Chiropractic skeptics often pooh-pooh the idea of periodic chiropractic checkups after symptoms subside with the classic, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” line.
This justification often results in a relapse into the original problem for countless patients.
How come?
Because biomechanical changes along the spine affecting nerves and muscles don’t heal like a cut, infection or some other self-resolving health condition.
Addressing Long Lasting Problems
By the time spinal problems produce obvious symptoms, the problem has been there for some time—maybe even decades. Yet the symptom didn’t emerge until “last week, when I bent down to pick up the paper.”
Thankfully, chiropractic care may produce symptomatic improvement in a matter of months, weeks or even days. The patient is delighted, but we haven’t completed the true resolution of the problem or the retraining of the underlying muscles and soft tissues necessary for lasting spinal changes.
That’s why the original problem is likely to return, especially when care is cut short. It’s hard to know when, but it’s almost always after some major physical, chemical or emotional stress.
“I thought you fixed me,” laments the returning patient.
Granted, there was symptomatic improvement, but without some type of ongoing supportive care, the weakened area remains susceptible to re-injury. Think about an athlete who sprains their ankle. They always seem prone to spraining that same ankle over and over again when it is stressed too much due to the initial injury and subsequent weakness. Your spine is similar.
Schedule Your Visit
If that should happen to you, give us a call. You’ll be welcomed back for another episode of care. Your records will already be here, along with our genuine concern for you and your health.
