Your First Chiropractor Visit – What to Expect (Part 2)

July 7, 2023

When you first visit our clinic to receive chiropractic care, you will go through an initial consultation that involves discussing your pain, symptoms, and medical history, as well as a physical assessment to assess your strength and mobility.

Once the initial consultation is complete, your chiropractor will then diagnose your condition and use this information to guide your chiropractic treatment plan.

At Atlas Physiotherapy & Health, we are dedicated to ensuring your chiropractic experience is comfortable and effective.

To help you understand how your first visit works, let’s look at how your chiropractor will diagnose your condition and create a treatment plan:

Diagnosis

Following your consultation and physical assessment, your chiropractor may use additional diagnostic tools to diagnose your condition accurately.

By combining their expertise with any necessary orthopaedic tests, they can precisely identify the underlying issues and develop a personalized chiropractic care plan tailored to address your unique concerns effectively.

This comprehensive approach aims to provide you with the most appropriate and targeted treatment to support your journey toward optimal health and wellness.

Once your chiropractor has determined your condition, they can then advise you on whether or not your condition will respond to chiropractic care.

By the end of your initial visit, you will know your diagnosed condition, your individualized treatment plan, and the approximate length of care.

Treatment Plan

When creating a treatment plan, your chiropractor will establish short-term and long-term goals.

Short-term goals may include reducing pain and restoring normal function, helping you return to doing what you love in the long term, whether that is a sport, gardening or spending time with your loved ones!

Your experienced chiropractor will determine which treatment options are best for your situation. These include spinal manipulation, spinal mobilization, strengthening exercises, stretching, acupuncture, soft tissue therapy and any other recommended forms of treatment to help you achieve your goals.

During spinal mobilizations and/or adjustments, you may hear popping or cracking sounds, but this is common and is no cause for concern.

For some patients, the spinal adjustments during the initial chiropractic appointment may bring instant relief, but you may need multiple sessions to feel the long-term effects.

Your treatment plan with your chiropractor will also include education to improve your posture and include lifestyle counselling to help build healthy habits to help you return to doing what you love in a sustainable way.

Does Chiropractic Treatment Hurt?

Many people are concerned that receiving chiropractic treatment will be painful.

While some chiropractic adjustments can feel uncomfortable or awkward if you are not used to having your body moved around in this way, they are not painful.

Chiropractors are highly trained professionals who prioritize their clients’ well-being throughout the treatment process.

Some patients do report slight soreness and tenderness following their chiropractic treatment, but this is common, and the discomfort subsides in about 2-3 days.

Likewise, if you are seeking chiropractic treatment because of chronic back pain or a back injury, you may notice brief pain in sensitive areas.

But in such cases, chiropractors take great care to ensure the patient remains as comfortable as possible.

Rest assured that our chiropractor is dedicated to making your experience as pleasant as possible. They will address any concerns you may have and work with you to alleviate discomfort, aiming to improve your overall well-being and mobility.