What to expect at your first chiropractic visit?

Patients ask this often, usually after some other clinician gave a vague answer. Here is the way I think about it after 37 years of practice.

The short answer

There is rarely a one-size-fits-all answer to a question like this. What I tell every patient is the same thing: we will do the show-and-tell consultation, we will look at the X-rays and the surface EMG, and the answer will become obvious.

What I am looking for

I look at three things. First, the structure on imaging. Second, how the nervous system is firing on the EMG. Third, the patient's history and the four questions: Can we help, what is going on, how long, how much.

Why the EMG matters

A surface EMG is the EKG of your nervous system. It measures function, not pain. Two patients with the same X-ray can have very different EMGs, which often explains why one of them is in agony and the other one feels fine.

When chiropractic is the right answer

Most musculoskeletal problems respond beautifully to a combination of adjustment, decompression, soft-tissue work, and corrective exercise. The combination is the point. Adjustment alone fixes the joint. Decompression alone takes pressure off the disc. The combination holds.

When chiropractic is not the right answer

If imaging shows a surgical indication or if neurological findings are progressing, you need a surgical consult first. We send patients out when the case calls for it. We do not pretend chiropractic is everything.

What to do next

Schedule a show-and-tell consultation. $90, about 75 minutes, no commitment. You will leave with a clear picture of what is going on and what the most efficient path forward looks like.