chiropractor adjusting hip and spine of chiropractic patient

Chiropractic Adjustments in Wichita, KS

Chiropractic adjustments and mobilizations are statistically one of the most cost-effective treatment procedures for pain.^{1 2} Clinically there are many pros and cons when seeking help via chiropractic care which we will work to address on this page. Chiropractic care has been statistically proven to be a highly cost-effective treatment options for pain relief, being recognized by the American Medical Association (AMA) as a first line treatment option toward pain resolution.³ Chiropractic care, which can vary by provider, has high overall satisfaction rates, 8/10 or higher, from care as noted by Kathleen Sebelius – Secretary of Health and Human Services.⁴ You can also review ICT Muscle & Joint Clinic’s patient feedback for firsthand feedback. Here at ICT Muscle & Joint Clinic, we utilize several techniques including: chiropractic care, rehabilitation, and soft tissue techniques that are also utilized by some physical therapists and massage therapists.

At our East Wichita and West Wichita chiropractic clinics across Wichita, Kansas, our science-based, pain auditing system identifies when a person may benefit from a technique – with chiropractic adjustments being one of those techniques or tools. We are excited to introduce this pain auditing system within various online Specialty Programs and Video Programs.

What Is Chiropractic?

This is a long-debated topic. We can sum chiropractic into one movie quote, “life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” Chiropractic is not a service; it is a profession with entirely different approaches and interpretations within. Within the “traditional” medical community, you have endocrinologists, family physicians, urologists, etc. These are easy to distinguish specialties within the profession, for a potential customer to understand and to decide which service(s) to seek care from. For better or worse, this concept of different specialists within the profession, does not exist within chiropractic. So largely, chiropractic is a profession with a hodgepodge of interpretations to address musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. This wide array of treatment procedures is not exclusive to chiropractic within the healthcare system, but a plague within healthcare as an entity. Ultimately, this leads to customer dissatisfaction (failed expectations), misinformation, and misinterpretation.

What Is ICT Muscle & Joint Clinic’s Chiropractic Style?

Individuals who have utilized our services, describe us as a blend of pain management specialists, functional medicine specialists, chiropractors, physical therapists, and strength coaches. Read our Google Reviews and you will be able to identify this blend for yourself. Within our unique approach, this is all true. To some degree, we are all of the above statement. We are not a service, more so professionals who provide a unique blend of services, based on our assessment system. We do not necessarily care what you call us, but that when you are ready to take charge of your life, you think of calling us.

Dig Deeper

Click on any item below to learn more about our chiropractic adjustments and mobilizations.

What Does a Chiropractic Visit at ICT Muscle & Joint Clinic Look Like?

As stated above, we integrate many different philosophies and techniques based on our pain assessment system. The advantage of our system is we do not let a biased opinion sway our treatment.

We love and live by the quote “If all I have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” To truly help people get out of pain, we must address the body, as a whole, by utilizing many tools appropriately at the opportune time. It’s more than just having a hammer.

ICT Muscle & Joint Clinic’s Core Adjusting Principles

Our chiropractors utilize the most cutting-edge palpation and adjustment strategies to achieve the above-mentioned goals. ICT Muscle & Joint Clinic’s foundation is established through the science and philosophy of the Motion Palpation Institute, which is a leading bio-mechanical, evidence-based, chiropractic approach for achieving global body health.

An underlying principle taught by Motion Palpation Institute, which resonates with our chiropractic doctors, is the human being is a moving creature and needs to be assessed as such. A successful doctor must understand the concept that one must have multiple tools in assessing and treating an individual for more effective outcomes.

How Do Chiropractic Adjustments Help?

Chiropractic adjustments and mobilizations are used to release restricted joints within the spine and extremities. Joints often become restricted due to improper biomechanics, poor posture, and/or faulty healing strategies from previous injuries. A restricted joint causes excessive motion in nearby joints to accomplish a desired movement task, regardless of the efficiency. It is the loss of proper motion as well as creation of faulty movement patterns that lead to musculoskeletal pain. We must first move healthy and then move often for elimination of pain and improvement of function!

The Intricacies of a Chiropractic Manipulation

This idea of gas leaving the joint during an adjustment which offers pain relief is wrong. This is one of those “common knowledge” regurgitations that is inaccurate, but, because it has been spread around so much, it became a common interpretation.

