How Many Visits for a Chiropractor?
When someone is in pain, they want out of pain as fast as possible. If your car is broken, you want it repaired quickly. Have a mouse problem in your house? You don’t want a long, drawn-out solution. When we are dealing with severe pain, or chronic pain, we don’t want to linger around and take forever getting back to normal.
So, why do almost all chiropractors suggest multiple visits? They do so for a good reason that boils down to one factor: the body takes time to heal. The conditions chiropractors typically see (back pain, neck pain, and other joint issues) rarely are instant problems. Rather, these conditions have been developing over many months to many years. Our bodies do a great job at adapting and managing the stress we put on it, such as from our work postures or past injuries and accidents, but at some point the body cannot fully manage the physical stress.
These problems came on over time, and generally don’t get better in a single visit. You can have improvements right off the bat; in fact, we have a lot of patients report greatly reduced pain and increased function after just a visit or two. These benefits build and build on each visit as your body heals.
What matters more is long-term stability. Getting out of pain quickly is great, but we also want it to be a lasting fix. This is why chiropractic treatment plans involve a few visits a week for a few weeks. Some patients may only require a couple weeks of focused care, while others may need longer. It all depends on the individual spine.
Not just chiropractic uses multiple sessions. If you’ve ever had antibiotics for an infection, you are given a regimen of pills to take–not just a single pill. If you’ve ever had physical therapy, you are given exercises to perform every night as homework.
Throughout health care we know that healing takes time. When you visit a chiropractor for a consultation, feel free to ask them what they think an average treatment plan may be for you. After discussing your issues and health history, they should have a good enough idea to give a ballpark estimate. Some may require an examination first so they can determine which tissues are involved, but either way you can get a general idea of how long the healing process may take.
At our Overland Park chiropractic office, we provide general ideas of what a treatment plan will look like and involve on that first visit. For a follow-up visit, we have had time to study any x-rays, go over the examination information, and formulate a more concrete plan to share. No matter what, our goal is to get the patient feeling better and moving better as fast as possible. It makes us look good when a patient gets better quickly!
