FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS BY NEW PATIENTS
During the first visit, the initial goal is to determine if your problem can be helped in our office. If it cannot, we will help you find someone who can or provide direction as to what will help.
If we can help, we will proceed with an examination and, if necessary, spinal x-rays. Depending on your condition, we will either schedule a time to review your findings, provide some therapy, or perform your first chiropractic adjustment.
We will always do what makes the most sense for you and your condition. We can and will adjust you on your first visit if that’s the best thing to do.
However, some patients have very serious conditions that require us to take time to properly evaluate your x-rays to make sure there’s nothing going on inside you that would stop you from getting adjusted.
For others, it may make sense for us to spend time studying your x-rays to come up with the right course of treatment and start your chiropractic care plan on the next visit.
Every insurance company offers plans that cover chiropractic care, and we are in-network for all major insurance plans. What your plan covers, however, cannot be confirmed until we call your insurance company. In some cases, we are able to gather some details online.
We will do our best to confirm your benefits prior to your first visit, but you can always call your insurance company to determine your coverage at any time.
The initial examination is $60, with spinal x-rays at $50. Adjustments are $50 per visit. We do offer pre-pay discounts if you buy a package of adjustments and payments plans are also available.
Getting adjusted should be a comfortable experience. Some patients don’t necessarily like “the feeling” but most patients love getting adjusted.
If you’re in a lot of pain, sometimes just touching the affected area is uncomfortable, but the adjustment itself should not hurt. If you do not like a particular style of adjusting, just let us know. Our doctors are trained in several techniques and can modify your treatment plan to a style of chiropractic that works best for you.
You don’t have to be “cracked” to get adjusted. We do offer several styles of chiropractic adjustments that do not involve the audible adjustment.
Just let us know during your initial visit (or at any time) and we can modify your treatment plan to stop any “cracking” from occurring.
If you don’t want your neck adjusted, you don’t have to have your neck adjusted. That goes for all areas of your spine. We can also do different types of adjustments that don’t involve twisting or cracking your neck if that’s your concern.
After nearly 20 years of combined experience, we are skilled at determining if your problem will likely be helped with chiropractic care. In our training, there are specific problems that are obviously not chiropractic problems but there are plenty that are.
We also will not give you a treatment plan without expecting noticeable results within a specified period of time. Your expected results and time frame will be explained to you during your report of findings visit.
You don’t have to get x-rays unless it becomes medically necessary to do so. Not everyone requires x-rays before an adjustment, but we can’t adjust people when a potential underlying condition could make it worse.
We only x-ray patients when it makes sense to do so. Our reasons for x-raying you will be explained prior to performing any radiographic examination.
Absolutely! We are very comfortable with treating our pregnant patients and have adjusting tables where the “belly” piece is adjustable for your comfort.
We won’t take any x-rays, and we will modify your chiropractic adjustments to make sure you are comfortable through all stages of your pregnancy.
You can get adjusted within hours of birth. There’s no minimum or maximum age requirement. Dr. Cordova’s children were all checked within hours of birth and we have treated patients up to 97 years of age. Treatment and the amount of force necessary to do an adjustment is modified to be appropriate to the patient’s age.
Getting back surgery does not prevent you from receiving chiropractic adjustments. However, it will modify what we can do for you. Depending on the type of surgery you had, we may not be able to work on that specific joint.
For low back surgery, we can still accomplish a lot by adjusting the pelvis and the other areas. For neck surgery, we can adjust the other areas of the spine that were not modified by surgery.
You can come straight from work and we have available shorts and t-shirts to change into. Ideally, you would wear something comfortable, like work out clothes that do not have zippers or other metal fasteners.
If you have a low back issue, there is a chance we will need to take an x-ray. Wearing this type of clothing will prevent us from having you change prior to that examination.
We do our best to have you in and out within an hour. You can save time by completing your paperwork prior to your visit. Plan on an hour so you won’t be stressed.
There’s nothing that we do during a chiropractic visit that will stop you from working out immediately after your visit. If you’re in a lot of pain, you probably shouldn’t work out until the pain subsides.
Please let your doctor know that you want to get back to exercising and they can discuss with you when you can get back to your regular routine.
