Medical Chiropractor Vs Principled Chiropractor

Quick Tips To Help You Chose The Right Chiropractor

When it comes to your back, there’s nothing you want to leave to chance. Likewise, when it comes to the ongoing frustration of agonizing pain, in your back or elsewhere, there’s nothing you can afford to leave to chance. An injury that leaves long-lasting pain can really disrupt the rhythm of your life, making you ineffective at work and possibly taking you away from the normal activities of your life.

That’s way it’s extremely important to do your homework when you’re choosing a chiropractor. Many chiropractors are well-established, skilled practitioners who can really do a lot to help you, but just as many aren’t, and they can end up doing a lot more harm than good. Here’re a few quick tips to make sure you choose the right chiropractor.

Consider how they present themselves

Courteous, professional, informative, and well-facilitated. It doesn’t matter if they are part of a big team, but it does matter if they present themselves as knowledgeable, experienced, and interested in your health and not just in alleviating your symptoms.

Check references and customer testimonials

Most chiropractors, and physicians in general, that are worth their salt will have references and customer testimonials for you to peruse. If they don’t, it’s not necessarily a red-flag, but it’s not in your best interest to go on his or her word alone. Accreditations are standard, but customer testimonials can go the extra mile to help affirm your decision.

Ask for a recommendation from your chiropractor.

Before selecting your new pillow, talk to the person who understands the cause of your neck pain, your chiropractor. He or she will give you some valuable pointers on choosing the pillow that will be most beneficial.  In my office we use a company called Pillowise.  They have six different pillow sizes available and we measure to ensure a perfect fit for each patient.

Do your research.

Fire up the Internet and search for pillows by your sleeping position. Read the reviews from people who also have neck pain, and see which pillows helped them. Note the pillow name, price, and store that sells it.

What’s their educational background?

Becoming a chiropractic practitioner is as difficult endeavor requiring a doctorate level of education. Each chiropractic college teaches a standard curriculum, with variation of emphasis on each school. After chiropractic school, doctors are required to perform continuing education to stay current with new trends. Some may elect to go further and receive a diplomat specialty in fields such as nutrition, pediatrics, and orthopedics to name a few. This is typically a good sign that the doctor is active in their field, expanding their skill and knowledge base.

What is the patient’s treatment style/plan?

Chiropractic is unique in how varied each providers treatment style can be. The amount of time a provider spends to diagnose each patient can be significantly different, along with which modalities are utilized. Hopefully, the provider you choose to see has multiple methods to treat a patient. If every patient was given the same treatment plan and treated with the same modalities and adjustments, how individual can the treatment be? Ask your doctor the typical protocol they use, adjustment style, if x-rays are offered in office, and if rehab exercises are routinely given.

Also, and just as important, you should know what the treatment plan is before beginning care. The doctor should have a clear outlined plan to treat prior to starting a conservative care plan. Be wary if you go to an office every week, get the same treatment, and have no end of care in sight. Also question if no at-home recommendations have been given. Periodic re-evaluations should be part of a good treatment plan. If a well understood treatment objective is not gathered or stated, how can the patient/provider know when goals are met and treatment is ended? This piece of communication is often not clearly understood, and can lead to frustration.

Check the Facility Quality

Some chiropractors have affiliations with hospitals. This factor also comes to play as you should also check the quality of the hospital. Check for the hospital’s quality of care where the chiropractor is. A hospital with a great quality of care means better survival rates and fewer health complications. Another factor to consider is the location. You need a location that encourages timely care. Also, check if they also use private rooms in their clinic. Some chiropractors treat patients in rooms with multiple tables. If this doesn’t feel comfortable, ask about private rooms before agreeing. Is the hospital or clinic close by? Keep this in mind as well.

Evaluate Communication Style and Other Factors

As you look for a good chiropractor, choose one that you are comfortable talking with. You might want to check on how they respond to your question. Look for a practitioner who considers your treatment preferences and respects your decision-making process. This should aid you in getting a personalized form of treatment. Another consideration may also include gender. As there are differences in their treatment approach between men and women. When checking for their training and experience, consider looking into their experience with your condition and gender.

Take Note of Fees and Insurance Coverage

How much does a chiropractor charge? That’s one question that you might need to look into before agreeing to the treatment. Be sure to find out their service fees before proceeding with treatment. You don’t want to break the bank, after all. Always take time to see if their fee fits right into your budget. Among other things, also check if the treatment falls under your insurance coverage. Choose a chiropractor that participates in your insurance plan. If you are paying in cash, inquire about the cost per visit as well.

Do they offer free consultations?

While not a requirement, it’s considered good practice to offer free short consultations with would-be patients, particularly those who’ve never had chiropractic care before. This helps distinguish the better chiropractors, as well as gives you a chance to personally meet the doctor and draw your own conclusions.

Information About Pain Management

Self-Managing Chronic Pain

The most important factor in managing pain is the role of the patient. Self-management is the best way to improve your level of activity, reduce disability and keep pain to a minimum. When people take control over their pain, they feel empowered and able to resume normal activities—or even learn something new. There is no better feeling than that, for people who have been controlled by pain.

If you would like to take charge of your pain management, these three steps will keep you on track:

Accept the pain. Accept that the pain is unlikely to disappear, but recognise that you can do things to mimimise its impact on your life and reduce the severity of the pain.

Change the way you think about pain. When you realise that pain in itself is not harmful and learn not to react to it in a negative way you can “retrain your brain”.

