What to Look for When Choosing a Chiropractor
Try to get a referral. Friends, neighbors, family, and especially your primary medical doctor may recommend a chiropractor.
Check if any of the recommended chiropractors are covered by your insurance plan. If you receive a strong recommendation for someone not on that list, you might consider out of network benefits or even private payment.
Do a quality check for credentials by accessing your state licensing board’s website to confirm qualifications and any possible disciplinary action
Research the condition(s) for which you are seeking treatment. There are any number of credible websites and library resources offering information on conditions like back pain, sciatica, herniated discs, and other musculoskeletal conditions commonly treated by chiropractors.
Visit the practice website. Many chiropractors have websites, and these can be informative. Are they patient-oriented? Are they consistent with the scientific evidence you have learned about your condition?
How To Choose The Right Chiropractor
It is estimated that Doctors of Chiropractic treat over 27 million Americans annually, with a chiropractic adjustment being performed around 1 million times every business day in the US.
There are many known benefits of chiropractic treatment, which has made it such a popular treatment. However, when choosing the right chiropractor you can be overwhelmed with the options, and with the average session costing around $65, it’s an expensive decision to make.
To ensure you get the most from your treatment, take a look at our frequently asked questions. We hope they will help inform you, not simply about how to choose a chiropractor but most importantly, how to choose the right chiropractor.
There are also additional treatments that Doctors of Chiropractic offer that may be beneficial to you when treating and managing your pain. Treatments include acupuncture, nutritional counselling, massage therapy, interferential electrical muscle stimulation, cryotherapy and heat therapies.
Before you book your appointment you can discuss how treatment plans are put together and expected timescales. Of course it is very difficult for a professional to say without reviewing you, however they should be able to give you a rough estimate based on your described symptoms.
How To Find A Good Chiropractor
Chiropractors today in many parts of the world are an important part of a comprehensive and integrated healthcare system aimed at prevention. Because there are no drug interactions to worry about and very few, if any, side effects, Chiropractic is often offered as a treatment to most common neuro-musculoskeletal conditions with other pain management methods. So finding the best and right Chiropractor will help you on your road to health and recovery.
Integrity and confidence of the Chiropractor.
One of the first things to be aware of in a Chiropractic doctor is personal and professional integrity. A doctor with integrity has both trust and confidence in each and every one of his patients that confidence is a reflection of his/her pride in providing proper treatments and getting you the results you expect or agreed upon. The right Chiropractor will render only the best treatment for your health needs to get the quickest and best results. If Chiropractic is not the proper treatment for you, the right Chiropractor will have no problem referring you to another health care professional to manage or co-manage your case.
Word of mouth and Reviews
This is absolutely a great place to start for anyone who has anxiety or doubts about finding the right Chiropractor or Chiropractic clinic. A Positive word of mouth regarding the health professional you are seeking is a very good sign and it eases anyone’s doubts or worry’s. If you are considering chiropractic for the first time or considering choosing a different chiropractor, listen to others in your network more than the just ads.
Clinical competency and experience of the clinician.
For those seekers, We cannot emphasize this enough how extremely important this is. Doctors of Chiropractic have been through extensive training and education to become healthcare providers. This training includes proper examination, proper diagnosis, and proper treatment protocols. If a Chiropractor lacks in any one of these three essential areas, he or she should not be treating you. Choose a Chiropractor or Chiropractic Clinic with the highest of standards and ethics.
A Willingness to refer to the Chiropractor
For Some Chiropractors or Chiropractic Clinics, they seem to treat conditions that are out of the realm of Chiropractic. This relates to Tip #2 and #4 because treating a smorgasbord of conditions does not imply and/or make a Chiropractor great or right; it implies lack of focus and knowledge. Although chiropractic treatment with an underlying disease is fine (assuming no contraindications for treatment), chiropractors should not be treating you specifically for that disease or claiming they cure conditions such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease or other illnesses.
What are the things you should look for when choosing a new Chiropractor
Currently in Australia we have two types of Chiropractic sub-types emerging, these are ‘Wellness Based Chiropractors’ and ‘Evidence Based Chiropractors’. Evidence based practice just means the Chiropractor will work similarly to a physiotherapist and use a biomedical/mechanical model of care. This means they are looking at the movement and function of your muscles and spine, and where available, they will adhere to what is considered ‘best practice’, based on current research. Generally, they will schedule your care based on pain and function.
to X-ray or to not X-ray?
