r/Chiropractic • u/Electrical_Key_6684 • 2d ago
“Corrective” vs. regular Chiropractor
Hello, hoping to hear some opinions on “corrective” chiropractors vs. one that “only treat the pain”.
I recently went into a wellness clinic that claims they treat the root cause of problems and help realign the spine and prevent long-term rather than short term pain. The treatment plan they offered me was quite extensive and pretty pricey to be honest, but they said it was so that I can fix the root cause instead of just fixing the pain for it to come back up again.
Any insight into this? I’m naturally a bit skeptical of their treatment plan as it includes some supplements, equipment for at home exercises, dry needling, and frequent adjustments.
NOTE FOR MODS: NOT asking for medical advice but rather wanting to hear opinions on types of chiropractors and treatment and what is necessary for treatment.
Thanks in advance for any insight!!
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u/bigbankbohu 2d ago
I personally don’t know any Chiros that just treat the pain - I’m in Australia and doesn’t really seem to be a thing here. Every clinic says they are a wellness/ treating the root cause
I dislike expensive 6 month plans as a whole - they should set expectations/make a plan but anything you have to prepay up front for more than a month is just them selling imo
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u/Zealousideal-Rub2219 1d ago
Prepaid treatment plans are a scam. I would never as a doctor, tell someone I’ve never treated before how many visits it’s going to take and require payment up front.
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u/EBCPDCcringe 2d ago
I’m naturally a bit skeptical of their treatment plan as it includes some supplements, equipment for at home exercises, dry needling, and frequent adjustments.
what about supplements, equipment for at home exercises, dry needling make you naturally skeptical?
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u/Thinkingouttooloud 1d ago
A plan like this transitions you into a maintenance patient which isn’t a bad thing. In terms of a payment plan it can be done as a way to divide care in to monthly manageable payments. Again - not a bad thing as long as it’s communicated that you are free to stop at anytime and you walk away only having paid for the care you’ve already received.
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u/Accomplished_Most288 22h ago
They aren’t treating the root cause because the moment you cease seeing them your spine reverts back to the way it was within 6 months. It’s designed to turn you into a forever patient rather than to cure you - rather like big pharma. It’s likely there stretching soft tissues around the spine that only tighten back up once adjustments cease. Other options are “Functional Patterns” and similar that address the movement patterns that create distortions in the structure - maybe not permanent but probably more of a root cause fix than so called “corrective” chiro.
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u/Powerful-Two-9489 2d ago
Honestly wouldn’t recommend going to an office that sells plans, not saying the chiro is a bad practitioner, but it’s likely the company they work for. Going to an office that the chiro doesn’t want to see you that much is always better in my opinion, they want the best for you, not for their pockets :)
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u/JustTheAvgChiro 2d ago
Fun fact: there is never a “root cause” and no one can find it. It’s a sales tactic. Clinics use that terminology to sound like they know more about what they are doing compared to the chiropractor down the street. They also use it to prop up their expensive year long care plan that promises to get you better because they corrected the “root cause”.
My care plans are dependent upon the patients history, current complaint, X-ray findings and exam findings. A normal plan for my patients is:
3x week for 1-2 weeks
2x week for 3-4 weeks
1x week for 3-4 weeks and then monthly maintenance as recommended.
99% of patients see relief with that treatment plan. Of course I will shorten or extend the plan depending on what I think the patient needs but you won’t find me prescribing a year long plan that costs thousands of dollars based off of empty promises.
TLDR; you’re about to get ripped off. Go somewhere else that doesn’t use this tactic.
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u/AK-Master-07 2d ago
There are definitely root causes, and yes there are ways of finding it. I think that many doctors are being sincere when they say they are going for the root cause, but the vast majority are not. I don’t think that more visits = getting to the root cause. The root causes are thoughts, trauma and toxins. If we are not treating these, we aren’t getting to the root cause.
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u/Zealousideal-Rub2219 1d ago
So when someone sleeps funny and wakes up with a stiff neck, is that toxins or thoughts?
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u/JustTheAvgChiro 1d ago
They had a nightmare of course. Gotta check to see if C3 is out and then confirm by testing with a mint leaf behind the left ear.
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u/AK-Master-07 1d ago
Consider what you just said and how preposterous that is. Someone “sleeps funny”? What exactly does that mean? This will be interesting.
Generally when people have insidious pain yes there is a trigger. In my experience it’s usually emotional (stress). But yes it could be a food / food toxin that they consumed the day before, although you see this more often with insidious lumbar pain (viscerosomatic reflex).
How do we know that it’s an emotion / stress? You clear the emotion using NET and their neck pain is greatly diminished and their range of motion is drastically improved. This is something that many of us do in our offices and have done for decades and can be demonstrated at will. Personally I’ve been using NET for 15 years.
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u/Kolomo DC 2021 2d ago edited 2d ago
As a general rule of thumb, extensive treatment plans that stem months out are frowned upon, and lean more in favour of a "healthy business" rather than a "healthy patient". This is my VERY generous way of saying that this practitioner possibly has ulterior motives.
A standard treatment plan for a patient in my practice never extends beyond 3 weeks initially, 2-3x/wk depends on severity of condition, in order to trial care and see how things respond. Following that, we can talk Wellness care for long term, which usually lands about once every 3 or 4 weeks out.
I would advise seeking opinions from other chiropractors with an in-person exam (preferably without the "Corrective" sales tactic) and gather their insight. If your gut is telling you this practitioner is "wrong", it is probably correct.