Your Results
Following the assessments, your Chiropractor will develop a treatment plan that takes into account:
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The extent of your injury or irritation
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Your age and general health
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The relevance of any previous injury
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What your goals are (most important)
Your goals of treatment should result from the discussion you have with your Chiropractor. Many people seek simple relief of pain or discomfort, while others want to begin a regimen of ongoing care meant to improve their general health.
In your initial consultation, your Chiropractor will discuss your condition with you and recommend appropriate treatment. Ask questions. As in any professional-patient relationship, trust and mutual understanding are vitally important.
“Adjustments” are a key part of Chiropractic treatment. The Chiropractic adjustment is a therapeutic manipulation that uses controlled force, leverage, direction, amplitude, and velocity directed at specific joints. Your Chiropractor will most often make these adjustments to the spine, but he or she might adjust other joints, such as the ankle, knee, wrist, elbow, or shoulder in order to restore structural alignment or to improve joint function. Again, proper structure is necessary for proper function, and proper extremity function is an important part of healthy daily living.
Your treatment will most likely include an initial series of adjustments, separated by either a day or a few days, to incrementally reduce your pain and improve your movement. This might continue for several weeks, usually diminishing in frequency.
If you can’t tolerate the manual adjustments, there are lower force techniques your Chiropractor is able to use instead.
Adjustments are often accompanied by non-manual therapies such as application of heat or ice, electrical stimulation, orthotic supports for your shoes, rehabilitative exercise, counselling about diet, weight loss, and other lifestyle factors, and nutritional supplements.