How many chiropractic visits do you need?

                                         San Francisco Chiropractor Comments:

                                

The first 3 things patients want to know when they visit a chiropractor are:

1. Can you help me?

2. How long is it going to take?

3. What's it going to cost?

And, those are the first 3 questions we answer at Executive Express Chiropractic in downtown San Francisco. For the most part, we are able to help the overwhelming majority of the patients that seek treatment at our clinic.

How long it takes depends on the nature and severity of the problem. Is it one spinal area or more? Are there extremities involved like a shoulder or wrist? Is the condition brand new or chronic? The longer a problem has been around, the longer it takes to treat. The body gets used to the abnormal position of the spine. The muscles, ligaments, and tendons that support the spine need to be taught to work with the spine in the position we are moving it towards (a more normal alignment).

What I just described is called chiropractic spinal correction and it takes time...20-40 sessions, sometimes more, depending on your age, level of spinal degeneration, areas of involvement, and any complications such as scoliosis or a short leg. 

And then there is chiropractic relief care, which is treatment to get red of specific symptoms or a chief complaint such as low back pain, neck pain, knee pain...or combinations of pain. The more areas of involvement, and the more acute the pain, the more extensive the relief care needs to be. But generally speaking, relief care is 6-12 visits at Executive Express.

I should point out that relief care is built into corrective care. It is always our primary objective to get the symptoms under control...then we work on correcting the posture and alignment with spinal adjustments, exercises, Active Release Techniques (ART), traction, and education.

After we either reach maximum correction with corrective care or achieve our objective with relief care, we consider maintenance care or prescribed when needed care (self prescribed or PRN).

Maintenance care is good because you come in a pre-set intervals....say every 2 weeks or once per month which helps to either maintain correction or prevent relapse.

Prescribed when needed care is when you just walk-in or pick-up the phone and tell us you are coming in whenever you feel the need.

Either way is fine with us. In fact, however you wish to utilize our services is fine with us and we will do our best to help you make an informed decision. If we think you need correction we will tell you. And if we think you just need a few adjustments we will tell you. But in the end, it's up to you to decide...and you can always change your mind.

Every day we have patients that decide they like the way they feel from the relief care they are getting and they want to continue on with correction. And sometimes we feel a patient has reached correction before the recommended visits have been reached and we decide to go to PRN early...all cases are different.  

So anyway, how many chiropractic visits you need depends on the nature and severity of your condition and the type of outcome you wish to achieve. Whether it's relief care or corrective care, our walk-in, no-wait policies at Executive Express are sure to make for a smooth ride. 

To find out if you are a candidate for care at Executive Express Chiropractic at the SF Embarcadero Center, call 415-392-2225 or request an appointment online.

Comments

[Dr. Kevin Smith]

I have a couple of colleagues who use ART technique. They all RAVE about it. One of the best techniques known to man for muscle problems. Dr. Davis is providing world class service by offering this stuff to his community.