Question
Is there any difference in getting adjusted with an Activator vs the hands on method?  You really don't feel or hear anything with the Activator, giving the impression it isn't doing as much...

Answer
Curtis,

There is a big difference between getting Activator treatment verses hands-on joint manipulation.  Regardless of the data on force generated by the activator, and the volume of their touted but crappy research, it remains a different animal than hands on.  I can place a nail on your spine and whack it with a hammer and generate a lot of force, too.  It doesn't mean I'm fixing anything...   Let's forget about the word "adjustment" right now, because it is a word that the chiropractic profession created to describe putting bones back in alignment, and we now know that doesn't happen.  The procedure of delivering force into a joint to create a physical and physiologic effect is nowhere the same when comparing an Activator to hands.   With hands, there is the manual deformation of the joint through its active and passive end-range of motion, and then deftly thrusting through the joint to gap it open.  In doing so, connective tissues get stretched.  There is an exchange of gas and fluid in the joint, and a return of the joint with more joint fluid (and possibly a change in viscocity) as well as an improved range of motion in most cases.    This does not happen with an activator, where the person lays prone with their bones in a neutral position while a deep vibration stimulates the joint.   To answer your question, it's simply not the same as hand-on "adjusting."   Personally, I don't think it does a whole lot.

Hope this was helpful.

Dr. G