Who is a chiropractic patient?

“Who is a chiropractic patient or who goes to the chiropractor anyway?”

Chiropractors come in all shapes and sizes as do their patients, as well as from all age groups and fields of work, from students to the aged and retired. If you haven’t had your spine checked and you live in Canada, USA or Australia you are in the minority as there is an adequate availability of chiropractors in your communities. If you live in other parts of the world, you would be fortunate indeed to find a chiropractor near you and you should definitely avail of their professional services. Come with an open mind to the special focus that comes from a non-drug, non-surgical, holistic, naturalistic and vitalistic practitioner. It is to your advantage that this profession exists.

One must first have a spine to benefit from chiropractic care. That must represent not just people but all vertebrates; so, yes there are veterinary chiropractors. In general there are three main classifications of chiropractic patients first alluded in the opening analogy. These are patients who present themselves in an acute state (pain focused), a chronic state (rehabilitation focused) or in a complex state of health challenges and the focus eventually moves into preventive and wellness care.

So which are you?
Pain focused patients represent about 50% of the population and with drug companies’ constant barrage of “relief” advertising, this comes as no surprise. Society teaches us that symptoms like pain are bad and that relief of symptoms is how to restore your health. At least those who seek out a chiropractor for pain relief have realized the limitations of a drug-only approach and/or of their reasonable concerns over the side-effects of taking drugs. Characteristically, this patient stops care when the pain is gone, regardless of the doctor’s recommendations.

Rehabilitative or corrective care focus is the second group of chiropractic patients. Seeing the benefits of solving a problem that tends to repeat itself or can get worse over time, they opt for spinal corrective care; representing another 40% of chiropractic patients.

The third group of chiropractic patients are the remaining 10% to 20% that have made enough observations about life and health and have sought to advance their personal philosophy on health, where seeing their chiropractor on a regular but infrequent program of care elect to enter into a personal relationship with their chiropractor, in a form of partnership where they are in charge of their health, but they value the input and the benefits of chiropractic care in their ongoing health care decisions.

Interestingly enough, these are the minority who experience less medical doctor visits over time and are not likely to end up in a hospital, short of being hit by a bus. They also, when they relocate to another city, seek out a similarly aligned chiropractor to continue this level of personal care.

Yours in Health,
docMIKE