Patients often get confused why they don’t feel better after getting adjusted just a few times. There are a few analogies that I make to help explain what I do. Hopefully it helps you understand a little better, what chiropractic is and it works.
If you had pneumonia or a sinus infection you family doctor may give you an antibiotic. Does he/she give you one pill? No that would be silly. There is a series of pills that have a delayed lasting effect in your body that helps boost you up and fight off the bacteria that is causing your problem. So essentially every time you take a pill at home you are following the doctor’s orders. The same is true with chiropractic care, except there is no pill that will straighten you spine. I practice a manual medicine, which means I am essentially your pill.
If you want to get in shape you don’t go the gym once or twice and expect to lose weight or be stronger. Why would you think I could adjust your spine, the housing to central nervous system and you would feel better after one or two adjustments?
Physical therapy works a lot like chiropractic in scheduling, in that there is often a more regular treatment schedule at the beginning and then it tapers off. Physical therapy is also a manual medicine of sorts. They often have a release date, whereas chiropractors, in all honesty, like to keep your spine maintained. Maintenance care is typically one visit every 4-8 weeks. Is that really asking that much from you? A 20 minute appointment for a healthier, stronger spine once a month or two. If I said, hey you can brush your teeth once every 4-8 weeks, you would think hey this is a sweet deal with very little work. Or if I said you can go to the gym and be fit and strong with once a month visits.
You only get one spine, so love the one you have.