What to Expect

Laying the foundation

Chiropractic care is like building a house – certain things have to happen in a particular order in order for everything to stand strong and work correctly. When building a house, if you tried to put up your walls before you had a solid foundation, your walls would be weak and eventually collapse. If you tried to put on your roof before the walls were ready, you would run into the same problem. The same is true for your body. Your body has to go through a particular plan of care in order to repair itself correctly and fully.  The first 3 phases make up what we call Active Care, where we are actively correcting the problem.  The fourth phase is Wellness Care.

Phase 1: Relief Care

The primary goal of Relief Care is to relieve your symptoms.  Just as an orthodontist applies braces to misaligned teeth, the chiropractor applies gentle, hands on adjustments to correct a condition causing severe pain symptoms. 

Phase 2: Corrective Care

The goal of Corrective Care is to complete the correction that began in Phase 1 (Relief Care).  As your correction begins to take hold, the time between your visits can be increased.  Discontinuing care during this phase would be like the orthodontist removing braces when the correction was only half way completed; the teeth would return to their original position. 

Phase 3: Stabilization Care

During this phase, the goal is to stabilize the muscles and ligaments that support your spine in order to decrease the likelihood of your problem returning.  Just like at the orthodontist, after all of the corrections have been made, retainers are worn to ensure the corrections become permanent. 

Phase 4: Wellness Care

Wellness Care promotes optimum function of your nervous and immune systems.  Once your body has fully healed, it is important to come in for periodic adjustments to avoid problems in the future.  Usually, the only requires a quick visit to the chiropractor 1-4 times per month, based on your lifestyle and health goals.