Well, first of all, it is NOT an invasive surgery. It is simply spinal manipulation and mobilization performed in an operating room environment. It is somewhat similar to what is done in the doctor's office, but with the added aid of anesthesia. The actual adjustments are very gentle. An intravenous catheter is inserted in the patient's arm and a small amount of anesthesia is administered by a qualified anesthesiologist. The procedure usually lasts less than 15 minutes. After the patient has fallen asleep, the muscles affecting spinal function are stretched and the dysfunctional areas of the spine are manipulated. The patient wakes up quickly and is monitored until they are ready to be discharged.

In some cases, the procedure is repeated over two, three, and occasionally four days. Most MUAs are performed over three consecutive days. A series of MUAs has proven to be much more thorough and effective in the majority of cases.

Of course, when movement of the spine is extremely and intolerably painful to the patient, the benefit of being unconscious is obvious, but the anesthesia performs other equally important functions, such as:

• Shuts off the muscle spasm cycle to allow spinal movement.
• Sedates the pain perceiving nerves that have been irritated due to the dysfunctional spine.
• Allows complete muscle relaxation to allow the doctor to stretch shortened muscle groups and to break up adhesions caused by scar tissue.