What should you expect on your first Chiropractic visit?
Some people attend our Chiropractic studio with health challenges like back pain, neck pain or headaches. Conditions that Chiropractic has a great track record with.
Some people also seek care with things besides just pain or a particular dis-ease. Like poor sleep, poor energy, poor mood, hormonal issues, or digestive concerns.
If you’re dealing with certain health challenges like recurring pain and symptoms. Or a specific condition that you’ve been diagnosed with, deciding to finally seek help can be a bit daunting.
Especially if you’re unfamiliar with the kinds of care that could help you improve your health and get you back doing the things you need to do and love to do.
If you’ve considered seeing a Chiropractor, but been unsure about how Chiropractic care would help you with your health concerns, you’re not alone.
Here’s what you can expect from your first visit to our Chiropractic studio.
A warm welcome to our happy, healing space
We’ve been intentional with the design of our studio, ensuring that it feels like an inviting and friendly space that supports your healing and wellbeing.
We want you to feel calm and at ease from the moment you settle in.
Having completed your new client forms online prior to arriving, we’ll have had ample time to thoroughly review your history before you arrive, and will be ready to hear your story and understand more about what your needs are.
Initial consultation
Our primary goal for your first chiropractic visit is to determine if we’re the right people to help you with your concerns and the specific health goals you have.
By the end of this visit, we’ll know whether we can help, or if we need to refer you to another practitioner who is better suited to care for you.
We’ll know this by taking a detailed health history of any current and previous health concerns, and performing a thorough examination that includes movement analysis, balance and neurological testing.
If your health concerns are more chronic, or if our testing reveals anything that we need to explore further, we may refer for X-rays, performed locally by our friends at Lake Imaging.
Films are fully bulk billed by Medicare and incur no out-of-pocket costs.
Depending on whether we require X-Rays or not, you may receive your first adjustment on this visit if it’s safe to begin care.
Your adjustment will always be tailored to you, based on your body type, age, health issues and any personal preferences.
What happens after the adjustment?
Most people get up from their first adjustment feeling lighter and noticing that their movement is freer and easier.
What’s interesting to remember, is that the body doesn’t heal in the short time you spend lying on the table. It’s not usually realistic to jump up off the table and feel 100% pain-free.
Rather, the adjustment stimulates and encourages your body’s own healing process as you begin to go about your daily life over the subsequent days.
To help maintain the changes and reinforce the work we’ve just completed, we suggest a couple of simple post-adjustment practices.
- Water – Your body needs water to heal. Drinking a glass of water will help your brain stay hydrated and function properly. If the brain is dehydrated, even by only a few percent, brain function starts to decline.
- Walk – Going for a short 5-10 minute walk will help your body and brain to reinforce these newly improved movement patterns in your spine. Getting in your car and sitting down straight away is an unnatural posture for your spine to assume following your visit.
Are there any other considerations?
Depending on the extent of your problems and how long your health concerns have been present, you may notice some unpleasant sensations in the early stages of your care.
These are usually minor and short-lasting, and might include muscular aching or general tiredness – likened to the post-exercise feeling experienced 1-2 days after your first visit to the gym.
You can rest assured knowing that as your body functions better, these adaptive symptoms are usually quicker to settle and occur less frequently over time.
Whatever changes you notice, be sure to listen to your body and give it the time it needs to heal.
Find the balance between rest and gentle activity, and your body will be moving in the right direction.
What’s next?
Then based upon your health history and the results from your testing, we come up with a plan, and different options for your care.
We know that healing takes time and repetition, and that we can’t expect to change years’ worth of habits in one visit!
We’ll likely suggest a series of regular adjustments in a specific timeframe, designed to re-establish normal movement patterns in your spine and help create new communication patterns between your brain and body.
These regular adjustment visits are timely and efficient and fit easily and efficiently into your day.
We also make suggestions for simple self-care strategies that you can do at home, to support the care you receive in our studio and speed up your progress.
At the conclusion of your suggested care plan, we’ll suggest performing a Progress Exam to thoroughly review your progress and ensure that you’re happy with your results.
We always offer options for your care, depending on whether your goals are more short-term oriented, or long-term oriented.
Then it’s totally up to you if, and how, you’d like to proceed.
You will always have full autonomy of your health and your healthcare choices, and we’re here to support you.
If you have any further questions about whether Chiropractic care might be able to help you, feel free to contact us. We can easily have an informal chat over the phone where we can cover any questions or concerns you have.
If you’re feeling ready to go and you’d like to book your first chiropractic visit, you can click the book online button at the top of the screen. We’d love to see if we can help.
Mick
