With the need for safe and non-surgical treatment for various ailments rising every day that passes, chiropractic care is slowly becoming a much-needed alternative.
It is now fair to say that the discussion has now shifted from the benefits and applications of chiropractic services to how long and often one should seek these services.
So sorry, we have to disappoint; but we have no clear-cut answer to the issue. How often one should seek chiropractic services depends heavily on various factors.
The degree of your injuries, the level and type of pain, and your genetic predisposition all determine the number of times you should seek these services before you start experiencing meaningful results.
Degree of Pain
Chiropractor Treatment Frequency
One of the main reasons people seek chiropractic care is the unending pain from different health issues. For common pains that come and go, people turn to commercial pills as treatment. However, for acute and chronic pains, only chiropractic services can cure these. This is due to the fact that such pains indicate a serious underlying musculoskeletal issue, hence the intervention of chiropractors. For acute pains like those arising from wrong posture, slouching and sedentary habits, and a single visit to the therapist per month will be enough to alleviate the symptoms.
However, for chronic pains like those stemming from traumas for instance automobile crashes, you may require chiropractic services once a week for a period of 6 months before you start experiencing meaningful results. This is due to the complexity involved in treating such issues.
Nature of Injuries
Some injuries, though related to musculoskeletal issues, are minor compared to others. For instance, misaligned spinal discs are easier to correct with just a few sessions. This therefore means that patients with neck and lower back pains, migraines, and shoulder pains will need a single session per month for 6 months with their chiropractors for them to recover from their symptoms fully. Some bits of manipulation and deep tissue massage will be enough to address such issues.
Patients suffering from chronic injuries like misaligned spinal discs that compress the underlying nerves, broken limbs, and sprained ankles, will need a date with their chiropractor every week for them to start experiencing relief. A continuous duration of 6 months will be needed to address and alleviate such pains fully.
Maintenance and Preventative Care
Some musculoskeletal issues such as broken limbs, spinal injuries, sprained ankles, dislocated joints and neck will in addition to treatment, call for maintenance therapies to address them fully. After or during treatment of such issues, the chiropractor will place you under close monitoring to assess your response and recovery. In this case, you may be required to visit their facilities every week for a period of between 6 and 9 months. During the follow-up sessions, the therapist might recommend some lifestyle changes that stretch from dietary change, and stress management as well as other types of physical therapies including heat and cold press.
Minor structural issues like migraines, and lower back, and neck pains are easier to treat and do not necessarily require lots of maintenance sessions. The chiropractor will manipulate, and massage the affected areas and recommend the necessary preventative measures. In this understanding, you will require just a few sessions; say 3-6, spread across 4-6 weeks.
Genetic Predisposition
Different people recover from certain structural health issues at different rates, with the same frequency and duration of chiropractic treatment. The difference can be explained by the difference in genetic predisposition. The same way different people respond to commercial medications differently, is the same way people do, to chiropractic care. For those with higher reception to treatment, they will need fewer sessions with their chiropractor than those with a much lower reception.
Age is also a key factor in determining the frequency of your visits to the chiropractor. Senior citizens respond to treatments at a much slower rate than their younger counterparts do. This is because, unlike younger people whose cells keep regenerating after injuries, those of senior citizens become depleted and rarely are replaced. As a result, an older person may require an increased number of sessions for the same problem than a younger individual.
From the above discussion, we do not have a conclusive answer to the number of times you should visit your chiropractor. You can only get a clear and direct answer after visiting one. With close consideration of your unique health needs, the therapist can determine this frequency for you. Since your primary healthcare specialist will also closely monitor the therapy, getting such an answer will be much easier.