What to Expect on Your First Visit
In a word: Relief!
After we go over your health history and perform an examination of the area of complaint, we will better understand what is causing your pain and what we can do about it. If your case cannot be helped by our treatment methods, we will refer you to the appropriate specialist. Our office has many great professional relationships with surrounding medical specialists that refer to us when needed and vise versa. Because we have gained the trust of many medical providers, your in good hands with us, literally.
A Chiropractic examination starts off with a similar approach as a Medical examination but is more thorough with respect to it’s focus. A Chiropractic exam will include range of motion assessment, a neurologic evaluation and orthopedic testing. What this means is that we will dig deeper to find the root cause of your problem as opposed to relying on unnecessary, costly diagnostic imaging and lab work.
Fort most Chiropractic cases and conditions we treat, the underlying cause of your pain stems from your spine, muscles, joints or nerves. As your symptoms are caused by a malfunction of these physical parts of your body, a physical approach to your treatment makes sense. Otherwise, your are dealing with your symptoms and not the root cause.
For instance, if you are diabetic and your pancreas is not secreting insulin properly, than this bio-chemical condition requires a bio-chemical treatment. You need to take insulin! But if your lower back pain is caused by a pinched nerve and muscle spasms, is it wise to just deal with your symptoms as opposed to getting rid of the root cause? Sure you can take anti-inflammatory medications and muscle relaxants…but are you dealing with the problem or just masking your symptoms?
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Chiropractic is both curative and preventative. This means that we can heal a condition and also serve as a preventative treatment to avoid potential injuries or conditions. So, in the first place, we will recommend enough treatment to get you better. Once you reach that goal, we can re-assess where you are at and discuss the next step. Your health is your responsibility and the decision is yours. It’s up to you what you want to do with respect to staying healthy. Our job is to advise you of what can be done to achieve your goals and live healthy and pain free.
Just look at Dentistry and compare. If your tooth hurts, what can you do? One option is to take pain killers and hope it goes away. Maybe it does for a week or two. Is your problem solved? Do you feel you addressed your issue?
A few weeks later, your tooth ache comes back and it’s much more painful now. Do you repeat what you did previously or consult a dentist? Right, I know your answer…. How bad do you think your problem will be when your dentist tells you what needs to be done? Do you think he will give you dental floss and send you on your way?
Chances are you will need extensive treatment (curative) and then get a speech from his/her hygienist about flossing (preventative). In many ways, Chiropractic is like Dentistry and we believe in prevention. That’s why we recommend periodic care to patients within reason. I see my dentist twice a year as he recommends. That’s my choice and I am happy to spend a few dollars to keep my dental hygiene healthy.
Personally, my son and I get chiropractic adjustments once or twice a month. Sometimes, we get more frequent treatments because we are both very physically active and enjoy our sports. It keeps us out of pain and allows us to participate in our activities without limitations and the potential of more injuries.
How much treatment will I need?
Because we treat you as an individual with your own specific health issues, your treatment plan will be tailored to your needs. Our recommendations are based on the first visit findings. In general, a long-standing chronic problem may require 2 visits per week for a month or more, and an acute injury may require 3 visits per week initially. What we will suggest will be the most effective and least costly treatment plan to achieve your goals.
