Why Care Plans Matter

Starting your chiropractic journey is like learning a new language. You don’t show up to one class and expect to speak fluent Italian. You have to show up to class, take your lessons and learn one letter at a time. As much as we would like to be, we are often not perfect at something we try for the first time. Sometimes we may need to retake the same lesson multiple times in order to retain what we learned. People spend years studying new languages. Similarly, it can take years for our nervous system to learn a new language of healing, ease, and adaptability. If you are new to care, each adjustment is like a new letter in the alphabet. If you’ve been getting adjusted for a few years, an adjustment could be a new word or phrase in your nervous system vocabulary. If you feel you do not need an adjustment, just think, do you know every word in the English language? Probably not. Even if you are 100 years old, you could probably still learn a new word. The same goes for an adjustment, there is always something new your body can learn from a clear nervous system. It is the frequency and consistency of these lessons that matter most when it comes to learning any new skill.

Frequency is how often you are practicing your new skill. Consistency is showing up routinely for practice. If you miss a session, you make it up another time. If you do not make up your lesson, you will fall behind and might find it more difficult to catch up. The more practice sessions you complete and the more able you are to be present for those sessions, the better you may be at learning and remembering your new skill. Many of us are familiar with frequency and consistency when starting a new fitness routine. If we want to get stronger, we have to go to the gym. If we skip our workouts, it may take longer to get the results we desire. The length of the program matters as well. A lot of us expect to have six pack abs after just three weeks, but in reality it might take 6 months or longer of consistently working your abs to see them. We are often hopeful that one adjustment will be the miracle cure, but we often see that it may take several weeks, months, and even years for someone to feel more at ease.

All of this applies to chiropractic care and healing the nervous system as well. If we want to teach our bodies to maintain ease, healing, and adaptability, it is important to have frequency and consistency. This is why a chiropractor will create a specific care plan for you.

There are 4 things we consider when creating a care plan:

  1. How severe is the problem?
    1. On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being like a stubbed toe and 5 being a serious injury like a herniated disc, we take into account the severity of any pain or discomfort you might be experiencing. The more severe the problem is, the more care you may need to stabilize the injured tissue.
  2. How long has it been a problem?
    1. Our brain and body is always trying to adapt to our environment. If an injury has persisted, our body will eventually adapt and compensate to the “new normal”. The longer this compensation pattern is present, the more care it may take to unlearn this pattern. Think about how hard it is to break a habit. Our nervous system makes bad habits too.
  3. What is your current lifestyle?
    1. What you do outside the chiropractic office has an effect on your spine as well. If your lifestyle includes poor nutrition, poor sleep, and being sedentary, you may need more chiropractic care as your body might not have enough resources to heal and adapt to the stress of life.
  4. What is your innate healing ability?
    1. Your ability to heal is far greater than you have been led to believe, and we are all capable of healing. Some of us heal more efficiently than others, though, and it might take a few adjustments for us to get a sense of what your unique healing ability is. If your body is slow to change, your care plan may be longer. The good news is that getting adjusted may increase your innate healing ability, so future you may heal more efficiently.

We find that most people fall into one of three categories of care plans:

  1. Acute/Crisis Care
    1. We may recommend this type of care to someone who is in an acute or injured state. We typically recommend several adjustments per week and often multiple adjustments per day to stabilize the injured tissue. It is important to be consistent with this care plan so the injury does not get worse.
  2. Corrective Care
    1. This type of care is meant to retrain the nervous system. This is where most people start their chiropractic journey. We recommend this type of care to those that have a history of dis-ease and dysregulation that has become like a bad habit in their nervous system. It is important to be consistent with this care plan so the body learns a new language of healing and adaptability.
  3. Wellness Care
    1. This type of care is meant to keep the body well. The frequency of care may be less, but when you are consistent with your routine “tune up” adjustments, your body may be more efficient at overcoming stress. People often tell us that they may get sick less often and are in a better mood when they get their regular adjustments.

Healing is not linear, and people often move between all three categories as they receive care in our office. The choice is always yours when it comes to how much chiropractic care you would like to receive. Our chiropractors make recommendations that will maximize the benefits of chiropractic care while being efficient with your time and money. We know this is an important commitment to yourself and your family, so we do our very best to make the process seamless. Whatever you may decide, we are here to support you in your healing journey. If you would like to know how chiropractic can help you, call our office today.