How often should I see a chiropractor?

Every single new patient of mine asks me ” how often should I see a chiropractor? ”  My answer is always, “it depends on your goals”.

Did you wake up this morning, bend over to feed the dog only to have your back go out on you and now you can’t walk upstairs?  Is your concern only how do we fix today’s pain?  Of course, you want to feel better fast.  We all do and often feeling better is pretty simple if you get adjusted.  After your first adjustment, the hope is that you feel less pinching and more range of motion.  Often times the pain will still be there in some form.

Usually, someone’s spinal problems did not occur due to one day’s activities.  They tend to have a history of one and off pain over several years and whether they have started to have constant annoying and nagging pain or sharp, extreme and shooting pain is due to wear and tear that finally surpassed your body’s ability to work around it on its own.  It’s basically an accumulation of stress over time.

Healing takes time.  To heal, you also have to be honest about what caused the problem in the first place.  Have you stopped exercising?  Have you gained weight over the last five years?  Have you always been carrying too much weight on your frame causing accelerated ageing to your joints?

If your goal is to simply rid yourself of the pain that was brought on by this one incident, it won’t take long to heal.  Often you will need to be adjusted 2-3 times per week for a couple of weeks to begin feeling better.  However, if you want to address the underlying concerns that have caused you to have a constant level of stiffness before your big injury or if you want chiropractic care to change your posture or your underlying mechanical dysfunction, we are talking about a much longer process.  That is a process that really does require 2-3 months of very regular adjustments but everyone responds differently.

Once you are out of pain or have finished a series of consistent corrective adjustments, you would be smart to be adjusted regularly.  What do I consider regular?  I am adjusted by my own chiropractor every 2 weeks at the most.  Some people prefer to stay weekly and we encourage that, but anything less than every 3 weeks and you begin to backtrack which is something that nobody wants.  I go more regularly because very athletic and want to stay that way as I maintain my activity and age gracefully.  Getting adjusted regularly keeps little concerns from becoming big concerns.  For my patients, especially the ones who sit at desks all day, I recommend that they maintain their adjustment schedule every week or two.   Your chiropractor will be able to tell you what is the right schedule for you.