It was a time of trial and error, hope, hard work, hopelessness, anxiety, and learning. It was Chiropractic school. I have always been an active individual, and somehow herniated a disc in my neck. I was having excruciating pain near my left shoulder blade and down my left arm into my fingers. I had muscle atrophy and occasional numbness, and it hurt to cough or sneeze. It was getting in the way of my craft.
I got adjusted by Chiropractors of all sorts, new, experienced, ones with different techniques, to no avail. I still had the pain and I was feeling hopeless… until one day a colleague of mine wanted to try a new adjustment move he saw someone do. I laid on my back, he put his forearm under my chin and held the back of my head with his other hand. He yanked my head up, and I felt instant release in the lower part of my neck. My pain did not come back for 2-3 months.
I thought to myself… why is my pain gone? Why didn’t anyone else adjust me this way? Why didn’t we learn this in school? I didn’t have answers at the time… but my pain was gone.
So I took a step back and thought about it. My disc was being compressed, and my colleague essentially de-compressed it. Was it THAT SIMPLE?
My pain did come back eventually, however it was at about a 2/10. I would say it was a 7/10 before. I ended up rehabbing my condition while I was pain free, and now I haven’t felt any symptoms for years.
I started experimenting. We get a lot of hands on experience in Chiropractic School, so I was able to try new things when I saw certain symptoms. Any patient I came across with a similar pattern of pain to mine received this decompressive adjustment.
The results were incredible. I was making LASTING changes with one simple move. Coupling that with rehabilitation exercises seemed to be the key to fixing these compression-related injuries.
THE THEORY
There are 3 different vectors in a plane: an X, Y, and Z. The X is rotation, Z is forward and back, and Y is up and down. Most Chiropractors are very established in the X and Z planes. They can rotate the bones, and they can push them forward and back. However, I have noticed over the years that some fail to realize they must also address the Y plane (like in my case).
If a disc is being compressed by the vertebra (bones) above and below, then we MUST decompress the bones to give the disc some relief… RIGHT? It seems so simple.
Many health care professionals will read this and disagree with me. I get it, it seems like placebo. How do we REALLY know we’re decompressing the disc? We don’t, but all I know is that when I perform this adjustment, it provides relief to those with a specific set of symptoms.
As I continued performing this move, I discovered the Y Strap. Using my hands can only decompress so far down the spine, and after a while I knew it would take a toll on my body. The Y Strap gives me much more leverage and allows me to protect my longevity at the same time.
9/10 of the patients who seek me out for the Y Strap Adjustment have already seen Chiropractors for their issues. If Chiropractic didn’t work for you, it might benefit you to try a little decompression.
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