Hello!

Well, I keep hearing good things about these blogs so I’ll keep writing them!

Mine is a slightly different perspective on health and health care than you will probably see in most health-related blogs.

I have been a chiropractor for a little over 35 years, and I’ve seen a few things! It is from this experience that I try to make health issues more confrontable, and easier to understand- not so much chasing diseases and symptoms, but possibly clearing away enough of the scary stuff so you can see that the “Great Oz” is nothing more than a little, old man with a booming microphone- if you get what I’m saying. You can handle and overcome those things you can confront- in fact, that’s how you do it- confronting.

By confronting, a person can understand what actually IS, and do what he or she knows is best, seeking advice as needed to achieve his or her goals.

In this series of blogs, and in keeping with the theme of building a health and wellness team, I thought I would discuss a question I am asked most frequently as a chiropractor…

How Often Should I See My Healthcare Professional

“When should I come back?”

In cases where a person is not acute, I prefer to allow that person to work through their own process- try the modifications I suggest and see if they can self-manage their particular issues. If they can, great, run with it. If not, come back, and let’s take another look. Not too difficult.

In many cases, patients are aware of “indicators” that let them know it is time.

Over time these patients notice that they can‘t turn their head as freely, or one foot keeps catching on things when they walk, or a shoulder starts to sag- anyone of a number of clues. Some patients start to recognize that the home and work modifications and exercises we showed them don’t seem to be helping like they used to, so they come in, we do some adjusting, make things work how nature intended, and off they go again!

Still, many other patients simply want to know how often they need to come back to keep feeling good, you know, for maintenance, or even more so- preventative care.

And it makes sense as chiropractic care just plain feels good, and why wouldn’t a person want to continue to feel good?

But really, how often should a patient return to just keep feeling good?

If the person is in acute pain, that’s easy- we will work with that person until they are no longer in pain, and able to self-manage their symptoms, oftentimes preventing them from reoccurring.

But what about that person who wants to keep feeling good, or would like to prevent things from blowing up again?

It’s a tough question to answer simply because everyone’s situation is unique. There simply is not a hard and fast rule in our office, but fortunately, it’s as simple as being in communication and taking advantage of the doctor/patient relationship.

Okay, that’s it for now.

Next week I’ll explain and show you how you can know! If you should have any questions, please contact us today!

Take Care,

Dr. Dave