We’ve all been there before – trying to pick from a list of potential companies or professionals with very little substance to go on. Most of the time we rely on online reviews, browsing web pages, and if we’re lucky, we may know someone who has already been in that business and can tell you what to expect.

Going to a chiropractor is an important decision, even more so because many people don’t know much about chiropractic to begin with. What little they know may very well be wrong. Some consider chiropractors pretty bad and are skeptical of the profession. Some are open to seeing a chiropractor, but have no friends or family to guide them to the right person, and they have no experience with chiropractic that would make searching the internet easier. Knowing the “language” of something is helpful because your Google search will be much more fruitful when you use the correct terminology. Using broad terms will often provide you with nothing more than a list of chiropractors who do a lot of advertising and who populate their websites with keywords just to drive visitors through Google.

Choosing a chiropractor is, in many ways, a very personal decision. With so many types of CDs, that means you can probably find one to suit your needs. This article will describe how to do a good search that will show you all the local chiropractors and allow you to distinguish between them so that you can make the best decision.

1. Are you going to a chiropractor simply for pain relief or general health?

You can freely separate chiropractors into two groups: holistic chiropractors and mechanistic chiropractors. All chiropractors are aware of this distinction, and indeed the profession has been in a general state of low-level internal conflict along this fault line since its inception. Some chiropractors know this as a “straight vs. mixers” war. Internal conflict, which actually has many positive benefits, has been around since the profession began in 1895. This duality is a strength of the profession: without the holistic character of chiropractic we would be physical therapists adjusting the spine, and without it We would lose sight of the real health benefits that chiropractic care brings to millions of Americans each year, and the real detrimental effects of spinal joint malfunction (subluxation).

2. Do you want long-term care or do you want your complaint to be dealt with and then your case closed?

Many chiropractors, with varying degrees of scientific evidence to back this up, promote chiropractic as a viable alternative to traditional healthcare. They see chiropractic as a way to promote the health of their nervous system through chiropractic spinal adjustments, which then allow the body to function at a higher level. Chiropractors and patients across the country will attest to better health with fewer illnesses and injuries after incorporating chiropractic into their lives. Regular adjustments help adults and children cope with everything from allergies to headaches, and people who want to avoid prescription drugs often opt for chiropractic. It is difficult to obtain solid scientific evidence to validate this due to the problems inherent in the design of a study capable of testing the “chiropractic lifestyle” and its effect on general health, but there are case series and it is likely that we all know someone swearing up and down that chiropractic keeps them out of the doctor’s office.

On the flip side of this coin are chiropractors who will work to promote proper joint function in the injured area and then rehabilitate the joint and supporting soft tissue, after which they will free you from attention. There is value in this, just as there is value in wellness or maintenance care. Releasing a patient after the pain is gone will save you money. It will also please the patient’s health insurer, not that the happiness of your insurer should be a factor in making health decisions, but unfortunately they have power over your health in very important ways, so it is valuable not to end in Nobody’s eye at your insurer’s corporate headquarters. Rather than promoting ongoing care, a mechanistic chiropractor will work alone to correct the immediate problem. Many times, back pain can come from a weak ankle or knee, so your chiropractor may focus on a place that is not painful, so do not assume that the location of your pain is the cause of your pain.

A fundamental difference between holistic and mechanistic chiropractors is that the holistic chiropractor will treat the patient beyond the scientific limitations that a more mechanistic chiropractor would impose. This actually ties # 1 and # 2 together. For example, a mechanistic chiropractor can treat low back pain by working to rehabilitate a sacroiliac joint and then release the client when the sacroiliac joint returns to normal pain-free function. A holistic chiropractor will treat the client until the subluxations (spinal misalignments that cause nerve irritation) are fully resolved and then expand their care to include general subluxation correction throughout the spine to promote overall well-being. Both approaches have real value. While it is important to impose limits on treatment based on the limits of what peer-reviewed research can corroborate, holistic chiropractors recognize that progress in science occurs by pushing the limits of understanding and treating patients. in ways that the best current evidence may not fully support. The periphery of science is where generally progress is made, although it is also where charlatanism finds refuge.