Pace yourself. Incorporate a sufficient amount of activity every day and keep it at an even level throughout the day. This will help keep your body conditioned, keep your pain to a minimum and reduce the risk of flare-ups sparked by overactivity.

Multidisciplinary (or interdisciplinary) pain management embraces a combination of medical, physical and psychological therapies and is the most effective way to improve function and mood, and reduce disability.

It also known as a bio-psycho-social approach because it aims to address all the factors that influence the pain experience. Multidisciplinary pain management involves a team of health professionals who will comprehensively assess your condition and work with you to achieve your goals—such as being able to return to work, or just being able to walk the dog—using a range of treatments and strategies.

Some but not all treatments may be eligible for a rebate through Medicare or your private health insurer. In multidisciplinary pain management your team of health professionals offer support and treatment, but you are required to take responsibility for your health and wellbeing on a day-to-day basis. Self-managing chronic pain includes tailored exercise, relaxation and pacing daily activities. Evidence shows that patients who embrace active self-management strategies achieve better outcomes than those who rely on passive strategies like medication.

Effective Ways to Find Lower Back Pain Relief, According to Doctors

Whether it was brought on by arthritis, nerve damage, bending the wrong way, or lifting something a little too heavy, lower back pain can be frustrating to deal with. But if you’re struggling, know that most people experience back pain at some point in their lives, and it’s one of the most common reasons people book doctor’s appointments and call out of work. In fact, it’s one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Treatments for lower back pain relief range from simple to complex, and the right course for you depends on how long you’ve been hurting, the severity of your pain, the location of your pain, and whether your pain is structural or muscular.

However, other factors, like your age and activity level, could cause back pain to last for up to six weeks, he says. People who don’t pursue extreme treatment tend to have fewer complications than those who end up rushing into invasive treatments before it’s truly necessary.

Reach for anti-inflammatory drugs.

Even as you practice patience, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) or naproxen (Aleve) can help reduce back pain you’re pushing through. The research behind medicine guidelines for lower back pain finds that these may give slightly better relief than acetaminophen (Tylenol).

Find relief through ice and heat.

Break out that bag of frozen peas (or a cold pack, if you want to get fancy) for the first 48 hours after the pain sets in, and put it to use for 20 minutes a session, several sessions per day. After those two days are behind you, switch to 20-minute intervals with a heating pad.

Treating Lower Back Pain: How much bed rest is too much?

Back pain is one of the most common reasons why people visit a health care provider. The good news is that the pain often goes away on its own, and people usually recover in a week or two. Many people want to stay in bed when their back hurts. For many years, getting bed rest was the normal advice. But current studies recommend no bed rest at all and stress that staying in bed longer than 48 hours not only won’t help but it may, in fact, actually delay your recovery.

Staying in bed won’t help you get better faster.

If you’re in terrible pain, lying down for a day to help ease the distress may seem like a good idea, but moderating your activities and staying active in a limited way is a more effective way to control your symptoms. Research suggests that if you can find comfortable positions and keep moving, you may not need bed rest at all.

Research shows that:

Lying down longer than a day or two day isn’t helpful for relieving back pain.

People can recover more quickly without any bed rest.

The sooner you start moving, even a little bit, or return to activities such as walking, the faster you are likely to improve.

Long bed rest can lead to slower recovery.

Staying in bed for any prolonged period can make you stiff and increase pain. When you don’t move and bend, you lose muscle strength and flexibility. With bed rest, you lose about 1 percent of your muscle strength each day. And you can lose 20 to 30 percent in a week. It becomes more difficult to return to any activity. As you become weaker and stiffer your recovery takes longer.

Who needs bed rest?

Almost no one! The only people who might require time in bed are those with unstable spinal fractures awaiting surgery.

Products People With Chronic Pain Swear By

Everyone in our chronic pain community has their own tricks and techniques for coping with the pain. But there are so many lotions, oils, massagers, pillows and other tools out there meant to offer relief, it can be overwhelming to try and figure out which ones to try. We all know what works for one person may not work for you, but hearing which ones others have incorporated into their pain-relief repertoire can be helpful as you decide which ones to test.

So, we asked our Mighty chronic pain community to share the products they swear by. These are the tools (aside from medication and medical cannabis) that help give them that extra relief from their pain. Let us know in the comments what other products you swear by.

Naturals Pain Relief Rub

This topical pain lotion can be rubbed on the site of the pain itself, providing instant and long-lasting treatment

Arnica Skincare Gel

Arnica is a herb that, when applied to the skin, can provide pain relief. incorporates arnica into a shower gel that is lathered onto skin with water. It’s a U.K. product, so it’s cheaper to buy in Europe than the U.S.

Microwavable Rice Heat Pack

A pack filled with rice can be microwaved and laid across the painful areas. The pack featured above is especially designed to be applied to your neck.

Chronic Pain: The Pain management Plan

The Pain Management Plan

Developed by NHS Pain Specialists

Research-evidenced benefits (download paper 1 here) and (download paper 2 here)

Can be delivered with 3/4 brief patient contacts, face-to-face, by phone or email

Works brilliantly in a group setting

Includes a relaxation, breathing and stress management programme on CD (can be bought seperately)

In a research project 95% of people said they would recommend it to other people with the same problem

Now you can buy it yourself if a medically qualified person has told you…

You have Chronic Pain or Fibromyalgia

The pain is not from a life-threatening illness

The doctor has told you there is no cure for your pain

And the pain has not suddenly changed or got worse

The Pain Management Plan can help you live a better life despite pain. Please read all of the information on the site, see some sample pages, and look at the FAQs page before you decide to buy.