How Often Do I Have to see a Chiropractor?

The answer to this question is different for each patient.  Are you going for prevention (wellness, maintenance) or for pain relief? If you are seeing a Chiropractor for prevention, the frequency is less than for pain relief.  If you are seeking a Chiropractor for pain relief, it depends  on several factors:

• The severity of pain
• Acute or chronic pain
• Onset of pain
• Medical history
• Current level of health
• Examination results

It is best to seek Chiropractic care immediately after the onset of injury or pain (if you sustained a more serious injury such as a broken bone or brain injury, you should go to the emergency room immediately). 

In the beginning for pain relief, your Chiropractor will recommend more frequent follow up visits.  Usually a few times per week to weekly depending on your condition.  However, if you’re a patient of Dr. Lee House Calls, the frequency is usually less than the conventional Chiropractic office  The reason why is because patient get more time with the doctor, receiving a higher level of comprehensive care.  As a result, patients get better faster.  For more information see Blog post: “Is Integrative Chiropractic Care Right For You”

As your pain levels decrease the frequency of follow up visits will start to decrease.  Once you are no longer in pain or your pain levels are under control, you move into maintenance or wellness care.  The goal is to get you maintenance or wellness care as quickly as possible. 

How often is maintenance care? 

It depends if you have chronic pain or not.  10-20% of adults experience chronic pain.  BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders published a research article on May 13, 2020 titled “Predictors of visit frequency for patients using ongoing chiropractic care for chronic low back and chronic neck pain; analysis of observational data”.  The study looked at data collected over 3 months from a large number of chiropractic patients (852 patients with chronic low back pain and 705 patients with chronic neck pain) from 20 Chiropractic clinics across the nation.  What they discovered was the average number of Chiropractic visits per month was 2.3 visits.  More than half of them had been dealing with chronic pain for 10 or more years. 

If you are not a chronic care patient, the frequency of care could be less.  It maybe once per month or once every few months.  Some patients choose to wait until they are in pain before they receive care again.  Some choose to receive wellness care more frequently because it keeps their healthy and feeling great.  The choice is yours.  

The study did not reveal whether these patients were doing at home rehab or had soft tissue therapy along with their adjustments.  My guess is that they were not.  Also, I’m pretty sure they did not receive dry needling treatments as well.  What makes Dr. Lee House Calls different than the typical Chiropractic office is my approach to care.  You can read more here – “MY TECHNIQUE”  I incorporate soft tissue therapy, dry needling, and at home rehab along with the adjustments.  The reason why is because it helps patients get better faster and stay feeling better longer which decreases visit frequency and eliminates longer term treatment plans.  

Are you dealing with neck pain? back pain? sciatica? extremity pain? headaches? plantar fasciitis? Dealing with stiffness or tension? Have you considered seeing a House Call Chiropractor? You can read more about why house calls are beneficial for busy parents and busy professionals – “WHY HOUSE CALLS”