HealthcareToday

According to the National Health Interview Survey conducted in 2007, 38 percent of US adults have visited a Complementary or Alternative Medical (CAM) provider.  This represents a 47 percent increase in visits over the last 10 years.  Is your current healthcare provider knowledgeable about and open to providing or sending you to the latest trend in healthcare in this country?

Chiropractic tops the list of CAM providers being used by adults in the US.  Currently about 8.6 percent of the US adult population and 2.8 percent of children go to the chiropractor on a regular basis.  If chiropractic is so great, why isn’t everybody going?

There has historically been a perception that the chiropractic profession isn’t “real science” and that chiropractors ability to diagnose and treat people is very limited.  Only a very small group of adults and children understand the idea that chiropractors don’t want you to wait to get sick to see them.  They want you to come in to stay well.

If you want to wait until you’re sick to see a healthcare provider, then this traditional medical model of healthcare in the US will suit your needs fine.  Traditional healthcare works on the sickness model – offering crisis care.  If you’re not sick, you must be OK.  But if someone were OK, then why would they suddenly develop cancer or have a heart attack? If you want to stay well you need to find a healthcare provider who is trained to create a healthy lifestyle for you.  Someone who understands that lack of sickness doesn’t mean you’re well.  Chiropractors understand you want to be proactive and live your life to the fullest.  You want to have energy and vitality for life, not just wait until your health deteriorates into sickness.

Only you can decide the kind of healthcare provider you need.  Read through these questions.  See if the answers make sense to you.  If they do, take the next step and schedule a consultation with us.

The 10 questions to ask yourself before you go to your next healthcare provider:

(And ways to know if their care is right for you)

1. How do you know what kind of healthcare provider you need right now?

One of the most common reason people go to a healthcare provider is for back pain.  80 percent of US adults will experience low back pain sometime in their life.  Many times people come in saying, “I thought it would go away on its own.” Or “The pain comes and goes, but this time it isn’t going away like it has in the past.”

The traditional medical model would be to start with painkillers and muscle relaxers to stop the symptoms then hope the cause goes away on its own.  The chiropractic or CAM model would be to look at all the different areas that caused the problem and work to eliminate the cause while using natural remedies and physical therapy to reduce the pain and swelling of the symptom.

A second common reason people seek a CAM healthcare provider is disability due to their pain or lack of energy.  In other words, they can’t do what they used to do.  The inability to walk, cook, golf, enjoy their family and relax have all been cited as illustrations of a disability during consultations in our office over the past few weeks.

Another phrase we commonly hear is “there was nothing else my medical healthcare provider could do for me.”   This is actually a welcomed statement in our office.  This usually means a significant number of tests have been performed to rule out nasty things, like cancer.  Therefore, we can focus on issues not normally addressed in the medical model of healthcare to give you better results faster.

The bottom line is that you must ask yourself if you have one or more health conditions that won’t go away?  Have you visited doctors or other practitioners, but the results weren’t what you hoped or expected? Are your health conditions significantly affecting your life?  You realize that these conditions are probably not going to get better unless the real source of the problem is found and corrected.  If this describes your situation, then you are like other people who come to us for help.  Your chances of recovery have never been higher!

2. What is a CAM healthcare provider going to do that’s different than my “regular doctor”?

During the consultation, we will ask you a series of questions to dig into exactly what is going on with you in all areas of your problem.  Things like, “What has helped you in the past?” Or “Tell me how this problem has affected your life?”  These types of questions will give us a better idea of what to do to help you.

Next, we will explain back what you have told us and give you a reasonable explanation of what we think the problem is.  This explanation will be given in words you understand and are comfortable with.  This will include all areas of the problem, not just the symptoms.  What caused the problem in the first place?  What are the contributing factors?  Is there a chemical part of the problem?  Are there psychological factors to be considered?

Next, an examination will be performed to rule in or rule out what we believe is going on with you. This will also include a brief explanation of what treatment we will provide for your condition and a reasonable length of time to expect results from care.

Then you decide if the explanation makes sense before you decide to accept care.

3. How much does a CAM healthcare cost compared to the traditional medical model?

Most insurance companies cover CAM healthcare.  As an example, a regular office visit at Natural Health & Wellness Center is $75. Our offices accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover, and insurance is submitted at the time of service.

The traditional medical model uses multiple diagnostic tests and multiple visits to begin to treat most symptoms.  So even though your health insurance has higher coverage for traditional medical treatment, often times it will cost you more time and money because of the expensive testing and multiple times you will need to take off work to go to your appointments.

4. What kind of results should I expect with CAM healthcare compared to traditional medicine?

Our #1 goal at Natural Health & Wellness Center is to provide at least 50 percent decrease in pain and disability within 2 weeks or we will find out why!!

Once you begin to feel better, we’ll dig deeper into your problem and will uncover the underlying cause that allowed this problem to begin in the first place.  We’ll also create a plan that might include exercise, stretching, or whole food nutritional supplements to keep you healthy for life.

5. How long do you have to go to a CAM provider?

That’s totally up to you!  Nobody will force you to do something that you’re not comfortable with.  The number of treatments you receive should make sense to you.  But you have to remember the focus of CAM healthcare is different than traditional medical care.  Just because you’re not sick doesn’t mean you shouldn’t continue to work towards becoming well.  But if during the report of findings the CAM healthcare provider uses scare tactics, fear or guilt attempts to commit you to a certain number of treatments up front be very careful.

