Activator Methods

Certain patients, especially women, may have misalignments or instability due to joint laxity. In these cases, it’s critical for the Activator Method chiropractor to use minimal force and adjust only as many times as needed to correct the misalignment—no more.

Activator Methods is particularly beneficial for those with joint laxity, women, children, the elderly, and individuals who feel anxious about manual chiropractic.

Leg length evaluation in Activator Methods is a diagnostic tool that can be applied, by the doctor, to assess any joint of the body. When the doctor challenges a joint by gently pushing it, with his/her finger, an afferent impulse is sent to the patient’s brain. The brain perceives the challenge as unbalancing and sends an efferent impulse to all parts of the body. Where the doctor can view two limbs in relation to each other, the different impulse sent by the brain, as a response to the unbalancing push, is used to diagnose the joint. The two limbs ideal for this are the legs, because they’re next to each other.

When the doctor pushes on a joint and sees that the patient’s leg length has become uneven, the doctor can, with a gentle push, temporarily correct the malpositioned joint. The doctor verifies that the position of the joint has been corrected by verifying the patient’s leg lengths have returned to equal length. The doctor then adjusts the joint with the Activator Adjusting Instrument, 100% confident of the location and vector of the adjusting impulse.

Sciatica is a common term used to describe the pain, numbness, tingling, weakness, or other neurological sensations in the leg caused by impingement of the sciatic nerve. Most commonly, sciatica is caused by a misaligned pelvis, sacrum, and/or femur, or the surrounding muscles, causing impingement of the nerve. Activator Methods is highly effective at restoring alignment of the pelvis and hip, as well as releasing hypertonic muscles that may be causing the nerve to be impinged.

Sometimes called TMJ, TMJ syndrome, or TMD (Temporomandibular Joint Disorder), TMJ disorder is a misalignment of one or both of the temporomandibular joints, immediately in front of the ears. Because of the complexity of these glide-and-hinge joints, even a small misalignment can cause significant dysfunction and pain. Activator Methods is highly effective at restoring alignment of the temporomandibular joints, and releasing hypertonic muscles, that may be contributing to TMD.

By correcting misalignments that may impair blood flow or cause muscle tension, Activator Methods can reduce headache pain, including cervicogenic headaches and migraines. Practitioners verify misalignments using leg length evaluation to ensure precise treatment.

Unlike many manual techniques, Activator Methods doesn’t require the patient to be placed in bent or compromised positions. An Activator Methods chiropractor can initiate a precise contact point and also significantly reduce the risk of unintentionally adjusting adjacent vertebrae or ribs. Contact us today for an experienced Activator Methods chiropractor in Bozeman.