Talks about *prevention* within a chiropractic office doesn’t get as much screen time as the normative low back and neck pain typically will. Many times, patients will come to a chiropractor’s office with what is called a chief complaint, something that has suddenly happened (or been bugging them for some time) that has made life much more difficult than is necessary.
What about the patients who don’t necessarily have a major complaint? What about a patient who doesn’t have low back pain, headaches that ruin their day, or bursitis that prevents them from raising their arm above their head? The patients who really don’t feel awful, but still believe that there is some room for improvement in their overall well-being – what many chiropractors will refer to as wellness based patients.
Wellness based patients or wellness based care is structured chiropractic care revolving around improving, facilitating, and optimizing the health of an individual so that they can live life without a chief complaint. It’s about prioritizing the highest state of health so that when life throws a curve ball, your own nervous system and immune system are able to say, “hey, I got this.” Don’t get us wrong, life will eventually have its moments where injuries and illness are bound to happen, but in that same breath we must also acknowledge the importance of doing everything in our power to prevent these things from ever happening in the first place.
Enter Chiropractic philosophy – the facilitation of the most optimal state of human health and wellness without the need for surgeries or medications – the prioritization of what your body needs to excel at life and living abundantly. While many patients do come in with conditions that require attention, ensuring that just as much attention is given to establishing the homeostasis of our system in the absence of any perceived problem is also necessary.
Now, the reason the word “perceived,” is bolded, underlined, and italicized above is due to it’s significance when it pertains to our health – just because we do not readily FEEL a problem, does not necessarily mean there is NOT a problem either presently occurring or in the process of coming to fruition. This is not to say that you have a problem, but it’s also not saying there’s nothing that could be done to improve your health in some way.
For example, maybe you don’t have low back pain. Interestingly enough, low back pain and common conditions seen within Restorative Wellness Center like disc bulges, herniations, and degenerative disc disease commonly begin without ANY symptoms. This means, many people have these conditions, but may not be experiencing any perceived problem. Many times, it’s simply the metaphorical straw that broke the camels back (pun intended) that brings patients in – they bent over to pick up their laundry, coughed really hard, did a slightly more strenuous workout, or twisted one way too many times – suddenly the underlying problem has poked out of the surface.
Another common complaint treated at Restorative is headaches and/or migraines. Many, many, many people experience headaches and migraines frequently throughout their lives. Maybe you had a headache two weeks ago, but now you have one again today. Then you have a third one tomorrow, and afterwards you suddenly have a headache every day. This whole time, your underlying stress has caused your upper back and neck to tighten, straining your cervical spine. Or perhaps you haven’t been drinking enough water and the weather has been much dryer lately. Maybe you had previous concussions and now the untreated consequences from head trauma are finally significant enough for you to consciously perceive.
Now maybe you don’t have low back pain or headaches. The main point is that we shouldn’t be waiting for a problem to arise to seek out care. If anything, routinely seeing your chiropractor to make sure things are functioning optimally is your best option, because it will prevent any future problems from making unwanted surprise visits when your schedule is already packed tight. Wellness based care is important to maintain and improve our overall well-being, create an abundance of health, and prevent any injuries or illnesses from every happening in the first place.
Have any questions? Give us a call at (610) 4580-0500
We can’t wait to hear from you.
~The Restorative Team
