One of the largest primary-contact health care professions in Ontario, Chiropractic is a gentle, non-invasive, hands-on health care discipline that focuses on the neuromusculoskeletal system (neuro=nerves, musculo=muscles, skeletal=joints).
Doctors of Chiropractic (DC) practice a manual approach, providing diagnosis, treatment and preventative care for disorders related to the spine, pelvis, nervous system, muscles and joints of the body. For many conditions, such as lower back pain, Chiropractic care is frequently the primary method of treatment and, where other conditions exist, may complement or support medical treatment by relieving the neuromusculoskeletal aspect associated with the condition. Chiropractic care is also a great addition to your overall health maintenance plan.
What to Expect on Your First Chiropractic Visit
Clinic Intake Information
At Chiropractic Plus, we take the pain out of the initial paperwork with an easy-to-use confidential and secure touch screen monitor, where you enter information about your chief complaint (i.e. where it hurts, when the pain started, etc).
Health History
When you go in to see the Doctor, they will sit down with you and go over the details of your chief complaint that you entered on the touch screen monitor. The Doctor will also ask you other questions about your health such as previous injuries, past and present health conditions, family health history and lifestyle factors. The health history is very important not only for understanding the nature of your pain, but it also helps guide the Doctor what structures to evaluate during the physical examination.
Physical Examination and Diagnosis
Next, the Doctor will perform an examination of the painful or injured area. The purpose of the physical examination is for the Doctor to reproduce what is causing your pain. This enables the Doctor to determine precisely what is injured (muscle, tendon, ligament, joint, nerve, etc) and the extent of the injury.
The physical examination typically involves:
- Evaluating your posture and ranges of motion in certain joints
- Palpating (touching) various muscles, tendons, bones, nerves and ligaments
- A variety of orthopedic tests that help identify how certain areas of your body are moving and the specific nature of your injury
- Neurological testing such as checking reflexes, basic strength tests to identify weak muscles and sensory testing to determine if there is any numbness or loss of sensation on the skin
- Various other possible tests, when indicated, such as blood pressure, heart rate, and cranial nerves examination
Based on the results of the physical examination the Doctor will provide you with a diagnosis or list of possible diagnoses. In some cases the Doctor may refer you for X-rays.
If during the examination the Doctor is unable to reproduce what is causing your pain, then it is possible that your pain or injury does not fall within the scope of Chiropractic practice. In other words, it is not a neuromusculoskeletal problem. An example would be if a patient came into the clinic with back pain, which is being caused by a kidney stone. In this case, the Doctors at Chiropractic Plus would refer you to the appropriate medical health professional within our referral network that can help you.
Treatment
If your diagnosis is a condition which Chiropractic can help, the Doctors will recommend a treatment plan to get you better as quickly as possible and provide you with a treatment on that day with your consent. Treatment often uses a variety of approaches to help reduce pain, relieve muscle tension, improve joint range of motion and restore function to the injured area. The Doctor will also make recommendations about things you can do at home or at work to help with your recovery and prevent re-injury.
[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]