Within the big picture, no one truly understands how an adjustment really works to alleviate pain. We can understand the big picture, with exact neurological pathways, of how and where nerves travel from the adjusted area to the brain and back again, but the exact mechanism or mechanisms of how it eliminates or reduces pain is relatively unclear. The body is a very dynamic and interactive series of pathways with multiple checks and balance systems. This is easily represented by research highlighting image findings (x-rays) do not correlate to pain manifestation or the future prevalence of pain.⁵ If the adjustment or manipulation was perfectly clear, then the adjustment, when implemented with correct technique at the correct time, would have perfect outcomes. The adjustment would be the one-trick pony; however, this is not reality.

The Significance with the Bronfort Study to Chiropractic Care

The Bronfort Study⁶ categorizes and highlights the effectiveness of chiropractic manipulation against other interventions for the management of musculoskeletal (MSK) and non-musculoskeletal conditions. To determine the strength and quality of the evidence, a grading system was introduced via the US Preventive Services Task Force, to help eliminate any biased narrative to the research.

A synoptic overview concludes many positive benefits associated with spinal manipulation for several health-related problems and areas where more research needs to be conducted.

Common Spinal Mobilization Methods

Toggle Drop

The chiropractor inputs pressure on a targeted area of the spine while the speeder board drops below the patient’s body. This utilizes gravity to apply the adjustment, and the board can be maneuvered based on treatment. Also, this technique is great for improving extremity joint motions and related pains, especially hip pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, wrist pain, and foot pain.

Motion Palpation and Adjusting

This technique focuses on restoring movement to the joints of the body that are lacking. There are certain joints of the body that are inherently more mobile while others are relied upon to be more stable. If a joint lacks motion, then the neighboring joints must make up the difference. Our chiropractors use motion palpation as a tool to detect restricted joints and correlated tight muscles/fascia. By focusing on restoring joint motion first, our chiropractic doctors can then implement the correct adjusting protocols and various soft tissue techniques to better eliminate pain.

Positive Clinical Outcomes of Chiropractic Adjustments

When looking at long-term outcomes, when comparing chiropractic adjustments to acupuncture and to medication, spinal manipulation helped 27.3%, acupuncture 9.4%, and medication 5% respectively.⁷ When spinal manipulation in not contraindicated, spinal manipulation may be the only treatment which provides broad and significant long-term benefits. These long-term and short-term findings are consistently supported throughout research.^{8 9}

We can conclude that chiropractic and other interventions can be successful. However, what if results could be better? What if care was dictated based on a pain categorization system? This would help direct people to the appropriate intervention faster – in turn improving outcomes. This would help reduce interventions needed, time spent till resolution of symptoms, and patient expenses. This is what we have worked to create – a pain auditing system directing care.

The ICT Muscle & Joint Clinic Chiropractic Advantage

The advantage when seeking chiropractic care or guidance with ICT Muscle & Joint Clinic is multifactorial.

Giving of Knowledge

As you may notice throughout the website, we give extensively in knowledge and information to those seeking help from pain and services to help address pain. For those who care when trying to understand one’s pain, you will not find another healthcare clinic in or surrounding Wichita, Kansas which gives more information from the get-go.

Training and Professional Development

Regarding chiropractic adjusting, a uniqueness to our doctors is we have taught other chiropractors, as students, ways to become better adjustors. This was and is our professional give back through the Motion Palpation Institute.

Time Spent per Visit(s)

Our visits range from 20 minutes to 1.5 hours depending on what a person’s needs are. We do not crunch you through a 5-minute visit expecting our skills are exactly what you need or that the adjustment is the right answer for you. Again, we are here to address pain above all else – not to fit you into a specific technique.

Integrative Care Model

We integrate many different techniques into one visit to offer better care and outcomes. We offer online, educational, self-led programs; As well as remote online support with our Eliminate Pain, Restore Health, and Optimize Health Programs. If needed, we work well with various healthcare individuals to guide you through the appropriate course of action. Hopefully, this website will help you believe in this statement.

The Future of Chiropractic

We strongly believe that Chiropractic must evolve beyond the concept of adjusting or manipulating joints of the spine to not only survive but thrive. Adjusting joints can be beneficial under many circumstances to alleviate pain; however, there are many other professions which can produce pain relief as portal of entry providers with just as beneficial outcomes.^{10 11} Moving beyond understanding how to adjust joints into understanding how to treat the entire body as one, and not individual parts, will become the next wave of healthcare. Through the integration of chiropractic, physical therapy, functional medicine, fitness, and technology under one roof, healthcare can evolve substantially in preventing and eliminating pain and problems that one may face. Healthcare is waiting for this model to emerge, and we are at the forefront of that model here in Wichita.

