16 million Americans suffer from chronic back pain. It’s a pain that hampers your quality of life.
You may be thinking about chiropractic care services. You’ve no doubt heard a lot about the relief these services provide.
Not all chiropractors are the same. The practice encompasses many different philosophies and specialties. How do you know which chiropractor is right for you?
Read on to learn about the questions you need to ask when seeking consultation for your pain.
1. What’s Your Technique?
Not all chiropractic techniques work for specific ailments. Every corrective chiropractic care professional has their chosen treatment technique and specialty.
A better understanding of the techniques helps you ask this question.
Flexion Distraction
Flexion Distraction treats lumbar and lower back pain like sciatica.
The chiropractor uses a specific motion-enhanced table with manual manipulation. This manipulation increases the flow of essential nutrients to your discs.
Flexion Distraction also relieves spinal nerve pressure while not causing any more pain.
Gonstead Technique
This manual technique adjusts the lower back and pelvis to realign your spine.
The precise adjustments made while you lay on your side improve your joint mobility. They also decrease pain caused by misalignment.
Activator Method
This technique alleviates back, neck, and extremity pain with a specific instrument. This instrument locates affected areas and treats them with a low-frequency pulse.
The Activator Method works to prevent your body from tensing. Tensing is a common problem during manual adjustment.
Graston Technique
The Graston Technique involves stainless steel tools designed to release adhesion muscle knots. Practitioners consider these adhesions to be the root cause of your pain.
Extremity Manipulation
This technique involves the manipulation of your body parts other than your spine. Joints like the shoulder, elbow, and knee are all adjusted.
Promoting joint mobility eases spinal pressure.
Spinal Manipulation
Spinal manipulation is the manual manipulation of the spine to activate the joints within. Its goal is to improve spinal joint functioning.
Better functioning spinal joints relieve pain.
Thompson/Drop Technique
This technique involves a table designed to drop slowly. While the table vibrates, the chiropractor thrusts along the spine. The dropping table reduces any pain felt during adjustments.
2. What’s Your Philosophy?
The benefits of chiropractic care are not solely related to the reduction of back and neck pain. This is, however, the main reason people visit a chiropractor.
The chiropractic philosophy believes your spine’s health and your overall health intertwine. Your body heals itself once the musculoskeletal system achieves proper alignment.
Chiropractic care is a healing health intervention. It relies on the body’s natural systems and avoids drugs or invasive surgery.
The best chiropractor provides a treatment plan based on hard evidence. Any treatment plan should be a multi-pronged approach based on prevailing professional opinion.
3. What’s Your Post-Graduate Training?
Chiropractic care is like any other medical practice. The common treatments of 30 years ago are no longer the best methods. Research and study dictate new treatments.
The views of chiropractic care have changed, too. Once on the outskirts of professional medicine, it is now an embraced practice. Professional athletes, including all 32 NFL teams, now use chiropractic care.
NHL superstar Sidney Crosby sought a chiropractor when suffering from post-concussion symptoms. He credits Dr. Ted Carrick, founder of chiropractic neurology, for saving his career.
You want a chiropractor whose study continues well beyond graduation. Extra certifications are crucial to maintaining a well-rounded practice.
4. Do You Use X-Rays?
X-rays are an important part of your diagnosis. They determine whether you have any underlying conditions causing your pain. These could be small fractures or other serious health issues.
You want a chiropractor who uses all the available tools for your treatment plan. A plan without X-rays can cause more harm.
A chiropractor who doesn’t use X-rays reveals their lack of professional care. They believe in their process more than the process best suited to relieve your pain.
5. Can You Give References?
A good doctor stands behind their results. They also stand behind their professional reputation.
Any good chiropractor has at least three satisfied current patients. Ask for their names.
A professional reputation is also important. Ask for at least two professional references. Make sure to call them.
Letting someone else manipulate your body is an intimate act of trust. You have to know you’re in good hands.
6. Do You Offer Preventative Techniques?
A treatment plan that only involves the hands of a chiropractor is not cost-effective. Nor is it holistic. A good chiropractor will explain not only what you suffer from, but why.
Why you suffer is key to relieving pain. At-home treatment is vital to your plan. You need a chiropractor willing to give you a holistic pain relief strategy.
7. What’s Your Visit Criteria?
Many chiropractors operate on an open-ended visit philosophy. If you feel pain, you continue to visit.
A professional outlines a specific treatment plan. They offer real measurements of progress through treatment evaluations.
Seeking chiropractic care for pain relief shouldn’t be a lifetime commitment. Real, achievable goals meant to reduce visits should be part of any chiropractic plan.
The Best Chiropractic Care Services
Chronic neck and back pain affects every part of your life. Your work productivity suffers. Your lack of mobility hampers your leisure.
Chiropractic care services are a proven way to free yourself from this chronic pain. Ask these questions to find the right chiropractor for you.
