What To Expect At The Oakville Chiropractor

Chiropractic: What To Expect

Our office location: We are located on the right end of the plaza towards the Catholic Church. In between the Woman’s fashion store and the pharmacy is a door leading to a stairwell. Once upstairs we are on the left in suite 205.

Bring Your New Patient Forms

Upon entering our office Cassandra or Stephanie will greet you and welcome you as a member of our family. We are an extremely laid back clinic, so come relaxed and ready for an easy, care free experience. We will request you fill our patient forms located in the New Patient Center. The paperwork provides us with general information about yourself and your condition. Don’t worry, its one page front and back and should not take longer then 10 minutes.

Click here for new patient forms.

Chiropractor Consultation

Next you will have a consultation with the Chiropractor to discuss your health-related problems, concerns, as well as potential treatment options. Your first visit is designed for Chiropractor to learn more about you, your condition and your expectations to determine whether chiropractic care will you meet your goals. If your condition is something that is out of the scope of practice of the chiropractor, we will work with you and your family doctor to get the care you need.

Chiropractic Examination

After your consultation, the doctor will perform a complete chiropractic examination testing your ability to turn and bend as well as other standard neurologic, orthopedic, postural, and physical examinations. Nothing will be done in our office without your consent. This examination can take anywhere from 5 – 15 minutes but is necessary to get to the root cause of the problem.

Chiropractic Treatment

99% of all patients will start getting treated within 10 minutes of the initial exam. Treatment is interactive with you so you can express any concerns you have about the style of adjustment you will be most comfortable with. Treatment will most likely include some form of Muscle Release, IFC Therapy, Spinal Manipulation and general hands on work by the Chiropractor. Treatment times are between 15 – 25 minutes and most people will feel a difference before they leave the office after their first visit.

At Home Exercises

Click here for Dr. Steve’s Recommendations and At home therapy

Patients will also be emailed or texted stretches and exercises to do at home. If you are in pain when you first come into our office this may include icing instructions, avoidance of certain activities or positions, as well as home exercises and/or stretches. Every body is unique and therefore everyone requires a unique and customized treatment approach. The foundation of our overall health is maintaining a healthy posture and good spinal alignment, eating a healthy diet, keeping your weight under control and stress relief.

Expectations

Most of our patients, no matter how severe the injury should see substantial improvements by visit 8 – 10. If there is only limited progression at this time we will work with the patient to re-access and move forward with different forms of treatment or other medical tests, such as Blood Work, MRI’s, X-rays and Ultrasound. We are extremely familiar with the Medical Doctors in Oakville and have no problem writing up a short note for the patient to present to them if needed.

Laying the foundation

Chiropractic care is like building a house – certain things have to happen in a particular order in order for everything to stand strong and work correctly. When building a house, if you tried to put up your walls before you had a solid foundation, your walls would be weak and eventually collapse. If you tried to put on your roof before the walls were ready, you would run into the same problem. The same is true for your body. Your body has to go through a particular plan of care in order to repair itself correctly and fully. There are three general phases of chiropractic care . . .

Phase 1 – Relief Care

Many people go to a chiropractor because they are in pain. In this first phase of care, the main goal is to reduce your symptoms. Sometimes this will require daily visits, or two to three visits per week for a time.

Most people are under the assumption that if they don’t feel any pain that there is nothing wrong with them – that they are healthy. Unfortunately, pain is a very poor indicator of health. In fact, pain and other symptoms frequently only appear after a disease or other condition has become advanced.

For example, consider a cavity in your tooth. Does it hurt when it first develops or only after it has become serious? How about heart disease? Regardless of whether you are talking about cancer, heart disease, diabetes, stress or problems with the spine, pain is usually the last thing to appear. When you begin chiropractic care, pain is also the first symptom to disappear, even though much of the underlying condition remains.

Phase 2 – Corrective Care

Teaming Up for Optimal Health

Most chiropractors regard the elimination of symptoms as the easiest part of a persons care. If all that the chiropractor does is to reduce the pain and stop there, the chances of the condition recurring are much greater. In order to prevent a rapid recurrence of symptoms, it is necessary to continue receiving care even though your symptoms are gone.

During the correction / restorative phase of your care, you will not have to receive adjustments as often as you did during the first phase of care and, depending on your particular circumstances, you may begin doing exercises and stretches either at the centre or at home to help accelerate your healing.

Do not be discouraged if you have mild flare-ups in your symptoms on occasion. This is normal. Flare-ups are bound to occur during this phase because your body has not fully healed. Depending on the severity of your injury or condition and how long you have been suffering from it, this phase of your care may last anywhere from a few months to a couple of years.

Phase 3 – Preventative Care

Maintenance is Key to Healthy Living

Once your body has fully healed, routine chiropractic care can help ensure that your physical problems do not return, and keep your body in optimal condition. We recomend once a month treatments for most of our patients spines. It’s a lot easier to maintain a healthy spine then it is to fix a broken one ! Just like continuing an exercise program and eating well in order to sustain the benefits of exercise and proper diet, it is necessary to continue chiropractic care to ensure the health of your musculoskeletal system.

When you make routine chiropractic care a part of your lifestyle, you avoid many of the aches and pains that so many people suffer through, your joints will last longer and you will be able to engage in more of the activities you love.