What to Expect
Welcome to Senara Health and Healing Center & Spa, the home of Kramer Chiropractic & Acupuncture Center. In order to help you on your first Chiropractic visits, we want to highlight what you can expect.
Your Initial Chiropractic Consultation
Step 1: Consultation and History
We want to get to know a little bit about you, your health history and your major health concerns. We will also discuss the “stress” in your life. By stress, we mean the three dimensions of stress: Physical (how you treat your body), Biochemical (what you put in your body) and Psychological (how your mindset affects your body). We find negative stress is a major inhibitor to achieving overall wellness, and it can have an impact on your nervous system functioning.
Step 2: A Nerve Scan and Range of Motion Testing
Your nervous system is the most important system in your body. It controls everything—when you blink, how you digest food, how your lungs work, when your heart beats, and when you feel pain. 90 percent of your nerves are for controlling the functions of your body—while only 10 percent are transmitting pain.
Chiropractic and Acupuncture treat your nervous system—the entire system, not just the pain part. This is pretty important stuff! Bottom line–when your nerves aren’t functioning, you aren’t healthy.
Your nerve scan will tell our chiropractors how your nervous system is functioning. We will discuss your results with you at your second appointment, after your doctor has time to thoroughly review the findings.
You will also have a Range of Motion study performed. This test will determine what your current mobility and function limitations are in both your neck and low back. We need to know where you are when you start your care so that we can compare and show your progress as you continue your care.
Step 3: A Neurological and Orthopedic Exam
The doctor will analyze your posture, do an orthopedic exam and look for subluxations in your spine. A subluxation is a misalignment in your spine that puts pressure on your nerves and, therefore, cuts off your nervous system communication.
Chiropractors treat subluxations in order to allow your nerves to communicate properly, so that you can achieve optimal health.
Step 4: X-Rays
Depending on your condition and the doctors’ exam findings, you may receive x-rays on your first visit. Since we treat your spine, we need to determine if you have any structural damage or changes to your spine (arthritis, curve changes, bone spurs, pinched nerves, etc.). The doctors use your x-rays as radar for your specific treatments.
Step 5: Treatment
You may receive some sort of treatment today, at the doctor’s discretion. First day treatment may include an adjustment, physical therapy, massage therapy, nutritional supplements, or acupuncture.
Your 2nd Visit: Report of Testing and Treatment Plan
At your second visit, your Senara Doctor will review your x-rays and test results with you in detail. He or she will also present you with a recommended treatment plan and estimated costs. We want you to be an informed and active participant in your health care, and will take the time to answer any questions or concerns you may have. Our Office Manager will also meet with you to review our Office Policies and discuss payment options with you.
After meeting with your Doctor and the office manager, you will receive your treatment for the day. Our front desk staff will help you schedule your appointments per your finalized treatment plan.
The Three Phases of Care
During your initial visits, your Senara Doctor will explain the three phases of chiropractic care to you. Our goal is to help you heal through each phase so that you can achieve lasting wellness. Dynamic health care provided at Senara is designed to treat you at each step, which minimizes your chance of relapse and flair-ups. The health of your spine and nervous system is important to us.
Phase 1: Relief care
Relief care is necessary to relieve you of symptoms or pain, but it does not relieve the cause of the symptoms/pain. It is the same as drying a floor that was getting wet from a leak, but not fixing the leak. Relief care is not permanent.
Phase 2: Corrective care
Corrective care is necessary not only to relieve or reduce a person’s pain or symptoms, but also to remove the actual cause of the problem. It is the same as fixing the leak in the floor, not just drying it.
Phase 3: Wellness care
Wellness care is necessary to keep your body moving towards health. Your system is constantly working towards one of two paths, health or disease, there is no in between. The desire to continue on the path of health will enable your body to prevent problems from occurring and therefore keep your body at its optimal function level. This occurs after we fix the leak in the floor, we keep up on the wear and tear of the floor and make sure nothing occurs to cause another leak.
Which phase of care do you want to reach?