I’m often asked to describe who goes to a chiropractor, basically to describe the “typical” chiropractic patient. Most patients in Memphis initially come in for back pain, neck pain or headaches. However, that is not the whole story about who goes to a chiropractor. Once these patients come in for treatment, they discover that chiropractic care is effective for a wider array of body problems.
Our chiropractors successfully treat a host of body aches and pains from TMJ to tennis elbow to plantar fasciitis. Many body aches are caused by injured and inflamed joints, tendons or ligaments. The manual treatments and neuromuscular rehabilitation that help back pain often are the same type of physical treatments that help other injured or sore body parts.
The “typical” chiropractic patient is hard to describe.
There is no “typical” patient based on socioeconomic status. Chiropractic care is covered by most health insurers, and the out-of-network and uninsured rates are very competitive. Pain can strike anyone at any time.
There is no “typical age”. Sure, seniors have more arthritis and potentially more ache and pains, but our office takes care of patients of all ages, including infants (who are certainly complicated to diagnose and treat), but spine pain can strike anyone. With school back packs getting bigger and children getting less exercise, we are seeing an increase of children in our office. The good news is that they respond very quickly to excellent chiropractic treatment.
So, who goes to a chiropractor?
Children and young adults involved in sports find that having a chiropractic physician available is a must. Through competition and training, sports injuries happen. Cole Pain Therapy Group has chiropractic physicians who are specially trained to deal with sports injuries and rehabilitation.
More females than males will go to a chiropractor, and I think that is mainly because females are more apt to take care of themselves than men. Often our male patients admit that they waited too long to come in for care, and wish that they had come in sooner. The longer patients wait, usually the harder they are to fix.
So… the patient who goes to a chiropractor is one who has pain, is rehabilitating a pain problem, or wants to avoid pain. If something hurts, it is time to get it checked out, and we stand ready to help. After diagnosing your condition, we will treat you or put you in the hands of someone who can.