Now you have received your first chiropractic adjustments there are certain recommendations following each appointment.
Following being adjusted, please:
On the day of being adjusted and up to 48 hours after, it is normal to experience:
Please be assured that these are very normal responses and indicate your brain and body are trying to make changes so your symptoms can improve. If you have any concern over any adverse reactions which continue longer than 48 hours, please feel free to contact the clinic.
During your first appointment your chiropractor will have discussed a plan of care with you and this will have included how many appointments are likely to be needed.
Remember the number of appointments varies depending on your:
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This is when you require relief from severe symptoms or dysfunction. The aim is to reduce and resolve pain, muscle spasm, inflammation and have you functioning again as quickly as possible. At this stage of care you will typically require three to six appointments over four to six weeks.
Read on and watch this short video to better understand pain, its function and how chiropractors can help.
When some of the parts of your brain get particular messages in a specific pattern, the brain decides for you to make you feel pain to warn you that something might not be right, that you may be in danger.
Chiropractic helps your brain know what is going on in the spine and body
When your alert and danger (sympathetic) system is really active your heart beats faster, your brain mobilizes your body’s energy stores and you become more alert and vigilant and you even sweat more. When the alert and danger (sympathetic) system is more settled your calm & healing (parasympathetic) system takes over. This allows your brain and body to calm down, to heal tissue cells and to digest your food properly.
Scientists have shown that chiropractic care changes the function in your prefrontal cortex – one of the brains orchestra conductors. This is also probably why chiropractic care helps people who are suffering with pain – by changing the pain music in the brain itself.
Following completion of acute care, the functioning of your nervous system will have improved and your body will be healing. Following this stage of care you have the opportunity to move into corrective care.
The goal of corrective care is to address the root cause of your symptoms and restore your body’s function fully. You may actually be symptom free by this stage, though you may be vulnerable to experiencing a relapse. At this stage we expect you to require fewer adjustment appointments, anywhere between once a fortnight to once a month. The stage may last anywhere between two to six months.
Read on and watch these short videos to understand more about how your brain and body interact and how chiropractors can help
Your brain receives constant messages about your body and the external environment from the sensory organs. That’s your eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, and so on. With this information, your brain maintains a 3D map of your body and keeps a tab on what’s happening outside your body.
How your brain sees a situation may not be entirely accurate
Sometimes your brain even ‘fills in the blanks on your behalf, and your experience isn’t 100% based on reality but is instead a perception of reality. An interesting way to demonstrate how the brain’s inner reality is a perception is using the classic checker shadow illusion, created by Edward H Adelsen from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
When you think of muscles, you probably think of your biceps and triceps. You won’t necessarily think of the small muscles close to your spine and skull. These small muscles do in fact play a very important role – they tell your brain what your spine is doing, which represents what the core of your body is doing.
Chiropractic adjustments help restore healthy movement
If your spinal segments aren’t moving correctly it may cause background noise for your brain or your brain might not get adequate information about what’s happening in your body, and will therefore have to fill in blanks. When your brain can accurately perceive what is going on inside and out, it can better control your body for the situation at hand.
A chiropractor will gently adjust any dysfunctional spinal segments, or what they call vertebral subluxations, to restore healthy movement. This can improve the communication between your brain, your body and the environment. It is a lot like rebooting a computer.
Many people like the way they feel after receiving adjustments and they choose to maintain the progress they have made and they move into phase 3.
When your body has healed and your nervous system is functioning at it’s best, it is important to maintain this improvement. So, when you are feeling confident with daily functional movement, with little or no symptoms, it is wise to schedule a maintenance appointment. Some people feel they benefit from being adjusted every month, others are adjusted every three to six months. It is a personal choice.
The Chiropractor will reflect on your care at each appointment, and clinical reviews will be conducted at specific appointments.
Read on and watch this short video to further explain how maintenance care can positively affect your body
The idea with maintenance care is that regular adjustments will help maintain your spine and nervous system function at its optimal level and help you to be your best and to prevent new episodes of pain developing.
Maintenance care makes perfect sense if you want to function at your best.
If your brain doesn’t send appropriate protective messages to your core trunk muscles you will have a higher risk of developing low back injuries. A lack of core stability means you’re basically creating the potential for micro damage to your spine each time you move around or lift your arm or leg.
It’s really important to keep your spine working well, so if you want to function at your optimal potential consider chiropractic maintenance care because the research suggests your spine will love you for it!
If you are pleased with the level of care you have received, please make your friends and family members aware about the help you have received today and how they could benefit too.
