One of the biggest hurdles people face when considering chiropractic care is the thought that once you start going, you can’t ever stop. There’s a belief that somehow getting adjusted makes you more dependent on needing to get adjusted over and over, and the body becomes used to the adjustments, thus completely dependent on staying under chiropractic care. If you’ve ever heard this and it’s keeping you from addressing your issue, please keep reading!
We have all grown up in a healthcare model that focuses on symptoms as the problem. If we have a headache, we take a pain reliever. If we have a fever, we reduce it, again usually with medication. If we have a sinus infection, we get an antibiotic. Muscle spasm? Muscle relaxant. Swelling? Anti-inflammatory. You get the idea. There’s a goal in mind and it is to relieve the pain and treat the symptoms.
So, when we encounter a healthcare model that often doesn’t immediately alleviate our pain or solve our problem and seems to take a little more time, it can feel like it conflicts with our assumptions about healthcare. Chiropractic care can fit into that group of therapies because chiropractors are very interested in why you are having your headache, fever, sinus infection, muscle spasm, or swelling. It is not enough to identify a symptom and eliminate it, because without addressing the underlying cause of that symptom, it is very likely to return – often worse and more debilitating than before. Knowing the cause helps to treat the issue. And oftentimes, unless there was an injury related to a single traumatic event, like an automobile accident, issues that are affecting the human body build up over a significant amount of time. They likely will not be relieved in one visit.
Restoration of health is a process, not an event. In a very real sense, what chiropractors do is coach you through the process of retraining your posture and your movement patterns to restore the normal position and motion of your frame. Chiropractors do this so that the spine can get out of the way of how the nerves are supposed to be controlling your body on a moment by moment basis. The body is capable of learning new things. We celebrate this. Maintaining that good health is a crucial component of overall wellness too! Chiropractic care is a balance of relief and maintenance. Just like your automobile needs regular oil changes and inspections, your body needs regular care to make sure everything that should be in alignment is still in alignment. Sedentary workspaces and stress can impact our ability to maintain perfect posture all of the time, and a regular check in with your chiropractic team is the best way to ensure your life will remain preventively injury free.
At the end of the year, the last thing you might be thinking about is, well, you. There are things to do, and events to plan for, and kids to shuttle around. However, YOU are worth thinking about. Maximizing your healthcare plan’s benefits might be a motivator to make that appointment that you’ve been thinking about now, because your plan is probably based on a calendar year, and your deductible that you pay in may already be met! Make that appointment! We’ll help walk you through the process.
Chiropractic care is healthcare. And importantly, when treatment plans are followed, lives change. So often we have the great fortune of hearing “I don’t know why I waited so long to get in here” and while we are thrilled that our patients are feeling good, we (like them) wish they’d been feeling good sooner. We are so grateful for your trust and so blessed to be part of your wellness journey. Know someone who could stand to start putting themselves first? We love referrals! Happy Holidays from your Momentum team. We appreciate you!