subject: Chiropractor Wheaton Il | What To Expect During Your First Chiropractic Appointment [print this page] As our culture begins to shift in favor of more natural treatment, chiropractic care is becoming increasingly popular. It is a remarkably safe and effective way to treat a variety of ailments, and chiropractors are generally cheaper than medical doctors. In spite of these advantages, however, some people still avoid getting chiropractic adjustments. In some cases, this is due to incorrect information. They may have been told that adjustments are painful, or that they can make a person worse. However, when the adjustments are done properly and for the right reasons, by knowledgeable professionals, these things are rarely the case. Other people may stay away from the chiropractor's office out of a fear of the unknown. Having never been there, they have no idea what to expect. This fear can be dispelled by a little bit of information about what to expect at your first chiropractic appointment.
The first thing that will happen when you enter the chiropractor's office is that you will be given a new patient form to fill out. This form is similar to one you might receive in medical doctor's office. Next, you will likely be ushered into a small treatment room where the chiropractor will ask you questions about your medical history, the problems you have been experiencing, and the amount of pain you are feeling. In addition, you can expect a physical examination which may include simple tests such as x-rays. These are given to determine what's going on inside your body, so that care can be tailored to your specific needs. Once these are complete, the chiropractor should be able to tell you whether chiropractic care would be helpful in your particular situation.
If the chiropractor determines that he can alleviate your pain or help you with your problems, he will work with you to develop a treatment plan. This may include not only manual adjustments, but techniques such as heating pads, deep tissue massage, and electric muscle stimulation. In addition, he may talk to you about your vitamin intake and give you exercises that you can perform at home. Most treatment plans include several office visits. Make sure that you don't make the mistake of stopping after the first treatment session, because this will likely leave your symptoms unrelieved.
Finally, many chiropractors give patients their first adjustments at the initial visit. During this procedure, the chiropractic doctor will gently manipulate your joints with his hands or an adjustment tool. The purpose of this is to realign those joints so that they can function properly. He may pay particular attention to the spine, because a spine that is out of alignment can irritate the nerves in the spinal cord. This results in a wide variety of problems. As you are receiving this adjustment, you may hear a cracking or popping sound. This is caused by gases being released from the joints and is normal.
Many people are surprised, at this initial consultation, by how knowledgeable their chiropractor seems to be. This is because they think of chiropractors as people who just walk in off the street and pop a few joints. This is far from the case. Chiropractors must attend four years of medical school, and the classes they take during the first two of those years are almost identical to those required of medical doctors. They spend the last two years learning about adjustments, nutrition, and natural health care methods. By the time they finish their schooling, they will have completed a minimum of 4500 classroom hours as compared to 4250 for a medical doctor. What this means for the patient is that they can trust their chiropractic doctor to have a solid understanding of the human body.
