First Visit To Chiro
| This is called a consultation and it will consist of: |
| History |
| Chiropractor asking you questions regarding your reason for the visit, questions regarding your condition, your past medical history, your lifestyle questions, as well as your family history. You then often change into a gown to get ready for the examination. You are often asked to change into a gown in the future for further Chiropractic treatments as well. |
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| Examination |
| Examination of the posture, joints, muscles and nerves that are relevant to the presenting complaint. It may also be necessary to check other things such as your heart, lungs, and abdomen to rule out other causes of your pain. |
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| Report on findings |
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| When the Chiropractor has located the underlying cause of your problem, which may not always be where you have felt discomfort, you will be given a diagnosis of the problem in the report of findings.
You will be told in simple language what is wrong and then you will be informed of what treatment needs to be done and how many treatments you might need. You will also be told about what techniques will form the Chiropractic treatment you need. As far as how many treatments are needed, this is different for every individual and each condition. Chiropractic is however a partnership between the Chiropractor and the Patient. Without your cooperation, things can take longer to improve, and the improvement can be temporary. In some cases, if you go against some of our suggestions, you may not find the improvement you get with Chiropractic treatment to be fast enough, and you may become impatient. In conclusion, this will depend on; – your condition and how long it has been there |
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| Treatment |
| Then in many cases the Chiropractor may include a small treatment as part of your consultation. Then you will be given advice on what precautions you may have to take at home and at work whilst the problem is present. You will also get continual advice on what lifestyle changes you need to make in order to improve your condition and help the treatment work quicker and more effectively, as well as those changes that are necessary to prevent future reoccurrences. In some cases of serious injuries or problems due to wear and tear, the Chiropractor may advice you to have some supportive care from the Chiropractic treatments in the future.In some cases, if the Chiropractor feels it is necessary to take an x-ray prior to any treatment or if the case is complicated, the Chiropractor may choose not to administer any treatment on the first visit. In some cases, you need to have further tests such as blood tests, urine tests as well as MRI or CT scan. This can be arranged by the Chiropractor if you want it done quickly (it will be private referrals so it will mean you have to pay for the tests) or it can be done via GP, once the Chiropractor has referred you back to the GP. |
| Treatment plans and Supportive Chiropractic care |
| Most Chiropractors will see a patient in pain, initially frequently (possibly twice per week) for a short period of time (initial treatment phase). We here, at the Enfield Chiropractic Clinic have a system where we assess the progress of a patient regularly, so that weonly continue with the programme if both the patient and the Chiropractor are happy with the progress.
When the patient improves and is mostly recovered from the pain, the patient then enters a treatment phase where the Chiropractic treatment will help stabilise (stabilisation phase) the improvement already gained by the patient. In this phase, some gentle regular stretching exercises are often given to the patient. The treatments in this phase are spread out to be more and more apart and more emphasis is given on active participation by the patient. After the pain subsides, and youenter this stabilisation phase, it is often tempting to end the treatment program, but if this is done, there is a chance you may be left with a weakness in that area and you may get a relapse in the future. The last phase of the treatment programme is optimal health phase. This phase of the treatment is often where the patient has already returned to full mobility and is without pain, but chooses to have some supportive care in order to prevent a reoccurrence of the same problem. This also helps to nip new spinal tensions in the bud allowing the spine and thus the nervous system to function optimally. In some cases of ongoing problems, for example in cases of wear and tear, this last phase of care is very important in providing supportive and maintenance care. Just as brushing your teeth, and flossing your teeth is done daily with regular check ups with the dentist, the Chiropractor will advise you to follow some stretching exercises and regular check ups. Members of the British Chiropractic Association and United Chiropractic Association – Registered with the General Chiropractic Council
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