By: Adam Renelt, DC
Updated 1/23/2024
One of the most common questions a chiropractic patient will ask is “How long will it take me to feel better?” This is a difficult question because every patient and condition will react differently to chiropractic adjustments. Some patients can feel better immediately while others may take 2-4 visits (or even longer) to notice an improvement. If there is a severe or chronic problem, it may take more visits and several months to achieve maximum recovery. There are many factors that may affect the speed of healing. Some of these factors are obvious, such as how severe the pain is or if the area of pain has been a repeated problem area. Other factors may be less obvious.
Factors a Chiropractor May Consider
In our office we will ask questions to get a better understanding of your condition. We will ask about other potential contributing factors. This may include your posture at work, sleeping position, diet, previous injuries, activity level and stress are all potential factors that could affect the speed of your healing. For example, if someone sits with poor posture at work it may slow the ability of the body to heal. Also, if someone is very stressed out or has an unnoticed food allergy their body may struggle to recovery from an injury. Based on these lifestyle factors, our chiropractors will try to tailor your care to your specific needs. Also, advice on lifestyle changes or at home exercises and stretching may be suggested based on the situation. If at-home care is done as recommended it usually helps to improve the body’s healing ability.
What is a Typical Chiropractic Care Plan in Our Office?
We use the Gonstead chiropractic technique in our office. With this method we will typically schedule visits closer together initially and then space out care when improvement begins. A common initial recommendation in our office is often 3-5 or 4-8 visits over a 4-6 week period. That plan may be changed if the patient improves faster or slower than expected. Som patients may respond faster than we expected and some may respond slower. In some cases, healing could take several months or even longer. Once a patient is feeling better they can choose to come in on a regular maintenance basis or they can choose to call for appointments as they feel it is needed. If you are wondering how long your symptoms may take to improve, please call us to schedule a consultation, and we will evaluate your case and give you our opinion on what care is needed.