Jeff Langmaid explains why patients often look worse right after an adjustment: their nervous system is recalibrating, making movements more cautious and controlled. Research shows neurological changes happen immediately, even before pain decreases, so clinicians shouldn't judge results by pain levels alone.
So after an adjustment, your patient may not immediately kind of look better every single time in a traditional sense. They might actually look even a little more cautious, sometimes a little more deliberate, a little more controlled. And it's important to remember for you and for them, that's not a step backwards. That's actually their nervous system kind of adapting and recalibrating. So if your entire eval is based on pain levels and range of motion, chances are you're missing a big piece of what's happening. Because this study shows unequivocally there are measurable neurological changes that are happening immediately, just like that, even before pain changes dramatically.
