Today we look at the instruments that we use for helping our chiropractic treatments.
Taking a look at the Arthrostim as well as an impulse instrument. Here at the clinic we actively use them for our adjustments and today we look at the difference between the two instruments.
Both stimulate soft tissues of muscle and nervous system. They can be used for people who require a more gentle technique, they can also be used to improve peoples posture. Chiropractors treat people with a variety of sensitivity levels and pain thresholds where in some cases manual adjustments provided by the chiropractor may not be as effective or efficient.
An ArthroStim is an instrument that is handheld and aids the chiropractor in performing an adjustment. It delivers 12-14 thrusts per second which is much stronger and faster than a typical single thrust by a chiropractor.
Benefits of an ArthroStim: The Arthrostim allows chiropractors to maintain the effectiveness of your treatment while altering the amount of force applied to the area. It can be used separately or in conjunction to a regular adjustment. And as a result can help us treat your conditions much more.
Those who may benefit from the ArthroStim are:
- Infants and young children
- Individuals with acute or extreme pain
- Particularly sensitive individuals
- Individuals who dislike being “cracked”
- Individuals who suffer from neck pain
- Individuals who require adjustments to the extremities
- Elderly individuals
There are benefits from the ‘neurological assist’ that the instrument provides. Because as the instrument is so quick and fast it’s stimulates what we called Mechano-receptors. There’s a nurse in your body that control your movement and by stimulating these receptors, you can help us improve your posture minimise your pain by overloading the nervous system and deactivating nociceptive pain fibers. Assisting the treatment of your spine by relaxing the muscles and prepare your body for a regular chiropractic adjustment.
Now looking at the impulse instrument which has a purpose to deliver gentle and precise adjustments. It works on the joints of the spine and provides pain relief and restoration of function. It’s a controlled force that we can use to treat different areas of the body with virtually no strain, all while receiving an accurate adjustment every time.
The impulse gun is twice as fast as other adjusting instruments and 100x faster than manual chiropractic adjustments. The important thing is, that it’s faster than the body’s tendency to tighten and therefore resist the adjustment. The controlled force of the thrusts are able to be adjusted (increased or decreased) for different patients of different ages.
The machine is specifically tuned to the natural frequency of the body that joints, muscles and nerves respond to optimising results for patients. It aids to work by not just stimulating your muscles and joints but also the nerves that control balance. By doing so it creates messages backwards and forwards to the cerebellum and can help improve posture issues
What is an activator method?
It’s a technique which uses a spring-loaded hand-held mechanical instrument. It allows a chiropractor to provide a quick, low force impulse at specific points. Are use this specifically on the children.
There are two advantages to the activator instrument treatment
- High Speed: it is so fast that the body’s muscles are less likely to tense with the response and therefore resists the treatment. Having a lack of muscle resistance will facilitate the effectiveness.
- Controlled force: The force is directly focused on the specified position and does not put the joint in any compromised positions that involve bending or twisting.
Watch the video below to see Dr Andrew talk about the use of instruments in our clinic