Taking X-rays without any medical question, unless the Chiropractor is a Gonstead trained Chiropractor, is usually part of the Wellness Chiropractors approach to care. They will usually want an X-ray at your initial appointment and have you return in a day or so for your treatment. Evidenced Based Chiropractors (EBC) will treat without the need for X-rays unless they are deemed medically necessary. This may be ruling out some sort of pathological risk or just to establish if there any congenital abnormalities to consider. These X-rays are usually bulk-billed and not charged to you
What techniques do they use
This question is crucial for you to look for in a new Chiropractor especially if you have seen a Chiropractor before and know what works well for you. If you’re used to seeing and SOT/NET/NOT or other low force Chiropractor you would probably find a Gonstead/Sports based Chiropractor very different. As a low force practitioner i would often have patients coming in only to ask to ‘just get cracked’ and they would be disappointed when i advised that i was probably the wrong Chiropractor for them. So do your research and find a Chiropractor that uses techniques you like or a are used to. If you don’t know what techniques you like, then the only way to find out is to try!
Check out their reviews
As AHPRA registered practitioners we are not allowed to offer testimonials on our website from patients. However we are ok to have recommendations and reviews on independent websites such as Google or Facebook. So take a quick look through the reviews but also take them with a pinch of salt too. One patients’ experience may be totally different to yours, especially if the Chiropractor has 15 ratings at 5 stars and then 1 bad review because the receptionist was having a tough day.
How do they take their bookings?
Many patients don’t mind pre-booking their appointments with the receptionist as they may be terrible at keeping appointments or they may not keep up with their recommended schedule of care. However, in a world of convenience and ‘ i want it now’ kind of approach, I prefer having an online booking Chiropractor. This means I can see what’s available, cancel, reschedule and generally control my booking based on my busy schedule. Without this, i would definitely be a crisis care patient! Yes i am ashamed to admit this.
How to Find a Good Chiropractor
Whether you are young or old, skinny or fat, tall or short, over 25,000,000 million American people visit a chiropractor annually. In fact, about a million people a day received chiropractic adjustments. But, how did they find the chiropractor they liked? Most people begin by asking their family and friends to get their opinion. others, pick a random name out of the phone book, Some have had success using online directories like SmartGuy.com, which lists thousands of local professionals such as chiropractors, many with ratings you can verify. Regardless, here are a few things that will help you find a good chiropractor.
Get Organized
Make sure you know before you see any chiropractor the specific issues you are having. After all, there are more than 100 named chiropractic methods, each varying in the approach and reason for treatment. The chiropractor might get X-rays,or utilize spinal motion or perhaps responses to various “touch” point challenges to try and determine the problem and associated remedy.
Interview them
Before starting any chiropractic treatment, it is usually best to conduct a telephone interview or request an in-office consultation to learn more about the chiropractor, the clinic, and techniques used. While they might tell you everything is on their website, you should require a personal consultation to discuss these details and at the same time, make sure you like his demeanor. For most people, it is important to feel comfortable with the chiropractor and the clinic to have an overall positive treatment experience.
Secure a cost estimates
The cost of chiropractic care will vary according to where you live and the type of coverage(if any) that you already carry. If you have health insurance, check your insurance policies to see if it is included. If the pain is a result of an auto accident for example, it is often covered. You will need to check your policy as your insurance may require you use chiropractors only within your provider network or stipulate that care must be approved in advance, require a copay, or have limits on the number of visits covered. In terms of your initial visit, the cost will probably include an examination and often a set of X-rays (approximately around $160). The charges for more extensive examinations and X-rays will of course be higher. As for subsequent visits for care, they might cost in the neighborhood $50 to $90 per visit, again related to the number of services needed for your care.
Look into references and past jobs
As you would for any doctor, you will want to look into their references. Begin by asking for a list of past clients from each chiropractor you are considering. Find out how long they were (or are) treated, how has it helped and if they experienced any issues working with the chiropractor or their office
Look into reviews
Before using the chiropractor, look and see if they have a BBB rating or SmartGuy rating. You can also enter the chiropractor’s name followed by the words “rip off” or “scam” or “injury” and see if anything comes up. You might also find some information on their company at through local medical sites.