Relief
Most people arrive in pain. The first goal is to get you feeling better. Visits are usually closer together in this phase.
Your first visit
About 45 minutes. History, examination, and — if the examination supports it — your first adjustment the same day.
Before you come
Arrive ten minutes early to fill in the health questionnaire. Or download it and bring it completed, which saves time.
Health history
We begin by going unhurriedly through your background: injuries, illnesses, current and past symptoms.
Your daily life counts too. Physical, chemical and emotional stress all affect the body's capacity to recover, and knowing about them helps us understand what is going on.
Examination
Then a thorough physical examination: postural analysis, balance and sway, centre of gravity, palpation of the spine, and neurological and orthopaedic tests.
It locates vertebral subluxations — and rules out what is not ours to treat.
First adjustment
If the examination shows you are likely to benefit from chiropractic care, you will receive your first adjustment that same day.
If it does not, we will say so. We would rather tell you to your face than start a plan that will not help you.
Second visit
We review the test results together and, if appropriate, recommend a plan of care with a clear idea of frequency and duration.
The three phases of care
Just as a house needs foundations before walls, care of the spine follows an order.
Stabilisation
Continued correction lets the muscles and tissues that support the spine recover. Visits spread further apart and you are usually feeling considerably better.
Maintenance
Once function is restored, periodic care helps prevent the problem returning.
Review
For patients under care for longer periods we repeat the full first-visit examination, usually around the twelfth visit. It shows what has actually changed.