Content written by Dr. Keith Sparks , DC | NBCE, National Board of Chiropractic Examiners Part I-IV & Physical Therapy
Content reviewed by Dr. Sam Reals, DC | NBCE, National Board of Chiropractic Examiners Part I-IV & Physical Therapy

View Citations and References

¹ Manga P, Angus D, Papadopoulos C, Swan WR. A study to examine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of chiropractic management of low-back pain. Ottawa: Ministry of Health, Government of Ontario; 1993.

² Manga P. Enhanced chiropractic coverage under OHIP as a means of reducing healthcare costs, attaining better health outcomes and achieving equitable access to health services. Report to the Ontario Ministry of Health. Ottawa: Ministry of Health, Government of Ontario; 1998.

³ Qaseem A, Wilt TJ, McLean RM, et al. Noninvasive Treatments for Acute, Subacute, and Chronic Low Back Pain: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med. 2017;166(7):514-530. doi:10.7326/M16-2367.

⁴ Stason WB, Ritter D, Shepard DS, et al. Report to Congress on the Evaluation of the Demonstration of Coverage for Chiropractic Services Under Medicare. Baltimore: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; 2009.

⁵ Tonosu J, Oka H, Higashikawa A, Okazaki H, Tanaka S, Matsudaira K. The associations between magnetic resonance imaging findings and low back pain: A 10-year longitudinal analysis. PLoS One. 2017;12(11):e0188057. Published 2017 Nov 15. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0188057

⁶ Bronfort G, Haas M, Evans R, Leininger B, Triano J. Effectiveness of manual therapies: the UK evidence report. Chiropr Osteopat. 2010 Feb 25;18:3. doi: 10.1186/1746-1340-18-3. PMID: 20184717; PMCID: PMC2841070.

⁷ Muller R, Giles LG. Long-term follow-up of a randomized clinical trial assessing the efficacy of medication, acupuncture, and spinal manipulation for chronic mechanical spinal pain syndromes. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. Jan 2005; 28(1):3-11.

⁸ Haas M, Goldberg B, Aickin M, Ganger B, Attwood M. A practice-based study of patients with acute and chronic low back pain attending primary care and chiropractic physicians: two-week to 48-month follow-up. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. Mar-Apr 2004;27(3):160-169.

⁹ Wilkey A, Gregory M, Byfield D, McCarthy PW. A comparison between chiropractic management and pain clinic management for chronic low-back pain in a national health service outpatient clinic. J Altern Complement Med. Jun 2008;14(5):465-473

¹⁰ Gedin F, Skeppholm M, Burström K, Sparring V, Tessma M, Zethraeus N. Effectiveness, costs and cost-effectiveness of chiropractic care and physiotherapy compared with information and advice in the treatment of non-specific chronic low back pain: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials. 2017;18(1):613. Published 2017 Dec 22. doi:10.1186/s13063-017-2351-3

¹¹ Skargren EI, Oberg BE, Carlsson PG, Gade M. Cost and effectiveness analysis of chiropractic and physiotherapy treatment for low back and neck pain. Six-month follow-up. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 1997 Sep 15;22(18):2167-77. doi: 10.1097/00007632-199709150-00015. PMID: 9322328.

Read Feedback from Our Chiropractic Patients

5-star Review on Google

"ICT Muscle & Joint Clinic is more than just your regular Chiropractic office that does a tens unit and some adjustments. They want to get to the root of the problem and issue by needling, cupping, exercises and finally some adjustments. The staff is upbeat and energetic wanting to help you heal and get back to 100%. Would highly recommend checking them out if your regular chiro isn't working out for you and you just have to keep going back because the problem doesn't get better! They want your body to heal, not just be ok!"

5-star Review on Google

"Strengthening, stretching, and brain re-training are central to Dr Sam’s treatment approach, which seeks to restore longterm movement function. I’ve received help with IT band and hip issues from running. Dr Sam also does a great job adjusting my neck gently, which is a rare skill among chiropractors. Would highly recommend!"

5-star Review on Google

"Always a great time when I’m in there. The entire staff is very easy to talk to and Keith is so knowledgeable. He really helped me out when I injured a deep low back muscle with some dry needling, adjustments, and some exercise homework. The vibe feels right with this place. I’m staying and trusting them with anything my body needs."