- Q: What is causing my pain?
- Q: How long will it take to get better?
- Q: What can I do myself to help the problem?
- Q: What can a chiropractor do to help me?
Chiropractors are qualified health professionals trained to diagnose and treat pain arising from the bones, joints and muscles that support the body. This is called the musculoskeletal system. Initially, we start by considering whether there is a chance that your pain may be concerning and therefore something that we cannot treat. If we feel that your pain warrants further investigation, we are able, with your permission, to refer you to the most appropriate health provider.
When we have established that your pain is not concerning, further history taking and examination helps us to explain the cause of your pain. What factors make the pain better or worse? Has the pain been going on for a long time, or is it something that has just started? By asking very detailed questions we can get to the bottom of the problem and this then allows us to determine the most suitable treatment.
In some cases, the pain has been caused by a more recent event, but sometimes pain is a result of something that happened several years ago.
Pain does not always mean that you have an injury in the body. Although the pain has arisen as a result of an injury, the body may have already completed the healing process. Usually, most tissues in the body heal by themselves within 3-6months, and the body only needs help to understand that the damage is no longer present, and you can start moving and using your body normally again. Chiropractors help with this! We help to get you moving and feeling better so that you can get on with life again! When we have diagnosed the problem, we can give you a good indication of how long it will take to get better. This can be influenced by how closely you follow our advice. For example, if we tell you to ease back on your tennis for a few weeks before easing back in, this is because we think you require rest to assist the healing.
Once you are moving and feeling better, we can advise you about how to prevent future relapses. It depends on the cause of the problem, but it may not always be possible to stop problems from reoccurring altogether. When you begin treatment with your chiropractor, it should be like a partnership. We can do a lot to relieve pain, but we need your commitment too! It is often the case that making some fairly simple changes to everyday habits can help enormously. We will advise you of some possible changes to make, but you are responsible for putting these things into practice. It is your health, and you should feel in control with just a little help from us. Ultimately, we will do our best to advise you to enable you to get to do the things you love as quickly as possible.
