First Visit
what to expect
The Guide to Surviving Your 1st Chiropractic Treatment
Guide to Recovery
We all suffer periodic back or limb pain from time to time. Injuries can arise from falls, accidents/ incidents at work or during sports or postural related problems. Chiropractic treatment is ideally suited to assist in resolving these and other complaints.
What can you expect?
An initial consultation can last up to 1 hour depending on the complexity of your complaint. A thorough history and examination is performed after which we will review any X-rays you may have and discuss why you are suffering and possibly what from. From here we will formulate a personalised care program for you to help resolve your condition. Treatment will always include soft tissue therapy or massage of the affected area(s) and associated Chiropractic and Rehabilitative techniques will be used to assist in your healing and recovery. Any helpful advice to assist in the success of the treatment will always be discussed such as using ice packs, suitable sitting positions and the use of any medications needed (which should always be reviewed by your Doctor or Pharmacist).
Subsequent treatments last approximately 20 min depending upon your presenting complaint. Simply, we will do what we need to do to achieve a positive and beneficial response to your condition to get you back on the road to recovery.
X-rays and other special tests can be an important part of assessing and defining what potentially could be wrong. If your case warrants X-rays we can refer you to local Radiology Centres or please bring along current and previous scans.
Don’t worry, it’s natural to be sore after a treatment!
Chiropractic aims at improving the movement in your spine and joints so that your Nervous System functions as best as possible, so the affected area is likely to be sore after treatment. To help with the discomfort simple strategies like the use of Ice (see ‘In Case of Emergencies’ tab), changing your sitting postures and keeping mobile where possible will assist in your recovery. Soreness should last no longer than 48hrs after a treatment however if your symptoms greatly increase or change significantly then you should always contact us immediately and we can discuss at length your concerns.
Home advice
What you do outside treatment times is just as significant as the treatment itself. You can greatly assist your recovery by doing simple things such as:
- • Going for a walk for 5 minutes after a treatment
- • Using ice therapy for the inflammation process
- • Not sitting on the lounge but rather on an upright dining chair with additional lower back support for better upright posture
- • Changing postures regularly between sitting, walking and lying in bed
- • Performing certain stretches or exercises discussed with your Chiropractor specific to your complaint
How long will it take to get better?
Recovery is difficult to predict because there are usually many factors that led to your condition and your body’s structure also plays a key role in the severity of injury and the rate of recovery. Each person responds differently to treatment but usually we will know better how your body is responding after a few treatments. Our clinical experience shows that people generally need up to 12 treatments before their symptoms are significantly reduced and are then able to return to previous activities. Each individual’s results vary depending on the chronic nature of the complaint, occupation, severity of injury, and the age of the patient, just to list a few.