25 May What are the realistic expectations at the chiropractor?
In a previous blog post, I went through the office policies and procedures at Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic in detail so you know what to expect as a new patient. Now I would like to cover a topic that I discuss on a regular basis which is, “what are the realistic expectations at the chiropractor”? Let’s face it, we live in a fast paced world where we want it and we want it NOW!! Whether it is stopping for some FAST food, or sending an INSTANT message, we don’t have enough time in the day to sit around and wait for things to happen. While this is all well and good in some situations, it’s imperative to understand that some things take time. Health and fitness is one area in which it takes effort and time to achieve the success you want. Health and fitness is a journey, not a destination.
What are the realistic expectations at the chiropractor?
Through having many conversations with patients and people in the community, I have come to the realization that many people don’t know what to expect from chiropractic care either because they have never experienced it or they have never had anyone explain the process to them. Many chiropractors take an approach where they leave the treatment completely open-ended and do not give the patient information about what to expect as they undergo treatment. Dr. Ring makes it a point to tell every patient what he expects from care in regards to the required frequency, length of care, and how you will progress through your treatment plan. Each and every patient responds differently to care, but Dr. Ring has a pretty good idea of how things will go down before the adjustments are started.
When all the dust has settled, it’s hugely important to understand what the realistic expectations are… For many people, they want out of pain and they want out of pain now. They want their condition corrected and they need it corrected yesterday!! I totally understand where they are coming from, but the cause of your pain and discomfort generally has taken a long time, even years, to develop despite the length of time you have experienced pain.
When I ask people if they have ever been to the chiropractor, some will say the went once but it didn’t help. ONCE!! How in the world do you expect to see dramatic improvement on anything with ONE visit?! I love analogies so here is one I use when I encounter this response…
Imagine it’s January 3rd and you have made a resolution to get in shape this year so you become a member at the local gym and set-up an evaluation with a personal trainer. During the evaluation, the trainer discovers that you are 47 pounds over-weight, with an elevated body fat composition and your muscle mass is severely lacking. He proceeds to put you through your first workout and then sends you home for the day after setting up your second workout two days later. You leave the gym anxious but excited because once you know where you are currently, you can make the appropriate changes to get to where you want to be. But here’s the thing… You wake up the next morning and climb on the scale only to realize that you have lost 0 pounds. Zip, nada, zilch!! You conclude after one workout that “THIS DOESN’T WORK”!! Now come on, you probably wouldn’t react that way, but when you give the chiropractor one adjustment to cure years of issues, that’s exactly what you are doing to them.
The bottom line is, it takes time to heal and recover. The thing that a skilled chiropractor should tell you is that while your pain may have just recently appeared, the cause of the pain has been growing, developing and getting worse for years and that is evident on the examination and the X-rays. You must have realistic expectations that if it took a long time to develop, it often takes a while to correct and retrain the spine. But the cool part is… when you commit to giving it time and you are consistent and persistent with care, the odds are usually always in your favor to improve. Some people are lucky enough to start to feel better sooner than others but when you stay the course and see it to the end, 92% are statistically proven to improve. All good things come to those who wait :-).
As always, if you have any questions, or would like to schedule a time to sit down with Dr. Ring at Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic, give us a call at 918-940-4630 and we can set-up an appointment for you. We take most insurance and can generally get you in the office the same day. Thank you for your referrals and thank you for allowing us to be your chiropractor.