THOUGH IT APPEARS TO BE ADDRESSED INFREQUENTLY, THERE IS A mindset trend that stands in the way of regular maintenance and preventative care among chiropractic patients.
Our modern culture has developed a distinct lean toward “one-and-done” options, unrealistic expectations, general neglect, and instant gratification. Western medicine and patients put emphasis on treating symptoms rather than fixing the source of the symptoms, which effectively removes the leaves of the weed of poor health while allowing the root to grow and multiply with a greater return of symptoms.
This placebo attitude runs rampant in our Western culture and affects all aspects of life and alternative medicine of all forms. Chiropractic care is not, in the least, impervious to this detriment.
“If the patient expects to see instant results with their pain completely gone after the one visit, they fail to consider the past and future.”
As a wellness coordinator, I have seen this desire for a miracle, one-and-done cure in action, preventing patients from committing to care. Many patients walk into the chiropractic clinic wanting a single visit to “see how it works” for them.
After the visit, despite the fact that the doctor of chiropractic has recommended follow-up treatments, these patients often don’t return. I have heard many patients express that the chiropractic adjustments aren’t working as quickly as they had hoped, and they want to stop receiving care.
Others receive some measure of relief, self-diagnose that they are cured, and then disappear for a year or more. If, and when, they return, the progress they had made with their previous treatment has nearly or completely vanished. Some even say that they are worse.
It would appear that these actions arise from a lack of consideration for the human body as a complex machine and of how chiropractic care actually works.
Let us consider those who enter a clinic with the mindset of wanting to try one visit and, after that, wait for more care while seeing “how that works.” If the patient expects to see instant results with their pain completely gone after the one visit, they fail to consider the past and future.
If we view the human body as a precision machine and every day as a source of wear and tear (every forced lift, every overweighted or unbalanced load, every trip, and so on) as the disruptive forces they are, we see that we put strain on this fine-tuned system regularly and continually. It also becomes apparent that each disruption would build up if not treated, making the situation worse over time.
It is finally understood that the human body remembers trauma, compounding the effect of each one. We must consider how long these traumas have been building upon each other, breaking down the machine bit by bit in sometimes unseen ways. Is it truly reasonable to expect a doctor of chiropractic to undo years of misalignment in one session or even five?
Let us pose another question: Would we expect a car to continue to function without proper maintenance? Even that relatively simple system, in comparison to the human body, must be aligned regularly to function at its best.
If we can regularly align a car to keep it running smoothly, why can’t we give the same consideration to the intricate machine that houses our life force? Why must the machine that directly affects our quality of life be forced to remain in top condition, no matter what we throw at it and how we neglect it?
I challenge front office workers of all titles and doctors of chiropractic to help educate their patients about these concepts so that they can more fully understand the need for regular care rather than expecting their every ill to be cured in one treatment. If we are to reach full potential when it comes to helping our patients, we must help them learn to respect that beautiful and complex machine — the human body — in which they live.
As a wellness coordinator at The Joint Chiropractic, Shea’Mia Harrell has been in a position to hear patients’ thoughts on continued care, their objections, and their concerns. The clinic’s patients have commented on her consideration, caring manner, and apparent desire to help them achieve wellness. Her desire to help others and make life better has been a driving force in every aspect of her life. She can be contacted via phone at 360-480-9732 and by email at shea’[email protected].
