What to Expect at Your First Chiropractor Visit | Here Is Exactly What Happens on Visit One

What the heck does a chiropractor do and why in the world would I ever go see one? That's a great question. And what you can expect when you first come in on your visit is a good conversation. Back in the day, we used to be able to access consultations with doctors to find out what our options were for taking care of ourselves and getting ourselves better. These days, I think people have access to more information than they've ever had before, but that information can be misleading, it can be misinformation, and it still makes the decision process maybe even more challenging than it used to be because now we have too much information. So what do we do? We should go find someone that maybe our friends and family see, because if they like them, maybe we'll like them. Or we got to do what everybody does these days is go online, check out the reviews, find someone near your workplace, someone near your home, someone that someone sends you to, or someone who has great reviews that kind of resonate with you and it seems real. And you can even call ahead. Clinics will be happy to answer questions for you if you're looking for a certain type of clinic, a certain type of practitioner, you have a certain concern, you just want to be sure they can help you. Book the consultation by calling in and asking those questions or even sending an email. Ahead of time. We get way more email requests ahead of appointments than we do phone calls, but we do get some requests to have us call people back to answer their questions before they come. And I think that's great because it's a wonderful first step to find out if chiropractic, especially if you've never gone before, is something that would be good for your neck or back pain, or maybe even your other health concerns. If you find the right clinic, those doctors can help with many other things other than neck and back pain even. But neck and back pain is also a good thing to get a consultation for. We'd love to do them in person because while you're there, there's probably some things we can just review with you with taking a brief look and knowing for sure whether or not chiropractic is something that would benefit you. And a lot of those appointments turn into an exam and treatment right there on the spot because people just basically want to decrease their concerns or the fears about what's going to happen on this first visit to this place that I've never been before, and to get this treatment that I've been told maybe I shouldn't even ever consider in my life. But now that I have this neck or back pain and it's not getting better, or I just need some options to take better care of myself, and maybe chiropractic is a good option, I should be open-minded and I'm gonna go find out. Then go get that consultation. A good chiropractor, a good clinic, will sit down with you, listen to your concerns, find out what it is that you want in terms of the type of care and for your condition, what your goal is and what you'd like to achieve. And that doctor will go through some options, ask you questions, give you a chance to ask more questions, and then talk about what that path might look like going forward so that you feel comfortable doing it. And there's never any need to make any decisions there on the spot. You can always just do the consultation, go home and think about it, and then come back. But like I said, many of those consultations in the moment, because we relieve some of the fears and people come in, they're quite comfortable in most of clinics. Chiropractors are wonderful people with great practices, and a lot of times those consultations turn into a treatment right there on the spot after a good examination. So that's what you can expect on your first visit, is a good conversation, find out if it's right for you, maybe do some tests, some examinations if it moves into that appointment that day. Almost every treatment requires some kind of examination before it, just to know what we're dealing with and what we're working with, and to give you a sense that we know what we're doing and to also let you know what we think is going on. And then that chiropractic treatment, uh, there's lots of different types of chiropractic treatment But chiropractors are known for spinal adjustments. They're the only profession that's really qualified with the amount of hours and time that they spend to manipulate the spine in the way that they do. And there are other practitioners that can provide, and some of them are— all of us can be very good at doing it, that's for sure. But it definitely is the hallmark of a chiropractic treatment. So for neck and back pain, it's evidence-based. Evidence backs it up. Research has been behind it for years. There's no tomfoolery, there's no quackery. We are not medical doctors, but we are doctors and we do know the spine. And if I could go so far to say that most chiropractors have enough extensive knowledge with the spine that you should feel comfortable going to see them. But in order to gain that true comfort and have some trust in that process, go do the consultation, no obligation, and go see what it's like to be in the office, in the clinic, and find out if it's right for you. All right, so that's what I think you need to know is going on on those first visits. I hope it helps. Uh, get out there, schedule an appointment, and get that neck and back pain better as fast as you can.