Therapeutic care is treatment of a specific injury and is covered by most insurances. Maintenance care is when the patient has no specific complaint and just wants musculoskeletal work done (“I just need to be adjusted”). Maintenance care is pre-scheduled (usually once per month or once every other month) and insurances will NOT cover maintenance care.
Initially, visit frequency will be about two to three visits per week. As your body starts to respond to the care, the visit frequency will be tapered back to once a week or even once a month until you have been released from care. The most common example is twice a week for three weeks (6 visits) tapered down to once a week for two weeks (2 visits), then once every other week for one week (1 visit), then re-evaluation in a month (1 visit; total of 10 visits).
Although most patients feel some pain relief within the first few visits, the average visit expectancy to restore function and relive pain is about 8-12 visits. Because of many variables, some patients need more visits and some patients need less visits.
Although high velocity low amplitude (HVLA) manipulation (aka chiropractic adjustment) is most commonly used by chiropractors, mobilization (gentle movements of the joint) have been shown to be just as effective. Additionally, for some conditions treated by the chiropractor, adjustments are not appropriate. A custom treatment plan will be developed based on: the examination, current evidence based guidelines, anecdotal evidence, and the patient preferences.
Along with chiropractic adjustments, we utilize various physiotherapies, manual muscle therapies, and rehabilitation techniques. It is common to receive both chiropractic adjustments and one or more of the other techniques in the same visit. Check out our services page to learn about each of these!
An initial visit will contain an examination plus treatment and lasts half and hour to an hour. Return visits can range from 15-30 minutes depending on the type and amount of techniques needed during that visit.
On the first visit, a thorough examination will take place to assess your current complaint and determine the origin of the complaint. Most commonly, treatment will occur on the first visit to provide some relief of pain and take you one step closer to feeling back to normal. During the follow-up visits, a quick history and assessment will take place prior to the treatment.
