Understanding courses of chiropractic care

Courses of chiropractic treatment vary from patient to patient.  When providing chiropractic care our goal is to firstly alleviate those symptoms that bring you in to seek help, and secondly – and possibly more importantly – to understand and address the reason and underlying condition that has given rise to those symptoms, if there is one.

The aim of chiropractic care:

Relieve, correct, and improve spinal function; stabilise and maintain.

The course of treatment recommended is based on several factors:

·       Patient’s age

·       Severity of the symptoms

·       Are the symptoms recurring in nature?

·       The condition of the spine (pathologies/posture)

·       Is there a disc injury (e.g. slipped disc)?

Only after a consultation and full examination which, if justified, is likely to include an x-ray examination, can treatment be considered and only if it is safe to proceed.

Therefore, if you are young and fit, with no history of serious trauma or previous episodes of the same complaint, with symptoms that are not related to a disc injury and there are no postural concerns, then your condition/symptoms should respond relatively quickly to chiropractic treatment, without the need for a long course of care.

However, if you are an older patient with evidence that the complaint is recurring in nature, evidence of spinal degeneration/wear and tear, poor posture, and/or a disc injury, then a longer course of treatment is likely to be recommended.

As a rule, back and neck pains are due to inflammation of one of more spinal/pelvic joints, together with their associated connective soft tissues, including nerves. Soft tissues that are inflamed do not heal, and healing will only take place once the inflammation and therefore symptoms have recovered.

Nature dictates that this takes time, which is longer in the older patient. This is the same reason that it takes longer to make a meaningful change to spinal biomechanics and function in the older patient, especially if posture is a factor. Additionally, and when appropriate during the course of your care, tailored spinal rehab exercises will be recommended, which will help to improve spinal function, posture, strength, and stability.

Once you are feeling better and functioning better, there will be a need for this to be maintained to prevent relapse and ensure optimal wellbeing.

Depending on your condition and recovery, you may be recommended to attend every 4 – 6 weeks on a check-up/maintenance basis. This is to ensure that the improvements to your symptoms and spinal function are maintained, allowing the nervous system to adapt (neuroplasticity) which will in turn help to maintain these improvements.

Please note: Ultimately, you are in control. Our recommendations are based on experience and research, but only you can decide which path you want to take.

Do you only want temporary symptomatic relief, or do you truly want to make a change to your spinal biomechanics and function so that the symptoms that brought you in to seek help do not return?

The choice is yours!