“Can A Chiropractor Help Me?”

Answering a recent question from someone who has not previously seen a chiropractor.

A large number of the patients we see for a first visit haven’t seen a chiropractor before coming in to our clinic. The question comes up in public or when someone first contacts us – Can Dr. Hagebusch help me?

When someone asks me this, often I’m a little unsure how to answer the question.

My first thought is to say maybe…

A lot more information would help as to what is wrong or to say help you with what exactly to know if seeing a chiropractor makes sense for a particular problem. BUT that’s not really the entire answer. It depends on what you are really asking.

Let me explain.

What does a chiropractor do?

A chiropractor is not simply someone who adjusts/manipulates the spine. There are a small number of chiropractors that only do this. The majority of chiropractors do much more including the closely related treatment of extremity problems.

A chiropractor will…

• evaluate a person after doing a full history (in most cases except maybe for the group mentioned above that only does spinal adjustments),
• do a good examination, order any lab work and imaging that they feel is necessary, and
• diagnose a person before determining a treatment designed to help that person improve function.
• If the person doesn’t respond appropriately or as things change then different treatment might be started.
• If there are other problems that aren’t something the chiropractor can help, then a referral to another doctor, specialist or therapist is often made.

Can a chiropractor help a person?

There’s much more to it though.

A chiropractor in general would look at how things are functioning and work with the person to improve any dysfunctions.

This might mean that a chiropractor…

• Does different therapies,
• Addresses weakness and muscle asymmetries with exercises/rehabilitation,
• Gives ergonomic recommendations for work, home, sport, etc to reduce potential risk factors for injury or aggravation of an existing problem,
• Gives dietary recommendations to lose weight, reduce or improve different markers that include blood sugar/insulin, inflammation, improve soft tissue healing and more – these things directly effect the neuro-muscular system and often improve presenting problems in a person,
• Gives other lifestyle recommendations to improve function/health – including things like getting outside, exercise, stress reduction, socialization, and as previously mentioned diet,
• Beyond these things though, different chiropractors often have different areas of specialty and expertise including but not limited to sports performance/injuries, neurological rehabilitation, nutrition, and much more. This means that going to a chiropractor is not the same experience depending upon the specific chiropractor.

So to summarize a long answer…

A chiropractor probably can help you.

• The first question is with what… health, fitness, performance, weight loss, injury recovery, concussion recovery, headaches, vertigo, …?
• The next question might be, which chiropractor is the best fit?

The truth is that most chiropractors can help you improve your general health through the things mentioned above… in addition to recovering from injuries that you might experience from a car accident, work, sports, hobbies, and home activities.

Different chiropractors have different skills and expertise in different areas just like you would see in any profession or area of work.