You should expect to pay between $100 and $150 for a chiropractic visit if you don’t have insurance. While this is the average price, some places charge as little as $60 and others charge as much as $200. These are, however, severe examples. A comprehensive exam and modifications are usually included with these pricing.
Most individuals have been in this situation at some point in their lives: you need a checkup or an appointment with a chiropractor, but you don’t have health insurance. Alternatively, you may have health insurance, but it may not cover chiropractic or physical therapy services. Or perhaps your deductible is quite high.
While the discussion over health insurance and a single-payer system continues, you have immediate needs that must be met.
We’d like to assist you by providing some recommendations and guidance on what to do if you don’t have health insurance or only have inadequate coverage.
First, if you have health insurance but aren’t sure what’s covered and what isn’t, we’d like to clarify a few points to make the process go more smoothly.
How much does it cost to visit a chiropractor?
To inquire about the cost of a chiropractor is like to inquiring about the cost of a doctor’s visit. Every person’s condition is unique, and chiropractors are no exception.
Chiropractic services can range in price from around $30 to several hundred dollars per visit. The average cost of a chiropractic visit is around $65 per visit. Certain treatments may be more expensive, and the overall cost may be higher if your chiropractor suggests that you return for periodic follow-up consultations for a set period of time.
Let’s look at some of the things that influence the price of a chiropractic treatment so you can see where your money is going.
Are chiropractic adjustments worth it?
Results. Although much of the research reveals just a slight improvement similar to the outcomes of more-conventional treatments chiropractic adjustments can be useful in treating low back pain.
How often should you see a chiropractor?
You can work out a strategy with your chiropractor if you choose to take a proactive approach to your health. Chiropractors promote a comprehensive approach to health care, which involves regular visits for long-term benefits.
To put it another way, it’s a good idea to see a chiropractor before you get pain. When you know your body will be under stress, going to an appointment at least once a month can be a good strategy.
Chiropractors like to help you see long-term advantages from their adjustments rather than just momentary pain alleviation (though they can do that, too!). If you have a physically demanding profession, it may be beneficial to see your chiropractor more frequently. However, if your job is less stressful, you may be able to extend the time between visits.
In any case, it’s always best to discuss openly with your chiropractor about your needs while you’re in pain. Your body will be grateful!
It’s embedded in their roots . . .
However, I believe that some chiropractors have recently improved their connections with medical doctors. Medical groups have a long history of animosity toward any other community that treats the sick. So, first and foremost, it was a turf battle. Second, because medical doctors are not educated in spinal manipulation procedures, they have a limited understanding of what chiropractors do. Typically, the only information customers receive about chiropractors is a one-sided perspective from patients who have failed to benefit from chiropractic treatment. Consider what the surgeon would hear if 100 people went to a chiropractor for lower back discomfort and 90 of them got better, but the ten who didn’t got better went to the surgeon and said, “I went to a chiropractor and didn’t get better!” He never heard from the 90 who did improve and avoided his office altogether, so it was a one-sided story. