Patch or Fix, and other sundry questions answered.

Just like everything in life there is more than one opinion on how to go about a course of Chiropractic treatment. One question is patch or fix which is better, and like so many other things in life that engenders more questions that need to be considered to make a decision on which approach to take.

RAMIFICATIONS…. Now that’s a word we all understand and the concept that for each choice we make there are consequences and the better informed we are, the better choices we make provided we have the means to make them.

The patch approach to Chiropractic is one where when you hurt you call your Doctor and we you treat as needed to alleviate your pain. This is an approach that makes great business sense for your Chiropractor as we then have a lifetime patient who may or may not get complete remission from their symptoms.

The fix approach takes the view that a high frequency approach over a shorter time frame will actually correct the underlying problem and then prevent the major flare ups that tend to occur with people who have the types of anomalies we are talking about. We still may have a lifetime patient but the frequency of visits is GREATLY reduced and the symptoms tend to go into complete remission.

I often get patients who have been seeing another Chiropractor two to three times a month for… oh… their whole lives in some cases. When I then describe the reconstructive approach to them stating higher frequency for a couple months and you will hardly see me anymore. Their reaction is sometimes “Hey you are trying to rip me off my other Chiropractor doesn’t treat me that way.” My first question is, if you’ve been seeing the other guy three times a month for how many years and you aren’t really better, who’s really the rip off.

Another thing I hear when discussing treatment options is “Isn’t it such that when you start treatments with a Chiropractor you end up going forever ?” This always amuses me and speaks to a sad state of how Chiropractors educate their patients.

NO ONE…… EVER says “Dam once you start seeing a dentist, you can’t ever stop.” This is because people do things that are good for them when in fact they realize the benefits. Clearly we aren’t going out to our patients homes and putting a gun to their heads and dragging them back into the office. (As far as you know anyway.) Truth be told they come in for tune ups because it works.

Perception…. Its all about perception. Suffice it to say I am happy to provide my patients with whatever type of care they so desire. I do think as an ethical practitioner its incumbent on me to flesh out the options and let my patients choose what works best for them.

There are reasons a reconstructive approach may not work for people. One of them being insurance companies don’t pay for a reconstructive course of care. They believe if you are in pain you can have service. If you are out of pain get out of the Dr’s office. Truth be told most people who choose reconstructive care are out of pain long before the treatment plan ends. (And most often it doesn’t return.) Again what makes more sense ? Functioning with some level of chronic pain or actually fixing it.

Another question is does the pain come back if you do the corrective program. The answer is as complex as the variety of people who do it. If in fact you continue to do the things that created the problem and not stay with the home version of the repair…. Yes. So I tell people I work with, if you aren’t going to discipline yourself to do the homework don’t even start. This may be a simple as raising your computer monitor and who wouldn’t do that if they realized it would alleviate the cause of their condition ?

It takes a lot of effort over a short period of time to correct a spine and comparatively little effort to maintain the correction but the onus is in fact on the patient to keep up the good work. Your Doctor and only lead you to the path not keep you on it.

Yes there are a lot of questions in this world and hopefully you find a Chiropractor with a lot of answers.

As always, I’m here to help.