What to expect when you visit Body Balance Chiros for the first time?

To start with, you will be given a very warm welcome from the awesome front desk team.

They know only too well that you may be a little apprehensive at your first visit to a Chiropractor. Not knowing what to expect can make anyone a little nervous.

Take heart though, because around 85% of new patients to Body Balance Chiropractic come via word-of-mouth referral or through their GP. We are very grateful that so many of our patients trust us enough to recommend us to their family and friends, work colleagues and neighbours. We make sure that we look after everyone with exceptional service and outstanding Chiropractic care.

Once you get past the welcome… the following is the format for the rest of your initial visit. (The same process is also for someone who hasn’t been in to see us for a while, where we need to get up to date with what’s changed. We call it a Re-Examination appointment.)

What happens next?

• A full health history is taken, looking into past and present issues that may be related to your presenting problem
• A thorough orthopaedic & neurological examination will be performed, along with Chiropractic tests to determine the function of your spine and nervous system and other joints and muscles that may be related to your presenting problem
• If needed, your Chiropractor may refer you to get more diagnostic information, in the way of Xrays, CT scans or an MRI. These diagnostic tools are an amazing way to assess areas of wear and tear of joints, and the alignment challenges that your spine or other joints may be experiencing. This referral will only be done if it is clinically indicated.
• Before any treatment begins, be confident that your Chiropractor will explain to you what they have found and what they think the best course of action is: the proposed care, perhaps a referral to a specialist, the available alternatives, and any potential risks associated with your problem area and treatment..
• Your Chiropractor will probably talk to you about what you can do at home to help in your recovery, and about any other ongoing care.
• You are usually treated at your first visit, to relieve your symptoms, though a thorough corrective treatment will be given once the Chiropractor has assessed all the diagnostic information.
• If you have been treated on your first visit, you can expect a Care call from one of the team within 24 hrs of your appointment, just to check in and see how you’re travelling, and to answer any questions you may have.

At your next visit your Chiropractor will discuss with you how you responded to your first adjustment if you were treated at your first visit. If you had any diagnostic Xrays/CT scans etc done they will go over all the exam findings, including Xrays etc, or any other tests. They will outline what you can expect going forward, give you an idea of a treatment plan and timeline.

Of course, you can ask lots of questions and discuss your health goals, so that we can understand your priorities.
We are well known for explaining everything thoroughly, and we know our patients appreciate it.

It’s important to us that you understand what’s going on and how you can help yourself in your own recovery. We know that our patients appreciate our honesty and ongoing communication when it comes to their health care.

Once you are on the way to recovery, where you are pain free and generally feeling a whole lot better, there are different ways you can approach your Chiropractic Care. Ultimately the choice is yours. See The Different Approaches to Chiropractic Care below.

After the problem is identified, diagnosed and investigated, The Chiropractor will treat you. This may be on the first visit, or on the second visit, it depends on if more diagnostics ie xrays etc were needed.

The Chiropractor will then gently correct the spinal or joint dysfunction that has been identified, using gentle & effective spinal and joint adjustments.

Chiropractic adjustments are subtle movements of the joint or vertebrae to help them move, function, and align better. This is done for the purpose of restoring normal mobility and nerve function and to reduce the mechanical stresses on the joint.

Chiropractic adjustments are very safe, natural, and can be done on people of all ages. We have children get adjusted after school, sports or kindy, the elderly commonly get adjusted to stay well, balanced and mobile. And most certainly all ages in between benefit by keeping their spine mobile, healthy and functioning at its best.

Spinal Adjustments are only done to those areas of the spine that need help. Because the spine’s function improves almost instantly from the adjustment, people commonly report after being adjusted, an instant feeling of relief and ‘wellbeing’. The experience is one often described as ‘feeling free’, feeling more aware’, feeling less tense’, ‘feeling clearer ‘and ‘more relaxed’, to name a few of the descriptions that our patients have used.

Adjustments are an excellent way to keep the body functioning well, so that you can keep doing the things that you want and the things that you love.

Our unique Chiropractic health care approach is designed to help you see improvements FAST, while promoting long term health & wellbeing.

Here are some of the usual reasons people have come to us:

• Neck Pain
• Lower Back Pain
• Knee and Lower Limb Pain
• Headache & Migraine
• Facial and Jaw Pain
• Sports Injuries
• Workplace Injuries
• Postural Improvement
• Fatigue & Energy Problems
• Shoulder, Elbow, Wrist Problems
• Soft Tissue Injuries
• Arthritis

Here are some other reasons people have come to us:

• Improve Sports Performance
• Improve Balance
• Improve Coordination
• Learning and reading problems
• Improve sleep and relaxation
• Restless legs
• Jaw problems
• Peripheral and vague joint pain
• Dropped arches and sore feet
• Improve strength and endurance
• Neuro-muscular disorders

Once you are on the way to recovery, where you are pain free and generally feeling a whole lot better, there are different ways you can approach your Chiropractic Care. Ultimately the choice is yours.

Symptomatic Relief Care

This stage of care is aimed at getting you symptom free and addressing your immediate health concerns as quickly as possible. It is usually the most intensive stage of care. And for some people this is all they want. You can see it on the image below, where it fits into the health goal journey.

Corrective Care

Once you have relief, you might choose to continue with the stabilising and corrective phases of care.

Stabilising Corrective Care is about long term health, undoing a life time of bad structural and postural habits, and poor movement. By Improving spinal and joint function, the nervous system starts functioning better too. In this phase of care the area of strain and injury continues to heal and strengthen. Ultimately this helps prevent a relapse and fends off the same or similar injury happening again.

We find that after a while of relapsing injury and episodes of Symptomatic Relief Care, people work out that is more cost effective (cheaper) to stay well with Stabilising Corrective Care, and ultimately Wellness Care than to continue trying to get well with emergency Symptomatic Relief care.

Wellness Care – The Ultimate

Being healthy and feeling great, is being proactive about your health and life, and the choices you make.
At Body Balance Chiropractic, we are all about education and knowledge, so you can make smart choices that will help you get well and stay well. What you put into life and wellness, is what you get out of it. Simple!

Wellness Care is where you choose to look after yourself, whether you have symptoms or not. Rather than waiting for something to go wrong and then coming in for treatment and starting on the Symptomatic Relief Care merry-go round, wellness patients choose to have regular Chiropractic Care. For some patient’s it may be once a month, for others once every 6 to 8 weeks. It’s up to you, what wellness or maintenance care looks like, you are in control of your health.

All we will say is … It is much easier and cheaper to stay well than start all over again to try and get well.

Of course we understand that everybody’s situation is different and we will respect any decision about your care that you make.

Chiropractors undertake a five year University Degree & Master’s Degree to become accredited and qualified. Included in their education are extensive studies in Anatomy, Neurology, Physiology, Pathology, Radiology, Differential Diagnosis & Management, along with Chiropractic Sciences.

Chiropractors are governed like all mainstream health professionals in Australia, by AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Authority), the same governing body that governs GP’s, Specialists, Physios, Dentists, etc.

AHPRA recognise the high level and extensive studies undertaken by Chiropractors and affords the title of Doctor to all Chiropractors in Australia.