3. Are you injured or dysfunctional? In other words, did your pain come from an injury suddenly, or did it come more slowly from something you do repeatedly?

Sudden pain usually means an injury has occurred. Sometimes it is a car accident, a fall, or a sports injury. These types of injuries may be what a certain type of chiropractor focuses on or even has certification and further training. In cases of these types of injuries, you need a chiropractor who can confidently treat sprains and strains, who can differentiate between different types of injuries, who recognizes when an injury is too serious for them, and who is also diligent enough to see certain warning signs and refer you to other providers when necessary. Many, but not all, holistic chiropractors are prone to viewing the spine only in terms of subluxations and therefore may miss the subtle signs of a more serious injury that requires the expertise of a chiropractor, orthopedist, or neurologist especially. capable. Although not a firm rule of thumb, a more mechanistic chiropractor may be a safer bet when dealing with a painful injury.

4. What professional associations serve the chiropractic profession and how can this help you find the right CD?

There are two large national organizations that represent chiropractors: the ACA and the ICA. The ACA is the American Chiropractic Association and the ICA is the International Chiropractic Association. The ACA is more mechanistic and the ICA is more holistic. State associations are more varied, so it is difficult to discern much about a chiropractor by looking at their state association membership, unless you analyze the political or philosophical leanings of that organization – a lot of work to find a chiropractor. To keep things simple, know that many ICA chiropractors are actually opposed to the ACA, and vice versa, so you can get more from your membership (or non-membership) in national organizations than from other things you can find on the website. or online. listings for a chiropractor. However, it is important not to read this piece of information too much and, of course, to consider that all people are multidimensional and may not fit into the dichotomy that I am describing. Still, as part of a larger set of information to make a judgment, this may be useful to consider.

5. Should I consider their websites, reviews, and testimonials? And how important are personal references?

You may soon discover that many chiropractors use one of the few companies to create their websites. This means that if you visit ten different chiropractor websites, you may see the same website over and over again with just a different DC name.

This means that the content is not original and you probably won’t be able to learn much about the chiropractor on his website. This reduces the value of the website. Chiropractors would be better off ditching the spinning three-dimensional spines and instead putting real content on their sites. These sites are loaded with content, but very little, if any, of the information on the site is unique to that chiropractor. Even signed articles that include the name of that chiropractor are probably not articles written by that actual chiropractor. Be suspicious of intellectual laziness and dishonesty when a professional puts your name and credentials on an article that he or she did not write. While it is a common practice, that does not mean that it is the correct way to promote yourself.

Online reviews, like Yelp! and Yahoo! are great. Often times, however, companies make fun of the system by making fake reviews. Are all the reviews the same approximate time? For example, ten revisions are all from March 2012? If so, it is suspicious. If the reviews seem legitimate, they may give you an idea of ​​the type of CD, but if they are suspicious, you should remember the old adage “buyer should be careful.” Very often, a bad review (which is legitimate) will be followed by numerous illegitimate good reviews to drown out the bad. Overcoming illegitimate reviews, you may be able to get a lot of good information from reading reviews, so feel free to use a search engine to search for “jones family chiropractic reviews” and see what comes up.

The testimonials should be considered as marketing, but of course they are probably real stories from real patients. The chiropractor is choosing what message you want to hear. If they choose 5 patients who talk about the chiropractor curing their back pain, then this chiropractor wants you to see them as a back pain specialist. If they talk about children and allergies, they want you to know that they specialize in that. In this way, the testimonials can be used to take a look at the chiropractor.

Personal references are the best source of information, as they are generally unfiltered and straightforward. Ask a friend or family member and you will get an unbiased opinion. The best chiropractors (and the best lawyers, realtors, and even bakers) get the most of their new clients because they treated the clients they already have so well. People are quick to complain about poor service, so when someone has something good to say about how you were treated, you need to acknowledge it as worthy of their attention. Think of it this way: that person experimented with a chiropractor so you don’t have to. A personal reference from someone you trust is easily the most valuable information you will find.

That is all! I hope these five tips help you narrow down your search for the perfect chiropractor. This is by no means an exhaustive list of all considerations, but it is a great way to structure your search and find the DC that meets your needs and provides what you are looking for. Take care of yourself and get well.