Congratulations. You have made a significant and valuable decision for your health, to seek the services of a chiropractor. Yet you may now be left wondering ‘How do I find the right chiropractor for my needs?’ Use this checklist of guidelines to help kickstart your journey to renewed health.

  • As with any healthcare professional, confirm their qualifying credentials by accessing your state’s licensing board website and see if there is any pending disciplinary action.
  • Research the condition or conditions that you are seeking care for. It may not be a condition that you are needing care for, so also consider the goals you hope to achieve with a chiropractor to help with your search. Once you have identified credible websites or library resources to get a good baseline about your initial concerns, create a list of questions for the chiropractor to get a better idea of what might be involved in your care. HealthCentral has a good FAQ’s for Chiropractic page to get you started.
  • Consider different factors that may impact your care, such as location and hours of availability.
  • Reference your medical insurance to see what chiropractors might be covered in your plan, or if out-of-network benefits or private payments make sense.
  • Referrals from friends, neighbors, family and especially a primary healthcare professional can help point you in the right direction.
  • Reviews and testimonials of a particular office or chiropractor can help give you a sense of the care you would receive. Ideally, you want a decent number of reviews that go into detail about the care others have received. Remember that reviews can be biased in nature, so consider them to be just one tool in your decision-making toolbox.
  • Visit the practice’s website if there is one. Does the practice appear to have a patient-first mentality? Is the scientific evidence provided consistent with credible sources regarding conditions they care for? An old-school doctor that relies more on word of mouth may not have a website, which doesn’t discredit their skills, but could make it a bit trickier when you are evaluating.
  • Make a few phone calls. Ask about when you could make an appointment, insurance options, hours and other general information. This inquiry should help you gauge the customer service experience you would likely receive from that doctor’s office and if you can expect to be cared for with deserved courtesy and respect.

 

Once you have narrowed down your choices to one or a few candidates, keep in mind a few questions to help you think about how your care is going.

  • Does the chiropractor seemed rushed on your visits, or do they take the time to get to know you and consider your progress?
  • How invested does your chiropractor seem in helping you quickly and effectively not only experience pain relief but also a revitalized healthy future?
  • Personal comfort with a chiropractor is important. If there is discomfort or tension present, that could interfere with the effectiveness of care, so try to take an inventory of your emotional state during your visits.
  • Depending on the condition of health you were in when you first came to the chiropractor, it may take a few weeks of care to see noticeable improvement. Sometimes improvements can be noticed much sooner. Regardless, some sort of positive progress should be noted that is attributable to seeing a chiropractor as opposed to merely allowing time to heal.
  • What do you feel physically during care? Minor soreness or even temporary increase in symptoms for a day or two after care can occur. Yet as you continue, you should notice significant improvement. If so, report it to your chiropractor. Clear communication between chiropractor and patient can only help to improve your outcomes.
  • There may be a few red flags to indicate a less than reputable chiropractic practitioner. If there is constant pressure for additional costs without sufficient explanation for their necessity, such as excessive X-rays, that could be cause for concern.
  • You also want to make sure the chiropractor is re-examining your needs in an appropriate timetable to make sure you are receiving the right amount and kind of care. If there is no improvement or even worsening of symptoms, an ethical chiropractor should insist on reexamination or often even make a referral to a different chiropractor that may prove better suited to addressing your health needs.

 

Finding the right chiropractor for you might seem daunting, but ultimately, it could be the best decision you ever make for your health. And of course, Life University (Life U) is a well-respected chiropractic institution that educates chiropractors to care for a wide range of patients and conditions.

To learn more about chiropractic care through Life Chiropractic Centers, visit lifechiropractic.com.

To search for Life University alumni chiropractors in your area, utilize the Life U Referral Directory.

 

References

https://www.healthcentral.com/pain-management/what-look-when-choosing-chiropractor