Patients often ask what the ideal treatment frequency is for getting adjusted. However, if you asked ten different chiropractors this question, you might get ten different answers. Within chiropractic, many different technique systems and schools of thought exist. Chiropractic treatments and treatment plans are not standardized within the profession and there is a high level of variability from doctor to doctor. With this in mind, the answer to how often you should get adjusted is it depends on your situation. Factors such as your age, health status, activity level, and diagnosis all factor into how often you need to be adjusted. For this post, I will address the question for someone who has mild or no symptoms and is looking to chiropractic for maintenance care and promoting overall health. To begin, I’ll describe the typical treatment plan for a new patient at our clinic.
Typical Treatment Plan
When a new patient comes to our clinic with a common complaint such as low back, neck, knee, shoulder, or elbow pain, we typically see them twice a week for 1-2 weeks, once a week for 3-4 weeks, and then reassess after 6-8 visits over 4-5 weeks. Adjustments will be performed at each visit. If the patient is markedly improved, we will push visits out 2-3 weeks and start seeing them on a less regular basis. Most patients feel substantial relief in just 2-3 visits, however, the underlying functional issues (posture, movement, breathing) causing the injury in the first place, take longer to reverse. Once the pain is gone and the patient is passing all of the functional tests relating to the original injury, we place the patient on a maintenance care plan where they come in once a month. The purpose of the maintenance care visit is to make sure the patient has not re-injured themselves or sustained any new injuries. We will also review exercises they have been prescribed in the past and check their spines to see if an adjustment is needed. At our clinic we use a mixture of chiropractic adjustments, physical therapy exercises, nutrition and supplements, and soft tissue therapies such as instrument assisted technique, active release technique, dry needling, laser, and acupuncture. By combining multiple therapies, we decrease healing times, allowing for a shorter and less costly treatment plan.
Maintenance Care
How often should a patient get adjusted for maintenance care and promotion of overall health? As stated previously, one chiropractor’s answer may differ from another’s, and our answer is based on the combined clinical experience of nearly a decade from the two doctors at Mile High Spine and Sport, Dr. Ryan Dunn and Dr. Riley Kulm. For maintenance care and promotion of overall health, we suggest patients come in for a full spine assessment and adjustment once per month. Maintenance care visits also include a functional movement exam to see if any limitations in muscle strength, stability, and range of motion exist predisposing the patient to future injuries. The purpose of the full spine assessment and functional movement exam is to identify issues before they surface to help prevent pain or injury. Similar to how it is necessary to go to the dentist every 6 months for a cleaning and exam, you should go to the chiropractor once per month to have your spine assessed for restricted joints and muscle imbalances to help prevent issues down the road. For quality preventative maintenance care, chiropractic is one of your best, and most cost effective treatment plan options.
Can I get adjusted more than once a month?
As a result of the numerous health benefits of getting adjusted, many of our patients decide to come in for adjustments more than once per month. Patients report improvements in breathing, energy, digestion, and sleep following their treatments. If you’d like to learn more about how the chiropractic adjustment can positively affect multiple areas of your health, please check out my post, Beyond Biomechanics: Exploring the Hormonal Benefits of the Chiropractic Adjustment.
From a safety perspective, it is entirely fine to get adjusted on a regular basis. However, I would not suggest getting adjusted more than three times per week as you run the risk of causing hypermobility in the joints. Hypermobility means the joints are moving too much and lack the muscular stability for normal motion and can lead to a variety of orthopedic issues. In general, we rarely see maintenance care patients more than once per week. We encourage patients to come in more than once per month if they find the benefits of regularly getting adjusted enhances their lifestyle and well-being.
Post written by Dr. Riley Kulm, DC. Check out his bio here.
