What does a chiropractor do?
If you ever feel like diving into a rabbit hole that you may never come out of, I would google this question. I’m here to tell you about what I do as a Chiropractor and what I believe qualifies as effective evidence-based chiropractic care. Disclaimer - my opinions are my own and do not represent all state licensed chiropractors.
To get started, I will walk you through what a standard new patient appointment consists of and how I would build a patient-centered treatment plan that is specific to the case at hand. A new patient visit is about one-hour long. We begin by reviewing your comprehensive medical history to confirm there are no contraindications to chiropractic care. This leads into a detailed history on your presenting complaint. We typically begin with a movement assessment and go through a battery of provocative, muscular and neurologic testing to key us in to your condition. From here we create a list of differential diagnoses that will be narrowed down to a confirmed diagnosis. If you have had x-rays, MRI’s and other forms of imaging in the past, these will be reviewed and accounted for as we see fit.
Most common question at this point in the exam – Don’t you need an x-ray or MRI to tell you what’s wrong with me?!?
The long answer will come in following blog posts, but for now, let me leave you with this. In an article published in The Annals of Internal Medicine on the guidelines of imaging in patients with low back pain, the authors state “The American College of Physicians has found strong evidence that routine imaging for low back pain by using radiography or advanced imaging methods is not associated with a clinically meaningful effect on patient outcomes.”
The short answer on whether we need imaging to properly diagnose and treat you is NO.
When, if ever, would I send a patient to get imaging? It depends on the patient. If extreme trauma is involved or if the patient presents with abnormal neurologic findings, risk of cancer, infection or fractures to name a few, I would refer for imaging immediately. But for most patients, imaging is not indicated and will only be used if medically necessary to rule out any abnormal or more severe conditions.
Now that we’ve got this question cleared up, we get into treatment. A typical treatment consists of soft tissue therapies, chiropractic adjustments, functional rehab and corrective exercise. Patients in my office almost always leave with homework in the form of exercises they must do on their own. My treatment emphasis leans heavily on empowering YOU to control and manage your pain in a sustainable manner. I will help get you out of pain, and I will teach you the tools to stay out of pain. The rest is up to you. My goal as a doctor is to fix you and get you back to doing the things you love as quickly as possible. An average treatment plan length ranges from 6-12 visits and varies on a case by case basis.
Again, everything stated in this post is my views and beliefs as a doctor and is not the same as every other chiropractor. But if this sounds like the type of care that you are looking for in your aches, pains, strains and sprains, book an appointment today!
Dr. Nick Santos