What happens on my first visit?
At Partners in Health & Wellness it is important to us to get a clear understanding of your problem before we begin with care. Once the doctor has determined that chiropractic is the appropriate treatment for the condition, you will begin the exam process. However, if your case does not look to benefit from chiropractic care, Dr. Hecht will refer your case to one of the many health providers in his network.
The Examination
Once Dr. Hecht has determined that your case would benefit from chiropractic care, a physical exam including orthopedic, neurological, and chiropractic tests will be performed. Orthopedic and neurologic tests performed at Partners in Health & Wellness will be much like those found in an advanced medical evaluation for musculoskeletal conditions. The chiropractic evaluation will include a spinal examination and postural analysis to determine the severity of your specific complaint(s).
X-rays/Performance Tests
With some health conditions it is necessary to perform advanced tests such as radiographs (x-rays) or sport-specific tests to determine the severity of the problem. X-rays used at Partners in Health & Wellness keep your safety at the forefront. After performing the evaluation, Dr. Hecht will determine the medical necessity of x-rays. Radiographs are used to determine safety for chiropractic procedures, level of degeneration to the joints and discs, as well as to discover other possible pathologies.
Diagnosis
A diagnosis is the "what's wrong with me". It is the formal medical description of your condition used to determine your plan of care. The diagnosis is determined by your medical history, the physical and chiropractic exams, and x-rays or other more specialized tests. This will be discussed along with your treatment options by Dr. Hecht before your receive treatment.
Treatment
Treatment methods include the chiropractic adjustment (sometimes called manual manipulation) and may also include ultrasound, electrical stimulation, cold laser, condition specific stretches and exercises, aswell as nutritional counseling. Also, Dr. Hecht provides therapeutic massage and personal training as adjunctive therapies to compliment your chiropractic care.
Is chiropractic effective?
Chiropractic helps to remove postural imbalances and structural misalignments that can accumulate in our bodies over time. Chiropractic works by restoring your own inborn ability to be healthy. For your body to remain healthy, your nervous system must function well. For your nervous system to function well it must be free of interference. By restoring spinal function with Chiropractic adjustments, nerve interference by misaligned vertebrae is removed, thus allowing optimal nervous system function and improved health.
Why should I see a Chiropractor?
Seeing a chiropractor is not only for back pain and neck pain. Chiropractic care is an excellent way to keep your body at its peak performance through nutrition, adjustment and overall wellness. In addition, chiropractic care has been known to help a wide range of conditions from fibromyalgia to diabetes.
What is Subluxation?
When a vertebrae becomes misaligned or moves out of its normal position, this is referred to in the chiropractic profession as a subluxation. Subluxations can be caused by a wide range of issues ranging from a minor slip or bump to a car accident or any sudden trauma. When a vertebrae is subluxated, it begins to put pressure on nerves, blood vessels and everything around it. This pressure comes with a price. The subluxation interrupts the natural pathways that the messages sent from the brain need to be clear in order to be completed properly.
How does chiropractic care work?
Chiropractic is an overall way of looking at the human body. It’s based on the idea that the body is self-sustaining and self-healing. The body is in essence completely controlled by the brain through its connection via the spinal cord and the vast networks of nerves that make up the body. When this system is not functioning at its peak, the overall performance of the human body is lacking.
In the chiropractic world, drugs and medicine are not utilized as a form of treating a patient. While supplementation and nutrition are almost always a part of the bigger picture, drugs and prescriptions can be viewed as band-aids to treat symptoms rather than going to the source and treating the real problem.
While it’s often perceived that the chiropractor is solely here to treat back and neck pain, this is simply a small piece of what the profession really is capable of handling. Chiropractors not only treat soft and hard tissue problems such as sciatica and joint pain, but are largely called on to deal with more significant issues. Some of these issues include fibromyalgia, allergies, insomnia, headaches and many more.
What is a chiropractic adjustment? Is it safe?
Adjustments, or manipulation as they’re sometimes referred to is the minor movement of vertebrae in the spine. The objective of this movement is to realign vertebrae that have moved out of place for a number of reasons ranging from normal daily activity to trauma such as a car accident.
When these vertebrae are out of place, it has an overall systemic effect from muscular to the central nervous system. Without proper alignment and flow of all nerves and systems in the body from the brain, we can’t function at our peak.
An adjustment is often a pressure from the chiropractor utilizing the hands or an instrument to move a vertebrae back into place. This happens with a quick movement and is often without discomfort. You may hear a noise that sounds like you’re cracking your knuckles referred to as joint cavitation. It is the release of gases such as oxygen and nitrogen from the joint.
What can I expect from my visit to a chiropractor?
Going to the Chiropractor is a new experience for many of us. Maybe we’ve heard through a friend or have done some research online. It’s possible that you are just fed up with living in pain and it’s time to do something about it. In either case, your first visit to the chiropractor will really be about getting to know the chiropractor and discussing your history, current condition and goals.
What results can I expect from treatment?
Chiropractic is based on the idea of removing imbalances both structural and postural in an effort to allow our body to heal itself. For this to happen the network of nerves and signals from your brain, down your spinal cord, to the network of nerves must be allowed to flow freely without any interruption. Chiropractors have the ability and skill to remove these interruptions or misalignments and allow the body to perform as it was meant to.
If you’ve ever been in a car accident, played a sport, fell down or just bumped into something too hard, it’s very possible that you are not functioning at your best due to a misalignment. While there are many potential mechanical or structural causes for misalignment, there are also chemical reasons. For instance, if you smoke or drink excessively or even just have a poor diet, the chemical issues in your body can eventually cause underlying conditions and disease to appear.