We have people come in for a few visits (what we call a trial treatment plan), feel better, then get on with their lives.  We also have people come in for a few months to completely rehab a terrible injury.  And finally, we have people who see the benefit of ongoing chiropractic care and make it part of their healthy lifestyle.  We call it getting a “tune-up” to prevent future problems.

6. How do you know how good your CAM healthcare provider is?

Ask your friends and family who have gone to a CAM provider for their recommendation.  You can also go to the Dept. of Professional Regulation website to check them out.

But mostly, trust your gut instinct during the consultation.  Do you connect with the doctor?  Do they understand your condition?  Do they really seem to care about what you’re saying?   If they fail your gut test, say thanks but no thanks.

7. What red flags should you look for during your consultation with a CAM healthcare provider?

The biggest red flags are the use of high pressure sales tactics.  If the doctor tries to scare, guilt or shame you into accepting their treatment recommendations be very careful.  Your results should be honest and genuine for your health concerns. The second red flag is the presentation of an unreasonable number of visits during the report of findings.  Again, use your gut instinct if it sounds unreasonable call them on it and make them explain why.  If they can’t give you a reasonable answer walk away.

8. What should you expect on the first CAM healthcare visit?  And then regular visits?

On the first visit, you should expect it to take about an hour.  After you fill out the paperwork you will have your free screening with the doctor.  This preventative health screening is something that is always done at our expense.  We believe it is the only way professionals should conduct themselves in order to find out if the person sitting before them really can be best served in their facility, before charging for the process and time spent together.  If we absolutely believe you are in the right place then we will move forward with a full examination.  When your examination is finished, you will schedule your next visit to go over your results.  During this second visit, called your Report of Findings visit, we block off 30 minutes of time to all other patient care, to go over what we found your problem to be, whether or not we can help you with this health problem, how long it will take to get well, what costs will be associated with your care in our office and how much insurance companies will offset.  Just like traditional medicine, your contact and insurance information should be provided.  Pay attention to other patients and to staff.  Do they look happy?  Are they comfortable and relaxed about the care they are receiving?  This will tell you a lot. 

On regular visits, you should expect it to take about 15-20 minutes.  First, you should be taken to the treatment room, then, if physical therapy is being used, it will be applied.  After your therapy is over, you will receive your adjustment from your doctor along with any recommendations about home care or whole food supplements that would benefit your healing process.

9. What is a chiropractic adjustment and does it hurt?

The easiest way to explain what a chiropractic adjustment does is to compare it to a computer.  When my computer runs slow or locks up, the first thing I’ll do is turn it off then turn it back on again.  By rebooting your computer many times the problem fixes itself.

Your spine and nervous system acts in much the same way.  When your spine locks up or has pain, it’s usually because you’ve lost the range of motion in your spinal joints or your nervous system isn’t working correctly.  A chiropractic adjustment is designed to “reboot” your nervous system by allowing a better range of motion in your spine.  When your spine is adjusted, you not only affect the joints but also the nerves around the joint.  Each spinal nerve affects specific organs and tissues.  When your spine works better, your nerves work better.

Adjustments shouldn’t hurt.  Physical therapy, like electrical stimulation, massage, ultrasound and hot or cold packs can be used to loosen up tight muscles around the joint to make the joints move easier.

Many times, however, a brief pain can be experienced immediately after receiving an adjustment.  Usually it is not really pain, but a feeling of being startled.  Since you have never experienced this type of feeling before, it can feel a little weird.

Many times you can have muscle soreness after receiving adjustments for awhile.  This is comparable to starting an exercising routine.  Once your body gets used to it, the soreness goes away and is replaced by less pain and improved range of motion.

If you experience pain consistently with adjustments, make sure you tell your doctor about it.  There are always other techniques that can be used to minimize or stop the pain after your adjustment.

10. Do you always have to go to the chiropractor once you start going?

That is totally up to you.  If you feel you are receiving huge benefits from your continuing chiropractic care keep it up.  But nobody is going to force you to come in.

It has been our experience that once you discover how good you can feel, you have a tendency to keep coming back for adjustments to feel good on a regular basis.

The question you need to ask yourself is, “How long do I want to feel good?”  Of course the answer is forever.  Continued chiropractic care can keep you feeling good long into the future.  Feeling good is addicting.

Why should you believe me?

Well, you shouldn’t. You have just taken the first step to see if a chiropractor is right for you.  The next step is to think about this information and make sure it makes sense to you.  If you feel comfortable then call 732-641-2217 to schedule your no obligation FREE consultation or to schedule an appointment CLICK HERE to talk about your problem further.

This consultation can be done at your convenience.  If you are still unsure if chiropractic care can help you, call 732-641-2217 anyway and request a free phone consultation with Dr. Wendel.  This way you can get your questions answered before you make a time commitment you’re unsure about.

As an Added Bonus:

If you take action and call 732-641-2217 today, I will give you a copy of our booklet, The 7 Principles of Fat Burning for your commitment of helping yourself.

So call 732-641-2217 and decrease your pain. Also, learn how to increase the energy in your life and live the way you want to live.  You can truly get your life back by making this call.

There are ONLY 5 FREE consultations available each week for this offer and they go very quickly.  So don’t wait.  Call 732-641-2217 today and schedule your consultation and receive your FREE booklet.