Most patients feel immediately better after their first adjustment. Many say they either feel a big burst of energy, while others say they feel very relaxed.
Another portion of the patients will feel no major change after their initial adjustment. It can take 3-5 visits to feel whether or not “its working” in this case.
About 10% of the patients feel sore after their first adjustment, like they just worked out. Applying ice for about 10=15 minutes will usually knock out any residual soreness. If you get sore the first time, you may get sore the next time, but usually not as bad.
Did your previous chiropractor take x-rays? How long ago was your last set of x-rays? What type of chiropractic care did you receive before?
These are some of the questions we will ask to determine the need for x-rays, in addition to learning more about your actual condition. Just because you’ve been adjusted before, it doesn’t mean you don’t still need x-rays.
We will always do what makes sense for you to be safe and to get the best results possible.
Once you’ve completed your initial evaluation, your next visit is usually a “Report of Findings” visit, where we review the results and provide you with a treatment plan.
Following those visits, your regular adjustments should take 15-20 visits. Our busiest times are during lunch, from 11:00am to 1:00pm where times may go a little longer. However, we still strive to have little to no wait time and get you in and out as quickly as possible.
If you are a new patient and are looking for the New Patients Frequently Asked Questions, click here: http://t98rehab.com/new-patient-faq/
Thankfully, most patients don’t get sore after their first adjustment (or any adjustment). Usually when this happens, it’s the muscles responding to the change in spinal position, or your condition was aggravated by having someone touch an area that’s inflamed.
While it’s definitely no fun to be sore, it is a normal response when inflammation and your muscles are involved. Make sure to apply ice (not heat) to any areas that are sore and discuss with your doctor on your next visit or you can call the office if you need a faster response.
Typically, most patients (like 60%) feel much better after their first adjustment, 30% feel no difference right away, and 10% feel sore like they just worked out. If you’re in the feel-great-right-away group, that’s terrific. If not, then you can expect to notice changes in 3 – 5 visits.
If your results are taking longer, or you’re just not sure if you’re doing better, please be sure to discuss your concerns with your doctor. Problems that have been there longer may take longer to feel differently, but there are other indicators that your condition is improving.
Your doctor should provide some initial recommendations for you if you’re in pain, usually icing instructions. Rest and drinking lots of water is also helpful at the beginning of your care plan when you’re in pain.
Once you’re feeling better, you’ll want to start doing the posture exercises, stretches, and any other home recommendations provided by your doctor (like the neck wedge or foam rolling). Just like with your treatment, consistency is key is seeing changes quickly.
As soon as you’re out of pain, you should be able to resume any activities that don’t cause sharp or burning pain. Don’t jump back in at the same pace you were at prior to getting hurt, start back slow and work yourself back up.
In addition, your doctor should be able to give you modifications or instructions on movements and exercises that won’t aggravate your problem or cause it to return. Make sure you ask before starting back.
As long as you’re not in pain, then yes. An adjustment won’t stop you from doing your regular exercise routine, but a bad misalignment or too much inflammation can make things worse. If you’re feeling good, then you shouldn’t have a problem.
If you’re feeling sharp or burning pain, or your condition starts to become worse, then you’ll need to stop doing specific exercises until the symptoms subside. Just talk with your doctor, before resuming activity.
Obviously avoid any activity that increase your pain levels, especially at the start of care. Once you’re feeling better, you can return to those activities at (hopefully) a lower intensity to test things out.
Be mindful of your posture during the day and any activity that you do frequently, repetitively, or for long duration. These are the activities most likely to cause your condition, and the ones that will need modifications to keep you feeling great.
Especially at the beginning of your treatment plan, missing appointments is critical to getting good results. Being inconsistent with care leads to inconsistent results and you can feel frustrated with how slowly things are going. You can make up appointments, but do your best to stick with your schedule.
Later on, when you’ve completed your treatment plan, you can miss a week and not notice much difference. Even if you’re getting adjusted just once per month, staying as consistent as possible will make a difference.
It’s certainly not ideal, but it happens often with our patients. Business trips, vacation plans during the summer, and unforeseen travel can wreak havoc on treatment plans. Recommendations will vary depending on your condition, how long you’ve been under care, and your results so far.
