When you walk into Gulph Mills Chiropractic for the first time, you are likely to hear some banging, slamming, and crashing from the adjusting area. It’s okay – don’t run out of the office! The sounds you’re hearing are those of the spectacular drop table doing its job. “What on Earth is a drop table,” you might be thinking. Well, allow me to enlighten you …

The Drop Table was Invented in 1957 by Dr. Clay Thompson (probably after realizing that while chiropractic was awesome for his patients, his back was killing him at the end of the day!) It looks a little like a massage table (and who doesn’t love a massage?!), but unlike a massage table, the drop table has “joints” which can be manipulated by the doctor to raise different parts of your body. These joints permit the doctor to use gravity to assist in the adjustment. When the adjustment is made, the table drops back into it’s original position (with a loud bang!), hence the name.

You may notice that Dr. Roger examines your leg length while you’re on the table. Drop table technique is great for adjusting the pelvis and sacroiliac (“SI”) joints. Sometimes, one leg may appear noticeably shorter than the other; this is due to contracted muscles around the pelvis or misaligned SI joints. After a drop table adjustment, “short leg syndrome” (yep, that’s a thing) is generally improved.

The drop table allows for more thorough adjustments made to extremities, and is also the best way to treat an issue called spondylolisthesis. This condition is caused when one of the lumbar vertebrae has slid forward over the vertebrae below it (ouch). The condition can be diagnosed easily with an x-ray.

So despite that menacing slam that the drop table makes, she is your friend! Check in with Dr. Roger at Gulph Mills Chiropractic to see if chiropractic can help you, and know that now you, too, can appreciate the drop table. 484-751-5037