When searching for the best chiropractor in your area there are a few things to consider but the gold standard for chiropractic care is corrective care. Corrective care is not only going to be correcting the symptoms but also correcting the functionality in the structure of the joint, the tissue, and the spine. Here are the 5 steps you should take when searching for a new chiropractor.
1. Learn About the Different Chiropractic Treatments and Techniques
At Advanced Health Chiropractic, we practice a technique called chiropractic biophysics. It is the most researched form of chiropractic which is based in and around the biomechanical assessment of the spine. Obviously, the spine is designed to be a certain way, and we have a little bit of wiggle room from that, but the further away we get from a spine that is in alignment, the more chance and propensity we have of symptoms and/or dysfunction. So, for us, when we’re treating our patients, we can comfortably say, based on a thorough evaluation, history or detailed consult history or a preliminary neurological evaluation, including x-rays, exactly what is causing the dysfunction. From there, we can give you options which include treatment just to get you out of pain and get you functioning again, or we can do a treatment where we’re going to objectively improve the shape of your spine and get it within or close to normal limits which, research is pretty clear on, is going to reduce your chance of pain down the road.
Some patients might be really into exercise for example, Crossfitters might prefer a chiropractor that’s more focused on the soft tissue within the joint and treat the soft tissue. Many friends of mine practicing in Colorado are adjusting the spine, but they’re focusing more on soft tissue, mostly tendons in the spine or in the shoulder or in the foot or in the ankle; they’re kind of more sports based. And then I have other friends who are more pain based. The patient would see them six to 12 times based on their symptomatology and their case to get out of pain and the chiropractor will say, “Okay, you are good to go. Next time you’re in pain, come on in.”
There are many different ways you can be treated, and all based on what you’re trying to get out of treatment. What we tend to find is people will come in with symptoms, but they always want correction. You don’t want the pain to come back. If that’s the type of care you’re looking for, idealspine.com is a website that you can use for anyone who’s qualified in chiropractic biophysics and you can hang your hat on those guys and girls correcting your issue objectively, which is going to give you more of a long-term solution.
Chiropractic practices are not standardized throughout the profession. Chiropractors, first and foremost, are specialists in the spine and the nervous system. So, we have to start there. All chiropractors are adjusting the spine. If they’re adjusting the spine, how are they adjusting it? Because there are many different ways to adjust the spine. For example, if you have a traumatic brain injury, you might want to see a chiropractor that’s specializes in neurology. If you have a bad upper cervical injury from a car accident, for example, you might want to find a chiropractor that specializes in just the upper cervical spine. If you have a bad sports injury, disc injury in the lower back from weightlifting, for example, you might want to find a chiropractor that’s specializes in orthopedics or sports.
2. Check the License
Every chiropractor obviously has to be licensed within the state so you should jump on your state’s licensing board and just double check the license is active and there have not been any malpractice cases.
3. Read the Online Reviews
When trying to choose a specific chiropractor, I feel the best way to assess the doctor, the staff, and the clinic environment would be to jump online and check out all their social channels, their Google reviews, their Yelp reviews, and their Facebook reviews because obviously proof is in the pudding. If you have a choice between two or three chiropractors and one of the chiropractors has a three-star rating the other has a five-star rating and/or one chiropractor has 10 reviews, or he has a thousand reviews, then obviously the chiropractor who is seeing more people and getting more good reviews is more than likely going to be doing the better work. Not saying the other chiropractors aren’t, but I feel like social proof just goes a long way for us. When people are asked how they heard of us, they say every time, “Well, I found you online, looked at your Google reviews, you’re the highest reviewed. So, you guys seem to be a good fit.” We seem to do good stuff, so it just rolls into another good review, another good review, and then they just keep the new patients coming.
4. Review the Website
A chiropractor’s website is usually really good for chiropractors to show off their credentials, specifically such as if they are qualified in orthopedics or neurology. Have they done extra training and received qualifications like we have in chiropractic biophysics? Are they soft tissue specialized?
For example, if you wanted to find a really good soft tissue specialist to focus more on a soft tissue injury, integrated diagnosis is probably the gold standard for soft tissue, and we do that here at Advanced Health Chiropractic. There is a provider website where you punch in your zip code and it will list all providers that are versed and qualified in that technique. So, there are two ways to go about it. It just depends on if you are well versed in the technique, most people aren’t. So, then you’d have to look a little deeper into the clinic’s website and that doctor’s profile. Every doctor should have a profile page on the website for you to review.
The website of a reputable chiropractor should list the type of treatment they’re performing. Just give them a call or go in and have a consult with the chiropractor or with who you’d like to see, and then essentially ask them questions. This is my issue, how does your office treat this issue? What type of therapies do you do? What does it entail?
5. Find the Chiropractor That is Right for You
At Advanced Health Chiropractic, we do all of those things. When you are adjusting your spine, working on alignment, via traction, working on a soft tissue within the joint and then physical therapy to fix all the muscle imbalances that occur from injuries and poor posture, that’s the type of treatment you want because that adds all the good things together and all those things are equal at getting optimal results. That’s why we do really well in terms of helping a lot of people and being well reviewed.
We do all those things compared to other chiropractors that might adjust the spine which is great, but they might be missing something with the soft tissue. Or soft tissue specialists might be great at treating the soft tissue, but they’re missing something with the alignment of your neck, which is going to continue to beat up the soft tissue. So obviously, you just have to try and figure out what type of therapy you feel like you need or want and, just find a chiropractor that is the gold standard in terms of how they’re treating their patients.
