Payment Upfront & Corrective Care Plans
Upfront payment plans and ”corrective care plans” are business plans more than anything else, often requiring you to get 2 or 3 weekly treatments for a month or two then weekly for another month or two, then regular “maintenance care” for the rest of your life. They will often use a used car sales pitch and say you can buy these treatments upfront at a reduced rate. Another issue is you end up using a years worth of private health fund coverage in only a few months, so you have to pay out of pocket for the majority of treatments.
A treatment plan is different and usually involves an accurate and evidence-based diagnosis and prognosis, educating the patient especially on how to avoid or modify aggravating factors. Initially you may need a follow up 5 – 7 days later after the first appointment, then another appointment two or three weeks later, so that’s a total of 3 treatments over one month period, as you move into more of a self-management/active care situation and getting treatment as needed. Reassurance and empowering the back pain sufferer is vital for best outcomes.
X-rays & Scare Tactics
If you’re told you need x-rays, run and don’t look back! There are decades of research showing the vast majority of things found on x-rays have nothing to do with pain and are more just age related ‘wear and tear’, you can take x-rays of people who don’t have back pain vs with back pain and they will be almost identical assuming they are of similar age. Often, x-rays are taken on the first visit (some will even have measurements/lines for greater effect), the patient is told they have a scoliosis, the hip is out by a certain amount of mm’s, their spine has arthritis and/or lost the curve in the neck.
Pain can be confusing at the best of times, to then tell someone who may be feeling a bit anxious or worried about their back pain that it is a result of their spine being broken, out of alignment or degenerated only serves one purpose and one purpose only, to create more fear and vulnerability so they become dependent on treatment and much more likely to sign up for a corrective care or payment up front plans.
In my experience its ‘s rare for a chiropractor who uses these corrective care/payment upfront plans and to not use x-rays.
X-rays should only be used to rule out specific pathology such as cancer, auto-immune conditions, following trauma etc…
Conveyor Belt Treatments.
Short 10-15 minutes conveyor belt treatments, where you get the same treatment every time you go and the same treatment everybody else gets. It usually involves the same two adjustments on the low back, mid back and neck, some will use a variation of this which may have a table that drops and makes dramatic noises. It may include a bit of a fluff massage or even worse a massage gun or tool.
The ironic thing is the chiropractor claims pain is due to these ‘significant” findings such as scoliosis, arthritis etc.. But then give the most cookie cutter, basic and rudimentary treatment possible.
Subluxations & the All Powerful Nervous System
Some chiropractors will claim that misalignments in the spine will put pressure on the nerves and cause pain and/or reduced function. The intervertebral foramina (IVF) which is where the nerve exists the spine is relatively larger then the exiting nerves, which is not by coincidence! There may be instances where the disc may be protruding into the IVF and if large enough may impact the nerve and lead to a specific set of symptoms such as numbness, pins and needles and weakness to the limbs where the nerve innervates usually legs (low back nerves) and arms/fingers (neck nerves). However, this has nothing to do with these proposed misalignments.
Some will even take it a step further and claim these misalignments cause’s decreased function to the organs which the nerve also innervates leading to decreased function to that organ, causing things such as digestive problems, asthma etc… and even poor immunity.
How To Avoid Getting Scammed
If you have any doubt or queries it’s usually best to call in advance and ask if usually require x-rays, they may say that it depends on a case by case basis which is usually means yes. Check and see how long a typical appointment is and if it’s mainly just adjustments or is it a multidisciplinary approach. On the first appointment ask generally how many treatments will be required, I typically see someone 2 or 3 times then as needed there after, what I do isn’t magic I just use a multidisciplinary and patient focused approach. Finally, make sure they don’t use scare tactics, rather reassure you and empower you.
