One of the statements I hear most often in my office, especially from patients I am seeing for the first time is, “will I have to come back a whole bunch of times”? There is a reputation regarding chiropractors that they keep bringing their patients back over and over. The question, I think, that lingers in people’s minds is whether or not the chiropractor is doing this for financial gain or for the benefit of the patient. I want to be totally transparent in this blog, so I will tell you right up front that I am in business to make money and support my family. I also want to let it be known that I can only be successful in that quest if I do a great job serving my patients to the best of my ability.
Part of the premise that chiropractic treatments may not need to be repeated many times is because people know that they do not go back to a medical doctor unless there is a serious problem. To the patient’s way of thinking, the problem that brings them to the chiropractor is not nearly as serious as the problem that would bring them to a medical doctor.
The patient sees the medical doctor once or maybe twice in order to resolve problems like colds, stomach issues, or a virus attack. If the condition is more serious than a visit or two to the medical doctor, they will go to the hospital. In their minds then, why would chiropractic care take more visits to cure a problem that is not as serious as a “medical” problem? When I let my patients know that the latest medical literature all report that chiropractic is the safest and most effective way to treat musculoskeletal problems, I can see their minds starting to whirl.
One cause of these conflicting concepts is the thinking that the medical treatment is done when the patient leaves the medical doctor’s office. This is not necessarily the case. Many times the patient will have a prescription that needs filled to complete the treatment. The prescription may be for a medication that must be taken for thirty days or more. Sometimes that prescription will need to be refilled one or two more times. In this case the medical treatment may have taken two or three months! Another thing that happens often is a prescription is given for physical therapy. A physical therapy prescription is accepted by the patient as normal. Physical therapy prescriptions are generally for three visits per week for six weeks. In a non-complicated medical condition we can see that a medical treatment can cause the patient to be “seen” for six to eight weeks.
Chiropractors, on average across the United States, will treat a patient six to eight times over a two to four week period. I know this as a fact because of my work as a certified chiropractic peer review specialist. The chiropractic profession has researched and provided a universally accepted standard of care for chiropractic treatments. The guidelines for chiropractic treatment are indeed longer than four weeks to take a patient from a new injury to complete recovery. In my work doing peer reviews, the vast majority of chiropractors were not extending care past a four week period. There are always exceptions to that general statement, but I know the cases at Weber Chiropractic, we take no more than four to six visits over usually no longer than three weeks.
Now the question becomes, how does chiropractic do this in less time and many times for less cost? This requires a deeper look at how chiropractic works. Most people tend to think that the chiropractor only has the spinal adjustment that is used to treat the patients. In actuality, the chiropractor has more than just the adjustment as a tool in their treatment toolbox. The adjustment is the biggest and best known tool in the toolbox, but he has many more tools to choose from. Chiropractors utilize massage, vibration, ultrasound, heat, ice, electric stimulation, traction, kinesio-taping, stretching, muscle goading, exercise, nutrition, and many other non-medicinal forms of treatment.
Treating a person with a musculoskeletal ache or pain will generally follow the same general protocol regardless of the type of physician. The first step is to stop or reduce the pain for the patient. The second step is to repair the damage to any tissue that is causing the pain. The next step is to strengthen that damaged tissue to prevent any future recurrences of the problem.
In traditional medicine, this is done with pain relievers, anti-inflammatory drugs, and rehabilitation therapy.
Chiropractic follows the same protocol but treats without medicine. Chiropractic uses spinal manipulation as the primary tool for pain relief as opposed to medicine. Spinal manipulation is so effective that many times pain will be relieved in the first treatment.
This, in turn, leads the patient to believe the problem has been resolved and no further treatment is necessary. This is not correct and actually, nothing could be further from the truth. The damaged tissue that is no longer sending pain signals to the brain is still structurally weak and susceptible to reinjury. This is why the chiropractor utilizes passive modalities like ultrasound and electric stimulation to speed the repair of the damaged tissues.
With the chiropractic pain reduction and repair process being so effective and fast, the strengthening portion of care can begin much sooner. The chiropractor utilizes stretches, in office exercises, as well as prescribing home exercises to complete the healing process. We all can accept the fact that a broken bone takes six to eight weeks to heal or that a cold will take a week or two to heal. It logically follows that damaged muscle, ligament, and tendons will take time to heal as well.
In answer to the question that so many patients ask about why so many visits are needed to “fix” their problem, the answer is that healing takes time. The chiropractic benefit to the patient’s advantage is no medicine and the relief is generally longer lasting. To learn more about what chiropractic can do for you, call Weber Chiropractic today at 724-285-9093 and schedule your visit!
Weber Chiropractic and DOT Physicals
1808 Route 422 East
Fenelton, Pa. 16034
724-285-9093
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