Your first visit to Chiropractic Health and Fitness Center will give you an opportunity to find out if chiropractic care can help you. You will receive a thorough case history and examination to make sure that your condition can be helped through the natural healing of chiropractic adjustments.

As a doctor of chiropractic, Dr. Stewart believes in natural healing, including chiropractic treatments, rehabilitation, therapy, and nutrition.

On your initial visit the doctor will provide a no-charge consultation. This will allow you to meet him and the staff with no commitments attached. If he feels that you could benefit from chiropractic care he will do a complete health history, examination and xrays (if needed).

The doctor will review your findings in great detail and on the following day present to you his findings and proposed schedule of care. You will begin your adjustments on that day and any therapy treatments that your condition would necessitate.

Welcome to our office!

As you progress with chiropractic care, please remember to thank the person who referred you to our office. We will endeavor to earn your confidence, empowering you to refer your family and friends to our office. We appreciate the confidence you have shown in choosing us for your chiropractic care.

Chiropractic is based on the fundamental principle that your body is designed to be self-regulation and self-healing. This means that healing and proper function should be a natural part of life. Research has revealed that the nervous system controls and coordinates every system, organ, and structure of your body. When your body begins to function abnormally, this may eventually lead to the development of symptoms (pain, numbness, lowered energy levels, poor concentration, etc.) Many times, the cause of this malfunction is an interference with the nervous system’s control of a particular structure or body part. Doctors of Chiropractic seek to locate the cause of this interference and remove it, thus encouraging proper function.

TYPES OF CARE AND THEIR EXPLANATIONS

Chiropractic Adjustments: The cause of nervous system interference is often a misaligned or improperly moving vertebra (spinal bone). A chiropractic adjustment introduces a specific, gentle thrust to the appropriate vertebrae. Adjustments help the body “regain control” over the spinal joints, so the process of healing can begin. Much more than a random manipulation, a chiropractic adjustment is a calculated treatment taking into consideration your particular conditions and the findings of your examination and x-rays.

The misaligned bone and resulting nerve irritation is called a subluxation. Dr. Stewart will be checking you during each visit to determine how your body is responding, and the specific “help” your body requires on each particular day. During the early phase of your care, you will most likely need and receive an adjustment on each visit. As healing begins to occur, however, Dr. Stewart may determine that you require less frequent adjustments. The adjustment is usually painless and its healing potential begins immediately. Quite often, symptoms begin to subside after just a few adjustments. Sometimes, however, there is negligible symptomatic improvement for two to three weeks or more, or soreness is experienced as the body begins to adapt to the changes that are taking place. Many of our patients notice that their symptoms may “come and go” during the early phases of their care, until healing has been given a chance to occur. This is often the case with long-standing conditions when the spine has “grown wrong” over time, advance degeneration is present and soft tissue changes have occurred. We conduct frequent progress examinations (approximately every four to six weeks) to make sure the nervous system is responding to the care you have been receiving. Remember, however, that we are not treating your symptoms: our goal is to correct your subluxations and bring the spine back toward the normal spinal model in order for your body to begin and ultimately complete the healing process.

Intersegmental Traction: If the subluxation process has reached the point that significant spinal degeneration has already occurred (Phase II or Phase III) or if you are experiencing considerable muscle spasm, Dr. Stewart may recommend intersegmental traction. This may be recommended throughout your Corrective Care, or just during the first few weeks of your care.  This therapy should be very relaxing, as you lie down on a table with rollers that work up and down you spine.  This works to relax tight muscles, promote circulation, and generally aid with your adjustment and your progress.

Electronic Muscle Stimulation and Ultra-Sound:  During the acute phase of your treatment, Dr. Stewart may determine that muscle stimulation therapy would be appropriate to help reduce muscle tension, tissue swelling, and pain. In the past, some of these therapies were uncomfortable and patients were instructed to “take as much as they could”.  This made for a helpful, but unpleasant therapy.  State of the art machines now use a different type of stimulus that is designed to be very comfortable and relaxing. Often combined with moist heat, this therapy can be very relaxing and beneficial.

Progressive Dynamic Examinations:  Since symptoms are a poor indicator of progress, and since the majority of time symptoms greatly improve during the first few days or weeks of care, it is our policy to perform progressive dynamic exams approximately every 4 to 6 weeks during your Corrective Care program. These exams take only a few minutes, and consist of any tests that were positive (abnormal) on your first visit, along with an evaluation of your posture, and how well you have been following the doctor’s recommendations. Progress examinations help determine how your spine and nervous system are responding to your chiropractic adjustments, and aid to establish the frequency and duration of future care. Unless your problem is very acute in nature, repeat x-rays will be performed at a later date to determine the degree of improvement and whether additional corrective care will be necessary.

CONCERNING YOUR CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTMENT PLAN

Corrective Care: The objective of Corrective Care is not to treat your symptoms, but to bring your spine back toward the normal spinal model, to optimize the integrity of your nervous system, and thereby maximize your health potential. Corrective Care consists of frequent adjustments, typically three to four per week, and usually lasts from a few weeks to several months, depending on the amount of correction required. Symptoms often subside during this phase of care, and we will do everything possible to help you return to normal activities as quickly as possible. You may be instructed to perform certain home exercises, to sleep on a particular type of pillow and/or use a home traction device to help speed your correction. It is important that you work with us so we can make maximum correction to your spine as efficiently as possible. Corrective Care ends when your postural exams and x-rays demonstrate that your spine has returned to the normal spinal model, or repeat exam/x-rays reveal that maximum correction has been achieved.

Health Maintenance Care:  Following your Corrective Care, Dr. Stewart will make recommendations for your Maintenance or Wellness Care. The goal of Wellness or Maintenance Care is initially to keep the spine and nervous system free from interference as the ligaments and muscles that support the spine continue to strengthen and adjust to the spine’s new position… similar to the retainer that goes on the teeth after the braces come off. Wellness check-ups usually begin at once every couple of weeks to once per month.  Your teeth, your car, your relationships and your spine… all require a degree of maintenance in order to be healthy and to last. And remember, a lack of spinal maintenance is what brought you here in the first place.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

Compliance with Dr. Stewart’s recommendations for care is a major factor in your results. Clinical experience has shown that to make significant spinal changes, you may require 18 to 22 adjustments within a six-week period of time for maximum results. If you must miss an appointment for any reason, please call our office in advance and reschedule a make-up visit within the week. If you’re going to be out of town, make arrangements to get extra adjustments before and after your trip to stay on schedule.

Get involved. Perform your home exercises. Decide to begin today to take better care of yourself. Learn more about how to stay healthy. Take the brochures and newsletters we provide and read them. Then share them with your friends. Get your family checked to catch any problems with their spine and nervous system early… BEFORE a crisis develops. As your quality of life improves, you are encouraged to share your story with others. We will be happy to speak to them about chiropractic care and their health, furnish you with information about chiropractic and our office, or you may simply wish to direct them to our website, www.stewartchiro.com.