During your initial consultation, the doctor will discuss with you the nature of your condition in detail, and various treatment options will explained. Further consultation and examination procedures will be performed, after determining the most appropriate types of treatment. Should you choose chiropractic and physical medicine procedures including acupuncture, the doctor will spend approximately one full hour with you in order to determine the precise cause of your problem. If you decide to utilize homeopathy, then you will be scheduled for a future appointment, which will last 2-3 hours or longer, until the doctor has enough information to prescribe an appropriate homeopathic remedy.
During the consultation, a detailed history of your problem will be obtained, and you will have the opportunity to have your questions answered. Next, a thorough examination will be performed including orthopedic and neurologic evaluation. Specialized functional testing such as postural analysis, gait analysis, joint & muscle testing, as well as X-ray studies, may also be utilized to formulate an accurate diagnosis and individual treatment plan. You will then be advised of your prognosis, including the answers to the following questions: what's wrong, how can we fix it, how long will it take, and how much will it cost. If your condition would be more appropriately managed by another health care provider, a prompt referral would be made.
Treatment on the first visit will depend upon the specifics of your condition. Most often treatment will include various procedures to help make you feel more comfortable, and/or spinal manipulation/adjustment, or a homeopathic remedy would be prescribed. The doctor will also make self-care recommendations including exercises, nutritional supplements, and the application of ice or heat.
The length of a session can vary greatly, depending upon the specifics of the condition including severity, stage of injury, and phase of care. A maintenance or wellness visit consisting of spinal manipulation only, may last about 10 minutes. Other modalities take additional time, so a session could last 45 minutes to an hour, or more. Homeopathic visits usually last 20-30 minutes for simple follow-up visits, or 40-60 minutes in the case of a new or acute condition.
PROGRESSIVE HEALTH & WELLNESS BLOG: HOW ACCUPUNCTURE WORKS : Acupuncture and other forms of traditional Chinese medicine have been in existence for over 4,000 years. Yet the explanation for how acupuncture works has been largely based on theory. The basic theory is outlined in a text from 200 B.C. It acknowledges in people and nature a vital energy or life force known as Qi (pronounced "chee"). Qi flows through the body via channels called meridians. If the Qi flow is altered, the resulting deficiency, excess, or stagnation of qi causes bodily malfunction, illness, and inability to heal properly. Acupuncture, in which needles are inserted into specific points along these meridians, restores the proper Qi flow, thereby returning the body to a state of improved health and decreased pain.Chiropractic doctors and other licensed practitioners administer about 10 million acupuncture treatments each year in the US, most commonly for pain control, sports injuries, and smoking cessation. As the popularity of acupuncture increases, researchers have become more interested into proving exactly how acupuncture works. To date, researchers have been able to measure an increased flow of acupuncture-induced endorphins. This explains the pain-relieving effect of acupuncture. Also, functional MRI's have measured changes in the activity of key centers of the brain, where pain is interpreted, when certain acupuncture points are treated. There are other beneficial effects of acupuncture also being researched, including the treatment of: nausea, asthma, sinus conditions, colds and the immune system, and other internal disorders. Furthermore, acupuncture has been observed clinically to enhance healing, and provide long-lasting pain relief. Read More |