I have many clients who come into the Dawson Chiropractic office here in Altoona and tell me they’ve been experiencing pain in the neck or back. After I ask when they noticed the pain they all say something like this, “Well…I’m not really sure. At first I just took some ibuprofen to relieve the pain but then it would keep coming back. I had to keep increasing the amount I took to help.” Some patients tell me they went to a medical doctor and were prescribed prescription pain medication but that even then there was some dull aching in their back/neck.

More often than not this patient heard from a friend who heard from a friend that a Chiropractor helped them with their back or neck pain. Your friend tells you they’ve heard great things about Dawson Chiropractic (thanks, friend!) so you gave our office a call to set up an appointment and see if I couldn’t help you once and for all with your neck pain.

If you’re anything like me, the first of anything is a little scary but anything resembling a doctor can be downright terrifying. I want to pull back the curtain a little bit so that you know what to expect your first appointment. Rest assured, it will not be terrifying and there’s a pretty good chance we’ll even manage to have a little fun.

Your First Appointment:

Your first appointment will always take longer than any of the others. Once we have collected your insurance card and have you fill out a few papers regarding medical history, I will take a brief overall history and get to know you personally. I ask really simple questions such as occupation, family life and hobbies-all stuff we like to talk about anyway, right?

I’ll also ask about the pain specifically and then I will perform a quick chiropractic exam that usually entails you lying down so I can palpate the spine, neck and legs to see if I can find the root of the pain. After the initial exam I might find that x-rays will be needed to get you the very best cure that will rid you of the pain for good!

Once all of the information on your spine is collected then it is time for the adjustment and any muscle work that needs to be done. This is often the quickest part of the meeting and will be over before you know it.

Just like your family doctor, I will end our appointment with a prescription of sorts. This is just what I think we need to do together to get your spine moving well and feeling great.

Second Appointment and Beyond:

Your follow up appointments will look really similar. I will ask you how you felt after your last adjustment, how long the pain stayed away after that. We will look at your x-rays together so that I can show you where some of the misalignments that are contributing to your paint are found.

I will do another spinal check and adjustment and we will continuously evaluate our plan.

Whether you are in a tremendous amount of pain or have felt a chronic ache in any part of your body (not just the neck and back) give our office a call today and we can at least walk through the first appointment to see if chiropractic care is a good fit for you. I assure you, once you’ve felt the relief of a strong and healthy spine, you too will be the friend telling other friends about the benefits of chiropractic care.