After a visit to the chiropractor, many patients experience immediate relief from their pain. However, some patients feel sore, achy, and not so hot, and can’t understand why. The whole point of seeing a chiropractor was to feel better, not worse!
Post-treatment side effects are normal and impact many parts of your body. But these side effects are mild, temporary, and shouldn’t last longer than a few days. But what happens if they do? Is it a red flag? And when should you worry?
Here’s everything to know about the warning signs to look out for after chiropractic treatment.
What’s Normal After a Chiropractic Adjustment?
Chiropractic treatments generally involve a combination of spinal manipulation and soft tissue therapy. While this combo helps relieve pain, as your body adjusts, you may experience some post-treatment symptoms.
To be clear, normal side effects are generally mild and cause temporary discomfort that resolves in 24 to 48 hours. So, what’s normal after a chiropractic visit?
Sore or Aching Muscles
When your chiropractic adjustment includes muscle work, mild soreness and achy muscles are perfectly normal. The sensation may be similar to what you experience after a deep tissue massage.
What causes this: Chiropractic adjustments often stretch and activate small muscles that you may not have used in a long time. The sudden stretching and movement can create temporary inflammation in nearby joint capsules, which can cause mild discomfort and temporary soreness.
>>MORE: Is the Chiropractor Painful?
Headaches or Neck Pain
Chiropractic adjustments that focus on the cervical area (your neck) can result in mild neck pain or a small headache that usually resolves in 24 hours.
What causes this: In many cases, the chiropractic adjustments release muscle tension in your upper spine and neck muscles, causing your posture to shift. As your muscles respond, you may experience temporary discomfort and neck pain as your body adjusts. Neck manipulation may also irritate the cervical facet joints, which register as soreness and pain.
Fatigue
While some patients feel energized after a chiropractic treatment, others feel fatigued and worn out.
What causes this: Spinal adjustments and chiropractic care relieve muscle tension to relieve pain throughout your body. However, it can also cause some inflammation, which kicks your body’s healing processes into high gear, leaving you tired. Many people feel fatigued because spinal manipulation affects the balance between your sympathetic and parasympathetic (fight or flight) systems, making you feel so relaxed, you want to take a nap!
Bruising
Many chiropractic adjustments involve force and thrust. Put another way, the chiropractor moves things around in your body, and another common post-treatment symptom is bruising.
What causes this: Tiny blood vessels near the surface of your skin (capillaries) can break when your chiropractor applies controlled force to your body. These breaks can appear as bruises on your body, particularly if you’re on blood thinners.
It’s important to note that this is one of the few side effects that may not resolve in 24 to 48 hours. However, if you’re concerned about the amount of bruising, how long it’s taking to heal, or if the bruising seems to get worse or spread, contact your chiropractor.
Changed Bowel Movements
Don’t be surprised if your bowel movements change following chiropractic care. Many people don’t realize that the manipulations and adjustments can impact their digestive system. Fortunately, the change is usually for the better. If you’ve been suffering from constipation, you may find it improves after your chiropractic adjustment.
What causes this: Reduced muscle tension and increased relaxation can stimulate your bowels. What’s more, the spine houses digestive track nerves, and chiropractic care can impact how those nerves function.
Cold Symptoms
A scratchy throat or the sniffles could indicate a cold, but if this happens to you right after chiropractic adjustments, there’s a good chance you aren’t falling ill. Mild cold symptoms are an unusual — but completely normal — post-treatment symptom of chiropractic care, sometimes called “chiropractic flu.”
What causes this: Stress and tissue inflammation can trigger mild cytokine release — small proteins that your immune cells release as an inflammatory response — and can feel like the initial symptoms of a cold.
Nausea or Dizziness
Some people also feel dizzy or nauseous following a chiropractic adjustment. Fortunately, this side effect is often temporary and lasts only a few hours.
What causes this: Some chiropractic adjustments and techniques require a sudden change in position, which can disrupt blood flow and drop your blood pressure, causing temporary dizziness. What’s more, your upper spine is linked to balance, so when your joint positions change in response to spinal alignment, your brain receives new information it may have trouble understanding, which can cause mild dizziness.
>>MORE: Learn about the different types of chiropractic adjustments
Warning Signs to Be Aware of After a Chiropractic Adjustment
While most side effects resolve in 24 to 48 hours, it’s not unheard of for some side effects, like temporary soreness, to last for a little bit longer. As long as your symptoms continue improving, you likely have nothing to worry about.
However, any symptoms that last longer than 48 hours and worsen in intensity or spread are a warning sign. Though rare, it can indicate that something has happened to your nerves, not just the muscles. Left untreated, this could cause serious complications. If you experience any of the following, contact your chiropractor and seek immediate medical care:
- Sharp, shooting pains. Pain that’s sharp or shoots down your arm or leg when you move and goes beyond mild muscle pain and soreness indicates your spine may be out of alignment.
- Difficult moving, walking, or with coordination. Losing range of motion in any part of your body should not be ignored, even if it’s a single toe.
- Fainting. Mild dizziness is normal, but fainting is not. Even if you feel fine after regaining consciousness or don’t think the fainting is related to your chiropractic care, seek medical attention to rule out something more serious.
- Numbness or weakness. Any kind of new numbness or weakness after a chiropractic adjustment is not normal. However, numbness or weakness on one side of the body, a drooping face, arm drifting, or difficulty lifting a foot indicate a serious medical emergency, and you should seek medical attention.
- Loss of bladder or bowel control. The sudden inability to control your bladder or bowel after a chiropractic adjustment is another serious warning sign that warrants a trip to the doctor.
- Neurological symptoms. If you experience any of the following, seek immediate medical care, as these symptoms can indicate serious problems with the nervous system:
- Trouble seeing. Losing vision in one or both eyes, or if you experience tunnel vision (like the edge of your field of vision is dimmed)
- Severe headache. A persistent headache that doesn’t feel normal to you
- Sensitivity to light. Even if you suffer from migraines, light sensitivity after chiropractic care needs attention.
- Trouble speaking or can’t speak at all
Find Relief
Chiropractic care and adjustments realign your spine and relieve your pain. While it may take several visits to achieve the results, it’s normal to experience certain side effects after your treatment. Soreness, pain, and discomfort should improve within a few days and are part of the healing process. Any side effect that lasts longer than 48 hours should not be ignored and should be reported to a doctor as soon as possible.
The caring, qualified chiropractors at Flourish Chiropractic Spa collaborate with you to create a customized treatment plan that minimizes post-treatment symptoms, alleviates discomfort, and puts you on the path to a healthier life. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and take the first steps on your healing journey.
