Chiropractic Patient Education
What should I expect when I first visit a Chiropractor?
1. Significant Health History
Prior to meeting with your chiropractor, most offices ask you to fill out a form that will provide the doctor with background information about your conditions, when they started and what were the noticeable symptoms. You may be asked to sign a release for your doctor to obtain a copy of your medical records from other practitioners. Some likely questions include:
- When, where and how did your pain start?
- Where does the pain hurt the most?
- Have you ever had an injury to your spine?
- When does it hurt the most?
- When does it hurt the least?
2. Physical Examination
Now that you have finished your health history, you will most likely enter an examination or treatment room, where you will undergo a comprehensive physical examination. This is as harmless as an examination at a family physician's or dentist's office. Because your spine is the gateway for information to travel from your brain to your organs and limbs, Chiropractors perform a lot of the usual tests that your family physician would. For example, surveys like blood pressure, pulse, reflexes and respiration. Your Chiropractor will also test particular neurological and orthopedic responses to gain information about the range of motion of the affected area, neurological consistency, muscle tone and strength. The Doctor of Chiropractic might possibly further examine you to better assess what diagnostic studies he or she will have to perform.
3. Diagnostic Study
The final culmination of the history, examination and diagnostic studies results in a specific diagnosis. Once the diagnosis is established, the Chiropractor will determine if the condition will react to Chiropractic care.
4. Diagnosis
The final culmination of the history, examination and diagnostic studies results in a specific diagnosis. Once the diagnosis is established, the chiropractor will determine if the condition will react to chiropractic care.
5. Treatment Plan & Adjustment
If your diagnosis calls for the care of a Chiropractor, he/she will then discuss with you a treatment plan (methods used), frequency of appointments, costs, helpful tips and a general description of your personal healing process. You might be capable of receiving an adjustment the same day. Your doctor will likely recommend a series of visits. Chiropractic, like most manual therapies, relies on repeated interventions over time to achieve maximum effect. If you have any questions at all about the treatment plan, be sure to ask them. If you don't begin to experience improvement within a week or two, raise the question of whether the treatment is working. If you are not seeing significant improvement within a month, consider seeking another kind of care, or a second opinion.