Chiropractic Glossary

A low-force chiropractic technique that uses a small handheld spring-loaded instrument to deliver a precise impulse to a joint. Because the instrument fires faster than the body can brace, it achieves a therapeutic correction without high-velocity thrust or audible cracking. It is commonly used for patients with osteoporosis, acute inflammation, post-surgical care, or those who are nervous about traditional manual adjustments. The Activator Method is one of the low-force techniques available at Mecham Chiropractic.

A spinal disc whose outer wall has stretched and pushed beyond its normal boundary without tearing open. Unlike a herniated disc, the outer ring stays intact — but the bulge can still press on a nearby nerve root and send pain, numbness, or weakness down the leg or arm. Bulging discs are most common in the lower back and are often the real cause behind "back pain that will not go away." Most respond to conservative care — adjustments, spinal decompression, and soft tissue work — long before surgery becomes the conversation. See our bulging and herniated disc treatment page, or read how chiropractic care treats a bulging or herniated disc.

The core treatment in chiropractic care: a controlled, precisely directed force applied to a joint that has lost normal motion, restoring that motion and easing the nerve irritation and muscle guarding that came with it. The audible pop some patients hear is simply gas releasing from the joint capsule — it is not bone cracking, and it is not required for the adjustment to work. Dr. Cody Mecham selects the technique to fit the patient, from traditional hands-on adjusting to low-force instrument and drop-table methods for those who are pregnant, older, post-surgical, or simply nervous. Learn more about chiropractic adjustments at our office, or read what to expect at your first visit.

A non-surgical treatment that uses a motorized traction table to gently stretch the spine and create negative pressure inside the disc. That pressure change draws bulging or herniated disc material back toward the center and pulls fluid and nutrients into a disc that no longer gets them on its own. Decompression is the go-to option for lumbar disc herniations, sciatica, spinal stenosis, and degenerative disc disease — most plans run several sessions a week for a few weeks. Read more about spinal decompression at Mecham Chiropractic, or find out whether spinal decompression is right for you.

The soft inner core of a spinal disc has pushed through a tear in the tough outer ring and is now pressing into the spinal canal. Where a bulging disc leans, a herniated disc leaks. The escaped material can sit directly on a nerve root and produce sharp shooting pain, numbness, tingling, or true muscle weakness. Herniations in the lower back — usually at L4-L5 or L5-S1 — send symptoms down the leg as sciatica; herniations in the neck send them into the shoulder and arm. A herniated disc is not an automatic surgery. Most respond to conservative care when treatment starts early — see our herniated disc treatment page.

A chiropractic adjustment method using a segmented table with sections that can be raised and then drop slightly when a thrust is applied. The drop reduces the force needed from the chiropractor while still moving the joint through its corrective range. This technique is frequently used for lumbar and pelvic adjustments and is well-suited for patients who are pregnant, have had prior back surgeries, or experience significant muscle tension during manual adjustments. It is one of the comfort-focused options available as part of our low-force chiropractic techniques.

Pain coming from the small paired joints at the back of each spinal segment, which guide and limit how the spine moves. These joints get irritated by repetitive loading, long hours at a desk, disc degeneration, or trauma. The giveaway is localized back or neck pain — not radiating leg pain — that gets worse when you lean backward or twist, and eases when you bend forward. Adjustments aimed at restoring motion in a locked facet joint are among the best-researched treatments for this kind of back pain and neck pain.

A gentle, low-force technique performed on a segmented table that flexes, extends, and rotates the spine in a controlled arc while the chiropractor applies mild traction by hand. It creates the same negative pressure inside the disc that a decompression table does, but with hands-on control over exactly where the stretch lands. Flexion-distraction is a mainstay for lumbar disc herniations, sciatica, facet syndrome, and spinal stenosis, and it is a good fit for patients who are too sore or too apprehensive for a high-velocity adjustment.

An elastic therapeutic tape applied to the skin over muscles and joints to provide proprioceptive feedback, reduce swelling, and support tissue during movement without restricting range of motion. Unlike rigid athletic tape, kinesiology tape stretches with the body and is designed to be worn during activity. It is commonly used for soft tissue injuries including shoulder impingement, IT band syndrome, plantar fasciitis, and acute muscle strains. At Mecham Chiropractic, kinesiology tape may be used alongside adjustments as part of a comprehensive sports injury recovery plan.