In many cases, your doctor will give you some recommendations during your travel and schedule some follow up visits upon your return. In cases where you’re in a lot of pain and you’ll be gone for awhile, we can help you locate and communicate with a chiropractor in your travel city.
If your doctor recommends three times per week, that is their best recommendation for you to get the best, fastest, and longest lasting results. Some patients can be in so much pain that we may even see them daily until their symptoms subside.
However, if you just can’t make the three times per week, please let your doctor know so that they can help make sure you’ve got some strategies to help you out between visits. They’ll also be able to give you a better idea of how this will affect your results.
Ice is almost always the right answer, particularly when you’re in pain, there’s inflammation, and you’re dealing with the spine. Even though every TV commercial you see says that heat is the answer, it can increase the swelling of discs and make everything worse. The tricky part is that heat will actually feel good when its applied, even though its making things worse.
Heat can be applied to areas that are not inflamed, and not on the spine. Icy Hot is not ice and should be avoided when your neck or back is in pain. Whenever a patient comes into our office in so much pain they can barely walk, they almost always have been applying heat over and over again for days. Don’t do it!
Sometimes called their “favorite part of coming in” and often saying “I need one of these at home,” the intersegmental traction table is very helpful in reducing stiffness and increase blood flow in the spine.
Some chiropractic offices use the traction table to “loosen you up” prior to your adjustment, but we perform our therapies post-adjustment. We feel it’s better to get you adjusted and then use the table to continue to relax the muscles.
Also, using the table pre-adjustment can be uncomfortable because it tends to find the “bad spots” and is less comfortable then when its performed after your adjustment.
Electrical stimulation has many uses, but we use it almost exclusively when our patients have inflammation or spasm. You’ll feel “tingling” like when your foot falls asleep, but it will be on your neck or back.
You may feel your muscles contract, and that’s okay. The doctor will ask you to tell them when to stop turning up the intensity, the goal being a “good, strong tingle” but not uncomfortable or painful.
There’s really only two ways people injure themselves, either by a trauma (car accident, fall, etc) or by the activities that they do repetitively or for extended periods (sitting a computer, running, etc)
Most patients think they “didn’t do anything” when their pain starts, but the reality is, it was everything you did. All of our activities continue to build up unless we are actively looking to reverse the effects through stretching, exercise, and adjustments.
If your problem is the result of a trauma, obviously avoiding car accidents and falls is ideal (isn’t it always?). However, this is no guarantee that you’ll never have pain ever again.
Whatever you do all day, your body will adapt. If you sit at a computer all day, you’ll have one set of issues. If you were to golf all day, it would just give you a different set of issues.
Take a look at your daily activities and then do stretches and exercises that will counteract those movements (or lack of movement). Your chiropractor will be happy to help guide to the best stretches and exercises so you don’t have to figure it all out on your own.
The first indication is that your symptoms (pain) will start to go away, but that’s not the only way we can tell. Each time we see you, we are checking your spine and feeling for areas of fixation (your spine not moving), inflammation, spasm, and swelling.
We also do re-examinations every ten visits, where we check range of motion, and re-test any positive orthopedic and neurological findings from your initial examination.
Not everyone needs another x-ray examination unless something changes. If you get into a car accident, have a fall or other trauma, then it’s definitely a good idea. You should also get re-x-rayed if your condition dramatically worsens, unless your doctor believes an MRI would be a better option for you.
Seeing visible changes on x-rays following chiropractic care does take time. In many cases, we will x-ray you at the end of your treatment plan to see what’s changed thus far. The changes may be dramatic, but more likely it will be a smaller change since most people don’t have dramatic changes to make.
Thankfully, we are able to help nearly all of the patients we accept for care. In the event that you don’t see steady improvement in the first few weeks, we will change what we’re doing, refer you to another type of doctor or therapy, or discontinue care. All options will be discussed with you and we will work with you to make the right decision.
Often, we will end up co-treating with another type of doctor. You may end up seeing an MD for pain management or anti-inflammatories, while still continuing your chiropractic care program to get after the cause of the problem.
Sometimes, surgery is the best option for a problem, but not usually. The patients we see that may end up with surgery are those that have let the problem go so long that there’s just no other choice.
