How Many Visits To The Chiropractor Before I Feel Better?

I am often asked how many visits will it take to fix someone's condition and make them feel better. This is a good question and an important question to address with your chiropractor when you begin treatment.

The right answer to this question is that it varies because everybody's body and conditions are different.

Good Chiropractors do everything they can to help their patients improve and respond as quickly as possible with the fewest amount of treatments while empowering their patients to keep up with things at home on their own that can make the chiropractic treatments longer lasting and more effective.

First and foremost, a good chiropractor's job is to treat and manage patient's conditions in the shortest amount of time with the greatest amount of benefit. The goal of any chiropractic treatment should be an improvement in function and a decrease in pain levels.

The general rule with chiropractic treatment is to go through 1 to 4 weeks of treatment at 2-3 visits a week and then determine how the condition is responding. It is recommended that once improvements start to be seen in patients, the treatment frequency tapers back.

Now, there are exceptions to this (such as conditions like herniated discs, sprains, and strains, ligament tears, chronic conditions like degenerative disc disease, chronic headaches, and migraines, advanced age, or having a history of prior surgeries). There are also exceptions where a patient only requires 1 to 4 visits because they have shown a resolution of their symptoms in a very short amount of time.

It may be viewed as unethical for a Chiropractor to recommend continuing treatment to a patient that no longer has the original symptoms that they started treatment with. The chiropractor should also utilize referrals with other medical professionals when treatment is slow, not progressing, or ineffective at all.

Initial Questions to Ask Your Chiropractor

1. What chiropractic services do they offer? Does he/she offer physical therapies, like exercises and muscle work (which have been shown when combined with chiropractic care to improve medical conditions much faster)?

2. Do they require pre-payments for treatment? This may be a sign that the chiropractor is willing to hold you into a certain amount of treatments regardless of how quickly or slowly you're showing improvements.

3. Do they work with other doctors like pain management physicians, orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, physical therapists, massage therapists, acupuncturists, and primary care physicians?

4. Ask your chiropractor if treatments are necessary once the symptoms have resolved. If the chiropractor begins discussing ongoing continued treatment when symptoms have resolved, this is a potential red flag that the chiropractor may have the wrong motives.

5. Lastly, make sure to ask your chiropractor what will we happen if you're not improving with the treatment in 2-6 weeks?

In summary, there are a variety of factors and conditions that may require more extensive chiropractic treatment to bring to a resolution, such as car accident injuries, sports injuries, advanced age, and chronic conditions. On the other hand, there are many conditions that should resolve within a short amount of time, usually between two and four weeks with chiropractic treatment, and that should be brought to a conclusion or tapered back once symptoms are resolving or improving.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to get in touch.

In health,

Dr. Jeffrey Gerdes, D.C.