Pain Prevention Performance – What level of care suits you?
When people attend our practice for the first time, they usually want to know 4 things:
- What is the problem?
- Can we can help?
- How long will it take?
- How much will it cost?
The answers to these questions depend on your individual case and your goals for care.
This will determine if the focus is on Pain, Prevention or Performance.
Pain Level Care
Pain Care is the first level.
While some patients (especially children) may first attend our practice for a ‘check up’, most attend with with some level of pain or discomfort that motivates them to take action. This can range from a minor issue through to severe and chronic pain.
Visits during this first level need to be close together, so that one adjustment builds on the previous one, to change an unwanted pattern in the body. Avoiding certain activities or exercises to get the body moving may be prescribed. Supplements or medication may be needed to help temper pain levels during healing, though the preference is to avoid drugs if possible.
This phase lasts for 3-12weeks. If the goal is purely symptom relief, then care does not progress past this level. Once the symptoms have settled, you either stop care or move onto the next level.
Prevention Level Care
Prevention Care is the second level and the focus here is improving spinal function.
With the exception of sudden trauma, most health problems don’t suddenly appear. More often it is a build up over time, often without obvious symptoms, but eventually leading to the body breaking down. The onset of symptoms might be related to a minor incident, that is simply ‘The straw that breaks the camel’s back’.
Part of your assessment involves functional tests, such as posture, movement, balance and breathing. Improving body function takes longer than just reducing the symptoms, but this goes a long way to preventing further issues. Most people recognise that prevention is better than cure, and given we can’t simply trade our spine in for a new model (at least not yet!), then it makes sense to look after the one we’ve got.
Ongoing chiropractic adjustments can really help. One study showed people who continued to have monthly care were significantly less likely to have a relapse of back pain, compared to those who stopped after a few weeks of care.
Prevention Level Care is like rehabilitation. This phase lasts from 3-12months.
Performance Level Care
Performance Care is the third level.
We all want to perform at our best, whether it’s in a sporting pursuit, with our careers or as a parent and grand-parent. To achieve this we need to invest time and energy. Then it comes down to what works best for you and how much do you value your health performance.
To achieve high health performance requires a holistic approach. We need to consider how we can nurture our physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing. Strengthening your body with the right exercise, eating well and managing your emotional wellbeing all have an impact.
Chiropractic care can be an important key to your wellbeing. Not only is caring for your spine important for our structure, the link to our nervous system means this may impact our health on many levels. Our practice members on this care level will often comment that they ‘sleep better’ or ‘feel more relaxed’ when they receive regular spinal adjustments.
Performance Care is akin to Wellness Care. This involves ongoing regular check-ups with visits every 2-8weeks.
The Choice is Yours
Ultimately, how long and how often you chose to benefit from your chiropractic care is up to you. Whether it’s pain that motivates you, or you prefer a more pro-active approach, we’re here to help.