drop tabletechnique
- A treatment table with sections that drop a short distance when the practitioner applies a thrust, allowing a lighter force. Also called the Thompson technique.
- Facet jointanatomy
- The small paired joints at the back of each vertebra that guide and limit spinal motion. A common source of localized back and neck pain, especially with bending backward.
- Flexion-distractiontechnique
- A gentle technique on a specialized table that flexes and stretches the lower back in a controlled rhythm, reducing pressure inside the discs. Often used for herniated discs and sciatica.
- Herniated disccondition
- A disc whose inner material has pushed through the outer wall. If it presses on a nerve root it can cause pain, tingling or weakness in an arm or leg. Many herniations shrink on their own over months.
- Hypermobilitycondition
- Joints that move beyond the normal range. Hypermobile joints are generally stabilized with exercise rather than adjusted.
- Inflammationanatomy
- The body's response to injury: warmth, swelling, redness and pain. Useful in the first days of healing, harmful when it lingers.
- Kyphosiscondition
- An exaggerated forward rounding of the upper back. Mild postural kyphosis responds to extension exercise and posture work.
- Lordosisanatomy
- The normal inward curve of the neck and lower back. Too much (swayback) or too little (flat back) can both contribute to pain.
- Lumbar spineanatomy
- The five large vertebrae of the lower back, L1 to L5, which carry most of the body's weight and are the most common site of back pain.
- Manipulationtechnique
- See adjustment. In medical literature, "spinal manipulative therapy" (SMT) is the standard term for the treatment chiropractors deliver.
- Mobilizationtechnique
- Slow, repeated movement of a joint through its range without a thrust. Gentler than an adjustment and used for fragile, inflamed or anxious patients.
- Myofascial releasetechnique
- Sustained hands-on pressure and stretching applied to the fascia, the connective tissue that wraps muscles, to reduce tightness and restore glide.
- Nerve rootanatomy
- The nerve branch that exits the spine between two vertebrae. Pressure or irritation here causes radiculopathy.
- Nucleus pulposusanatomy
- The soft, gel-like center of a spinal disc, which absorbs shock and can herniate through the outer wall.
- Osteoarthritiscondition
- Wear of the cartilage in a joint, with changes in the bone beneath. The most common form of arthritis, affecting the spine, hips, knees and hands.
- Osteoporosiscondition
- Loss of bone density that makes fractures more likely. Patients with osteoporosis are treated with mobilization and exercise rather than forceful adjustment.
- Piriformis syndromecondition
- Irritation of the sciatic nerve by the piriformis muscle deep in the buttock, causing buttock pain and sciatica-like symptoms without a disc problem.
- Radiculopathycondition
- Pain, tingling, numbness or weakness along the path of a nerve root that is compressed or irritated. Sciatica is lumbar radiculopathy; a pinched nerve in the neck is cervical radiculopathy.
- Range of motionanatomy
- How far a joint can move in each direction. Measured at the first visit and again later to track progress.
- Sacroiliac (SI) jointanatomy
- The joint between the sacrum and the pelvis on each side. A frequent source of one-sided lower back and buttock pain, including in pregnancy.
- Sciaticacondition
- Pain that travels from the lower back or buttock down the back of the leg along the sciatic nerve. A symptom with several possible causes, most often a disc.
- Scoliosiscondition
- A sideways curve of the spine. Mild curves are common and often painless; moderate and severe curves are monitored and sometimes braced or treated surgically, with chiropractic care used for pain and mobility rather than correction.
- Spinal decompressiontechnique
- Motorized traction that gently pulls the spine in cycles to reduce pressure on discs and nerves. Non-surgical, in contrast to surgical decompression.
- Spinal stenosiscondition
- Narrowing of the spinal canal or the openings where nerves exit, usually from arthritis, which can cause leg pain that worsens with walking and eases when sitting or leaning forward.
- Spondylolisthesiscondition
- A vertebra that has slipped forward on the one below it. Graded by how far it has moved; most are managed with exercise and careful manual care.
- Sprain and straincondition
- A sprain is an injury to a ligament; a strain is an injury to a muscle or tendon. Both heal with controlled movement and time.
- Subluxationanatomy
- In chiropractic, a joint that is restricted or not moving properly. In medicine, the same word means a partial dislocation, which is a different and more serious thing. Ask which one your practitioner means.
- TENStechnique
- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation: a mild current through skin electrodes that reduces pain signals. Often used at the start of a visit.
- Text neckcondition
- Neck pain and stiffness from hours of looking down at a phone or screen. Not a medical diagnosis, but a very real pattern.
- Thoracic spineanatomy
- The twelve vertebrae of the mid back, T1 to T12, each attached to a pair of ribs. The stiffest region of the spine.
- Trigger pointcondition
- A tender knot within a muscle that can refer pain to another area when pressed. Released with sustained pressure, stretching or dry needling.
- Vertebraanatomy
- One of the 33 bones that make up the spine: 7 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, 5 fused in the sacrum and 4 fused in the coccyx.
- Whiplashcondition
- A neck sprain from rapid back-and-forth motion, usually in a car collision. Symptoms often appear a day or two later and include pain, stiffness and headache.