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Doctor showing patient model of spine.

What to Expect at Active Body on Your First Visit

If you’ve never been to our clinic or a chiropractor before, you may be wondering what to expect during your first visit. First off, we’d like to thank you for putting your health first and deciding to give our methods of care a try! At Active Body we are not a typical chiropractic clinic.  We combine many soft tissue release methods and functional movement techniques with chiropractic care.  We bet you’re going to love the results.  Our favorite thing about the combination of our methods? – If it is going to help you, you will see results rapidly.  We do not set up treatment plans that have huge numbers of visits since a typical treatment plan is often only 4 to 6 treatments.  We want you feel better fast!

Here are a few things you can expect before, during, and after your first visit with us.

On your first visit, expect to be with one of our doctors for about an hour of one on one time.  Before we begin therapy, for about the first half hour we will talk to you about your medical history and any current pain or symptoms you’re experiencing. We will perform a physical examination that includes functional movement assessments.  This allows us to determine how your body moves compared to how it should be able to and gives us information about which structures in your body are giving you limitations and/or pain.   We use 3D anatomy software to help teach you about which structures in your body are giving you the trouble.

After we figure out what structures in your body are causing you pain or limitations of movement, we will then come up with a treatment plan that incorporates either some or all of the different methods we use in our office. We’ll spend your second half hour of your first visit using some or all of these methods to start you on the path to getting out of pain.  We are proud to be able to utilize a variety of techniques to help you.  Which methods are used for you really depend on which structures are contributing to your pain or dysfunction.  These methods include:

  • Active Release Technique: This is a hands on muscle release method that our doctors specialize in.  The doctor creates tension on the exact muscles that are giving you trouble and using active body movements we break up knots and adhesions within and in-between these structures.  It is a targeted method that gets fast results.
  • Chiropractic adjustments:  When joints of the spine or other areas of the body are not moving correctly, chiropractic adjustments are one of the best ways to restore motion to those joints.  We want you to know that adjustments with us are entirely comfortable, gentle, and never forceful. If you’re nervous about receiving an adjustment, we’ll do our best to walk you through the entire process so there are never any surprises. While not everyone does, if you hear a ‘popping’ sound, that’s entirely normal. The goal of an adjustment is to restore proper movement and alignment to your spine.  Chiropractic adjustments are very safe and effective!
  • Graston Technique:  This is a tool assisted soft tissue technique is designed to break up fascial adhesions.  Think of it as trying to smooth out the knots in those tight areas of your body.  When done correctly this technique doesn’t hurt on areas that are healthy but you will feel it on areas where there is a problem.  Those areas that need it though will often feel so much better after getting worked on.
  • Dry Needling:  This technique uses acupuncture needles to target specific tight knots in the muscles.  The needles are so slim that it doesn’t feel sharp when you put them in, and once it hits the muscle knot it feels like a pressure in the muscle.  The results from this technique can be rapid if used in the right way.

After these treatments, most people feel great! It is normal for some patients to feel soreness in the treated areas later.  If you do, it usually it feels like the same kind of soreness you get the day after a big workout, but this will likely dissipate over the coming hours and days. We typically recommend making sure that you stay hydrated, as this is always beneficial for your health and helps flush the tissues that were worked on.

The total number of treatments needed will vary with each person depending on the severity and number of areas that need to be worked on.  We do not make people set up ridiculously long treatment protocols since you should see results quickly.  When these methods are combined, if they are going to help you will see results quickly!  Most people can tell if it is helping within a couple treatments!

We look forward to helping you get out of pain and get back to doing the activities you love!

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