We have seen patients that have already been told to get surgery, and they decide that chiropractic may be their last best chance to avoid it. Once the pain levels no longer let you find a comfortable position or the neurological complications like weakness in arms or legs has begun, it becomes increasingly more difficult to help someone avoid surgery.
If we have accepted you as a patient and we believe your problem could lead to surgery, that will be discussed with you at the beginning and throughout your care based on the results we see. Rest assured that only a small percentage of our patients end up at a surgeon’s office.
Think neutral angles, keep as much in front of you as you can. We see patients that have their monitor screen off to one side or they frequently have to look down at documents.
Make sure your monitors are up high enough. Ideally, the middle of the screen should be at eye-level, not just the top of the screen. This is the most important step in have a good workstation.
If you’re using multiple screens, try to change out which information is on each screen so you’re not looking at one side versus the other more frequently. Try to stay balanced.
There are three basic ways to sleep; on your stomach, on your side, or on your back. On your stomach is the worst, since it causes you to keep your head turned all night and can cause hyperextension of your lower back.
On your side would be the next best option, and the most likely you’ll be able to switch to if you’re a stomach sleeper. To have success with this position, find a comfortable pillow that will help fill the gap between your head and the bed while keeping your head at a neutral angle. Hugging a big pillow is also helpful, especially one that allows you to keep it between your knees.
On your back would be the ideal position, especially if you use a cervical pillow. A cervical pillow has a rounded side that fits comfortably under the curve your neck. Putting a pillow under your knees is also helpful in taking pressure off your lower back.
The first area of protect is your neck. During a long car trip, you’ll tend to move your head forward, closer to the windshield. Set up your headrest so that you can feel your head up against it. Use that as your cue as to whether or not you are keeping your head back.
For your lower back, sometimes even turning your lumbar support all the way up isn’t enough. Roll up a small hand towel and place it between your lower back and the seat. This will provide additional support for your spine during the long trip.
Last, when you do get a chance to take a break, stretch your hamstrings and your hip rotators to provide additional relief.
That’s really up to you! Most of our patients choose to do some sort of maintenance or wellness plan, where they continue to get adjusted periodically — usually once per month.
That adjustment frequency is for patients that already feel good. They’re just trying to undo the 200+ hours the typical person spends in front of a computer each month. They also understand that keeping your spine working at its best is good for optimal health.
Some patients do opt to “wait and see.” They are hoping that their pain won’t return, therefore they don’t need chiropractic any further. That’s certainly your choice, but not what we recommend.
Good health is doing as many of the good things you can for your body as often and as consistently as possible. Chiropractic is a part of keeping yourself healthy, along with exercise, getting enough sleep, and making good nutritional choices.
Yes, but the timing is important. We don’t recommend getting a massage when you’re in a lot of pain or when there’s a lot of inflammation. The massage may stir up more inflammation and make your feel worse (even though it’s technically helping).
Chiropractic and massage work very well together, and we’ll be happy to let you know when it’s a good idea to get one. Usually it’s not more than a few days, depending on your condition.
For most new patients, pain is the primary motivator to start chiropractic care. However, pain goes away rather quickly and that has little to do with continuing treatment.
You can get adjusted to maintain/improve range of motion, to keep your spine working and functioning to prevent spinal degeneration, and (most importantly) to keep pressure off your nerves to help your body work at its optimal levels.
Getting regular massages is like chiropractic care, it’s best when done consistently. You can’t get a massage or an adjustment that would mean you will never need to get one again. Your muscles are always responding to what you do, eat, or drink on a regular basis.
Some patients are so stiff and tense that they find getting a massage prior to an adjustment helps them to get a better adjustment. Others find that the adjustment relaxes the muscles and improves their massage.
There’s no perfect way for everyone, so try both ways and see which one works best for you.
Do your posture exercises! Most of our patients do very little exercise, yet it’s the muscles that will hold your adjustments in place. Being consistent with the specific exercises recommended to you will help you get faster results and hold your adjustments for longer periods of time.
However, most patients do not do their exercises! We strive to give you exercises that can be done in less than 15 minutes per day. Considering how long the typical person sits in front of the computer, 15 minutes to help your spine is very little to do.