There are many reasons why patients look to chiropractic and other forms of alternative treatments for their health issues such as back pain, joint pain, or arthritis. Oftentimes, it is due to a disillusionment with the traditional medical approach to their health. Although there are exceptions, the majority of medical practitioners tend to treat conditions from the outside in and prescribe medications to alleviate the symptoms rather than find the cause of the symptoms to help promote self-healing.
The main difference between chiropractic care and medical care is that we do our best to treat conditions from the inside out, find out the primary cause of the condition, and use natural drug-free remedies to relieve pain and tap into the body’s innate ability to heal itself. In this way, our approach to a patient is holistic – i.e. we look at the whole person, not just their body – to understand and treat their condition.
Visiting a Chiropractor to Begin Self Healing
A typical visit with a chiropractor will include the following:
1. Health History – During your first appointment we spend a lot of time getting to know you, your health history, any past or chronic health conditions and how they have been treated, and any injuries or surgeries. We also look at any factors in your life that may be causing stress.
2. Consultation – We go over current issues and assess your general level of well-being – and ask you to be as candid as possible, so we can go over concerns on any level – physical, emotional or spiritual.
3. Examination – We conduct a thorough examination which includes physical, orthopedic, neurological, and chiropractic tests. Checking mobility and strength of your spine and other joints is a regular part of our physical exam. If there are “yellow or red flags” that might affect our treatment recommendations, we will order x-rays or MRI to check for disc degeneration, arthritis and any other pathologies.
4. Diagnosis – Since there is a great deal of complexity when it comes to our spine, joints and the vast number of possible causes for physical pain, we use a very detailed and complete approach to figure out what is causing and/or contributing to your pain, and as a result, the best possible treatment solution for it. As an example, if a patient comes to us with pain in a specific area such as their upper arm, we may discover that the pain actually comes from their spine, elbow, or wrist. Since many of the nerves in our body travel from our spine all the way to the ends of our fingertips and toes, pain can travel along those neural pathways to other areas. In many cases, a misalignment in the spine is the cause of the pain, and after a few adjustments the patient feels relief.
5. Treatment – Spinal adjustments and manipulations can resolve many of the issues that cause pain and discomfort. We also implement other treatments as needed to treat conditions and their pain such as Frequency-Specific Microcurrent (FSM) therapy, NeuroKinetic Therapy®, Proprioceptive Deep Tendon Reflex (P-DTR) therapy. More recently we have also introduced Red Light Therapy as a natural way to treat pain and inflammation. Our goal is to address the issue as holistically as possible and avoid the use of painkillers or drugs . We may also recommend other professionals and alternative treatments that complement what we do, such as acupuncture, naturopathy, nutrition, or Chinese medicine.
6. General Wellness Care – As part of enhancing our patient’s overall care and well-being we provide ongoing care through our Wellness Care Program. We may recommend diet, nutritional supplements, exercises or mindfulness practices that stimulate the body’s immune system and innate ability to heal itself.
In conclusion, if you would like to consider a safer, gentler and more natural approach to taking care of your health, avoid the dangerous side-effects of painkillers and drugs and tap into your body’s self-healing abilities, then consider taking your first step on your journey back to true wellness by seeking the help of a Chiropractor.