FAQ #1 "How often should I be getting adjusted?"

FAQ’s #1 “How often should I be getting adjusted?”

There is no cookie cutter answer for this question. There are a number of factors to consider when making a recommendation. What brings a person into the office makes a difference. Someone who is recovering from an injury will need to be seen more often than someone who is seeking chiropractic care solely for preventative purposes. Age is another factor. For the most part, kids respond quicker to chiropractic care than do adults. What stage of care is a person in is the biggest factor. In the beginning of care adjustments are more often. Frequency of care should be quickly reducing until a maintenance level has been achieved.

My goal is to get my patients to a routine maintenance schedule as quickly as possible. In order for you to achieve your desired results quickly, consistency is important. In my tens years of practice one thing I have noted is that people who are going to benefit from chiropractic adjustments see improvement within 2 to 3 visits. This is not to say that everyone is pain free in 3 visits, but if a person has not seen an approximately 25% reduction in pain within 3 visits, chances are they are not going to respond to care. Not all chiropractors will agree with this statement, but I stand in this conviction by way of what I have experienced in practice.

A chiropractor should be working as hard as they can to get you feeling better a quickly as possible. Beware of chiropractors who require lengthy contracts. How can any doctor project how much care you will need over a year’s time? Chiropractors who have built practices on 3 times a week for 3 months and 2 times a week for 3 months and 1 time per week for the remainder of the year are guilty of over treatment. Over treatment by a chiropractor can cause hyper-mobility of spinal joints. This is why some people feel like they need to see their chiropractor all the time. Or why someone would make a comment like, “I am addicted to my chiropractor.”

After each evaluation and treatment, only then do I make a recommendation for when the patient should return to the office. Some patients respond faster than others to chiropractic adjustments and some respond slower than expected. People live their lives in between adjustments. The chemical, physical, and emotional stressors we face in life everyday affect our bodies. There is no way I can predict what kind of care a patient will over the course of a year.

And while my goal is to work myself out of a job as quickly as I can, I do recommend regular monthly maintenance schedules. I do of course have some patients who come in more often due to activity level, heavy labor, or disease process. Why maintenance adjustments? Maintenance schedules are a great way to keep a whole family healthy. Also, keeping the body tuned up means less big problems. You can think of it like changing the oil in your car. Regular oil changes are one of the most effective ways to keep a car from experiencing major problems later. Well…you can always buy a new car, but you only get one body this go around!

I hope this helps!