The following parameters of care have been developed from national databases and reflect the common practice patterns of most chiropractors. This will form the basis for your customized check-up schedule.

1 – Initial acute care: This phase of care is geared towards stabilizing your spine to help relieve your obvious symptoms of pain and discomfort returning you to your activities of daily living. (The time frame of care can last for up to 4+ weeks depending upon the severity of your condition).

2 – Rehabilitative care: The goal here is to rebuild and retrain stable spinal function. Muscle, disc, joint capsule, ligament and other soft tissue damage often remain after your initial acute symptoms resolve. Rehabilitative care promotes stability in the spine by optimizing the conditioning of strength and endurance in spinal muscles and ligaments, as well as helping reorganize the neurological patterns and reflexes responsible for the control of your spine. (The time frame of care can last for up to 12wks, involving a reduced frequency of treatments and evaluations).

3 – Maintenance care: To preserve and maintain your progress as well as identify small problems before they become large complicated ones which are more costly and time consuming to deal with. Preventitive health care is the most productive and cost effective type of health care. (Schedule of care is as necessary at regular intervals).

  Adjusting your health. . .
Doctors of chiropractic treat patients by using manual adjustments to parts of the body, especially the spine. A chiropractic spinal adjustment is a specific manipulation of a spinal vertebrae that has abnormal movement patterns or is not functioning properly. These abnormal patterns are often referred to as subluxations or joint complex dysfunction.

Chiropractic adjustments use specific contact points either by hand or by instrument applying quick and short thrusts to restore joint motion and function. Adjustments are gentle, precise maneuvers that require in-depth knowledge of anatomy, biomechanics, physiology and neurology, as well as manual skill, dexterity, and expertise. As there are various adjustment techniques and methods that can be utilized each Doctor of Chiropractic can tailor his/her adjustments to fit each patient's specific and unique needs. Adjustments can be complimented with soft tissue therapies including ice, heat, stretching, electrical muscle/lymphatic stimulation, and muscle strengthening/endurance exercises, all of which allow the adjustment a greater, longer-lasting effect.

Every health procedure, from taking aspirin to giving blood, involves a level of risk. Chiropractic adjustments are among the safest of all health care interventions because they are non-surgical, drug-free and present an extremely low risk. And they work!

  The Treatment Plan:
Each office visit is based upon a spinal check-up to determine a need for the corrective spinal adjustment. Initially, this could be every visit, however there are times that don’t require an adjustment. Two consecutive visits without an adjustment usually means your spine has moved to a newer level of health. Progress examinations, including surface EMG scanning, are conducted periodically to assess objective signs of improvement. X-rays may also be used as a follow-up assessment. Your Doctor will describe what maximal improvement for you will be and if you can expect any residual symptoms.

  Symptom Markers:
How do you know if your spinal findings are related to the symptoms you came in with?  Very simple.  At a certain point in your initial period of care, you will find that there seems to be a pattern of specific spinal corrections and the relief you experience.  This is known as a symptom-marker, and even if you feel a reduction for only 15 minutes, you know that the corrective care is connected to your problem. The advantage of a regular care schedule is a greater awareness of the spine relationship to health. Although result vary from individual to individual, one or more of the following problems and conditions may or may not improve or disappear with chiropractic care for the spine:

Headaches - Migraines - Dizziness - Backaches - Neck pain - Shoulder pain - Knee pain - Muscle spasms - Joint pain and stiffness - Numbness and tingling in arms & legs - Indigestion and heartburn - Menstual irregularies - Low energy levels - Mental fatigue and stress -Weakened immune system (including recurrent infections/colds/flus) - Beathing difficulties - Sport and MVA injuries

  Benefits:
Stabilizing the spine will prevent the return of pain and dysfunction or reduce the intensity and frequency of a problem.

For most people, they will also find that secondary health problems often also improve or disappear.

These days a healthier individual is a benefit to society. This results in reduced costs to government and industry. Chiropractors get people back to work faster and most people use fewer drugs and surgery or hospitalization are under regular care. For more information, click here.