Allowing a chiropractor to get you back on track both chemically and structurally will bring your body back to the proper state it should be in to perform at its peak.
Consumer Reports Lists Chiropractic Patients As Most Satisfied
Consumer Reports ~ May 2009
A study in the May issue of Consumer Reports shows that hands-on therapies were tops among treatments for relief of back pain. The study, which surveyed more than 14,000 consumers, was conducted by the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center. The report states that, “eighty-eight percent of those who tried chiropractic manipulation said it helped a lot, and 59 percent were ‘completely’ or ‘very’ satisfied with their chiropractor.”
Factors Associated With Patient Satisfaction With Chiropractic Care:
Survey and Review of the Literature
J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2006 (Jul); 29 (6): 455–462
The results here generally confirm the findings elsewhere in the literature. Of the 23% of the adult population who have ever visited a chiropractor, overall rates of satisfaction are once again found to be quite high (83% satisfied or better) and the number dissatisfied is quite low (less than 10% dissatisfied or very dissatisfied). This is remarkable given the fact that much of the financial burden of the care is borne by patients, and the preponderance of care is for difficult chronic problems of back and neck.
Chiropractic Services in the Canadian Armed Forces: A Pilot Project
Military Medicine 2006 (Jun); 171 (6): 572–576
This article reports on satisfaction associated with the introduction of chiropractic services within a military hospital, through a Canadian Armed Forces Pilot Project. We distributed a 27-item survey that inquired about demographic information and satisfaction with chiropractic services to 102 military personnel presenting for on-site chiropractic services at the Archie McCallum Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The majority of military personnel (94.2%) and referring physicians (80.0%) expressed satisfaction with chiropractic services.
What results can I expect from treatment?
That depends on your condition. The length of time you have had the problem, your age and the degree of your disability all affect the length of your treatment. Your Doctor of Chiropractic should be able to give you an estimate of the extent of relief you should receive from the recommended treatment and how long you can expect it to last. One of the main reasons people choose chiropractic is that they often get quick results. Individual cases vary and chronic conditions obviously need more treatment. However, Workers' Compensation Board studies show that people with low back pain return to work much faster with chiropractic care. Below are other links that describe the cost-effectiveness of chiropractic care.
Clinical Utilization and Cost Outcomes from an Integrative Medicine Independent Physician Association: An Additional 3-year Update
J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2007 (May); 30 (4): 263–269
A new retrospective analysis of 70,274 member-months in a 7-year period within an IPA, comparing medical management to chiropractic management, demonstrated decreases of 60.2% in-hospital admissions, 59.0% hospital days, 62.0% outpatient surgeries and procedures, and 83% pharmaceutical costs when compared with conventional medicine IPA performance. This clearly demonstrates that chiropractic nonsurgical nonpharmaceutical approaches generates reductions in both clinical and cost utilization when compared with PCPs using conventional medicine alone.
Effects of a Managed Chiropractic Benefit on the Use of Specific Diagnostic and Therapeutic Procedures in the Treatment of Low Back and Neck Pain
J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2005 (Oct); 28 (8): 564–569
For the treatment of low back and neck pain, the inclusion of a chiropractic benefit resulted in a reduction in the rates of surgery, advanced imaging, inpatient care, and plain-film radiographs . This effect was greater on a per-episode basis than on a per-patient basis.
Cost Effectiveness of Physical Treatments for Back Pain in Primary Care
British Medical Journal 2004 (Dec 11); 329 (7479): 1381 ~ FULL TEXT
We believe that this is the first study of physical therapy for low back pain to show convincingly that both manipulation alone and manipulation followed by exercise provide cost effective additions to care in general practice.Indeed, as we trained practice teams in the best care of back pain, we may have underestimated the benefit of physical therapy (spinal manipulation) when compared with "usual care" in general practice. The detailed clinical outcomes reported in the accompanying paper reinforce these findings by showing that the improvements in health status reported here reflect statistically significant improvements in function, pain, disability, physical and mental aspects of quality of life, and beliefs about back pain.
Can You Do Anything About a TMJ Problem?
The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) can sometimes be a source of head, jaw/mouth, neck, or ear pain. Other symptoms include: tinnitis (ringing in the ears), popping or clicking in the jaw (often painful), swelling of the jaw or face, headaches, and locking of the TMJ. Treatment of the TMJ varies among professionals. Dr. Hecht has completed a 100-hour course on extremities including treatment of the TMJ. Dr. Hecht will provide you with a complete consultation to see if you are a candidate for TMJ treatment. If so, a treatment plan will be prepared for you to safely and gently provide you with relief of your symptoms.
How can I tell if I have migraines or tension headaches?
Tension headaches are the most common type of headaches. These headaches can arise due to stress, unhealthy posture, poor habits, and increased incidents of non-treated whiplash from a sports or car injury. It is estimated that as many as 90% of adults suffer from tension headaches. Symptoms usually include pain originating from the back of the head (occiput) or top of the neck. The pain can carry a reverse-question mark type pattern behind the ear and eye. Other symptoms include irritability, inability to think clear, tightness/burning between the shoulder blades, and fatigue.
Migraine headaches are the second most common type of primary headache. Approximately 28 million people in the US suffer from migraine headaches. Migraine headaches can effect children as well as adults. Headaches should never be ignored in children under that age of 10, as it could possibly be related to a more grave condition. Consult a physician immediately if your child is complaining of multiple headaches. Symptoms of migraines include an intense, throbbing pain, usually located on one side of the head at a time. Other symptoms include nausea, sensitivity to light or loud noise, vomiting, cold/clammy hands, and irritability.
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