A custom or semi-custom insert placed inside a shoe to correct foot position, distribute pressure more evenly, and improve gait mechanics. Foot orthotics address problems including flat feet (overpronation), high arches (supination), plantar fasciitis, and heel pain. Because the foot is the foundation of the kinetic chain, correcting foot mechanics often reduces strain at the knee, hip, and lumbar spine — making orthotics a useful tool not only for foot pain but for patients with recurring back or hip pain that has a postural or gait component. Custom orthotics are available at Mecham Chiropractic.

A nerve squeezed or irritated where it passes through a tight space — most often where a nerve root exits the spine, but also at the carpal tunnel in the wrist, the cubital tunnel at the elbow, or under the piriformis muscle in the hip. The hallmark is that symptoms show up somewhere other than the pinch: pain, burning, tingling, or numbness that runs along the path of the nerve into an arm or leg. When the pinch is at the spine, relieving the mechanical pressure with adjustments or decompression is often what resolves it. A pinched nerve in the neck is a common cause of neck pain with arm symptoms.

The no-fault portion of Utah auto insurance. Every Utah policy carries at least $3,000 of PIP, and it pays for medical care after a crash regardless of who caused it — you do not have to wait for fault to be decided, and using it does not raise your rates. PIP is why an injury visit after a collision typically costs you nothing out of pocket. Our office bills your PIP directly and handles the paperwork with the adjuster. Start with a free PIP injury check, or read how Utah PIP coverage works after a car accident.

The piriformis muscle sits deep in the buttock, directly over the sciatic nerve. When it spasms or swells, it squeezes that nerve and produces pain, burning, or numbness running from the buttock down the back of the leg — symptoms nearly identical to true sciatica. The difference matters: piriformis syndrome comes from muscle, not from a disc in the spinal canal, and it will not respond to disc-focused treatment. Sorting the two apart is part of the exam. Treatment usually combines soft tissue release of the piriformis, sacroiliac joint adjustments, and targeted stretching.

The sacroiliac joints connect the base of the spine to the pelvis, one on each side, and absorb the load passing between your upper body and your legs. When one locks up or moves too much, it produces a deep ache low on one side of the back and into the buttock — often mistaken for sciatica, and often worse when standing up from a chair, rolling over in bed, or climbing stairs. It is a common and frequently missed cause of low back pain, especially during pregnancy, after a fall, or in people who sit all day. Adjusting the SI joint restores its normal motion and settles the muscle guarding around it.

Pain that travels along the sciatic nerve — the longest nerve in the body — from the lower back through the buttock and down the back of the leg, sometimes all the way to the foot. Sciatica is a symptom, not a diagnosis: the actual cause is usually a lumbar disc herniation, a bone spur, spinal stenosis, or piriformis syndrome pressing on the nerve. Expect sharp shooting pain, burning, numbness, tingling, or leg weakness, typically on one side only. Chiropractic care for sciatica targets whatever is creating the pressure, using adjustments, decompression, or soft tissue work. Read more on whether chiropractic actually helps sciatica.

Narrowing of the spinal canal or of the small openings where nerve roots exit the spine. As that space shrinks, the cord or nerve roots get compressed, producing pain, numbness, weakness, or unsteadiness that builds the longer you stand or walk. The classic tell is relief when you sit down or lean forward over a shopping cart, because that position briefly opens the canal. Lumbar stenosis mostly affects people over 50. Spinal decompression and chiropractic care can ease stenosis symptoms by improving joint mobility and taking inflammatory pressure off the nerves.

The chiropractic term for a vertebra or joint that has lost its normal position or motion in a way that irritates the nerves and soft tissue around it. It is not a dislocation — a subluxation is a functional problem, which is why it usually does not show up on an X-ray even when it is clearly causing symptoms. Chiropractors find them through motion palpation, postural assessment, and range of motion testing. Correcting a subluxation with a precise chiropractic adjustment restores normal joint mechanics and removes an ongoing source of nerve irritation and mechanical stress.

A neck injury caused by the sudden whip-like acceleration and deceleration of a crash, most often a rear-end collision. The rapid back-and-forth motion overstretches the ligaments, muscles, and joint capsules of the neck — damage that routinely does not appear on a standard X-ray, which is why so many people are told nothing is wrong while they still hurt. Symptoms include neck pain, stiffness, headaches, shoulder pain, and sometimes trouble concentrating or sleeping. Onset is often delayed 24 to 72 hours. Getting evaluated early meaningfully improves the outcome — see our whiplash treatment and auto accident chiropractic pages, our auto accident chiropractor in Salt Lake City page if the crash happened in the city, or read about delayed whiplash symptoms after a car accident.