Among the myriad questions typically posed to me by new patients, one of the most frequent is, “How often should I get adjusted?” Truth be told, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to that question. In determining how often you come, we consider a few key points: Your personal health goals, your health at a given point in time, whether you are presently experiencing a subluxation (keeping in mind that spinal misalignment can and often does occur painlessly and without our awareness), and how quickly you respond to treatment.  

In the same way that you regularly visit your dentist, a regular checkup with a chiropractor will yield benefits that most will notice immediately and over the long term. Chiropractic treatment can help improve your overall health, lower stress, and improve your mental well being, in addition to its capacity to relieve back pain and improve mobility.

I find that most people who make an effort to stay physically fit, eat well and who do not engage in overly stressful activities need only visit a chiropractor once per month, and sometimes less often than that. The idea here is to treat any subluxations that may be occurring before they become painful and cause limitations in your mobility.

Patients who are not proactive and simply wait until the pain is no longer tolerable typically require more spinal adjustments than those who regularly visit a chiropractor. In my almost ten years of chiropractic practice I have found that those who visit me regularly have significantly fewer spinal issues that those who wait until the pain bothers them. This improved well being leads to other benefits: Improved mobility, less illness, increased happiness, better relationships and so on. One thing affects the next. It’s a cycle that only we ourselves can control.

The comparison with dentistry is apt: When you take a break from visiting your dentist, over time you will likely develop a litany of issues: a cavity here, gingivitis there, some excess plaque, and so on. Before long your whole mouth aches and you can no longer tell which of the ailments hurts most. Then you visit the dentist, she fills a cavity and the rest of them hurt more than ever. It’s a big mess and it’s made much worse by letting it slide for far too long.

The same principle applies to your spinal health. Ignoring your spine can lead to multiple subluxations and misalignment, which, down the road, can become a complex mess to treat. Consistent visits to a chiropractor will empower both you and your chiropractor with the knowledge of what is going on with your spine and help ensure your spine is in optimal health.

Sometimes, after an injury or some type of trauma, the situation may call for frequent adjustments at the beginning, gradually tapering off as you heal. For minor to moderate subluxations, a single treatment may be sufficient to resolve the problem.  However, the long-term success of the treatment also depends on how your body reacts to the adjustments.  Some people’s muscles, joints and ligaments are in excellent condition and once a misalignment has been corrected, they can go for months until needing another.  Others, particularly in cases where there is a lot of stress on the body through repetitive motion, bad posture, bad muscle tone, etc., have to train their body to “hold” the alignment through periodic readjustments.

At Rice Family Chiropractic, we take a holistic approach to your spine and your overall well being. That means that when you visit us, we will discuss not only your spine, but also your diet, your physical exercise regimen and any ongoing stresses you may be experiencing. By becoming more aware of your overall wellness, we can better address the factors that may be affecting your spinal health. If you have any questions about your spine, chiropractic care, or how often you should be visiting a chiropractor, please contact us. For more information, please see our contact page: https://www.ricechiropractic.ca/contact/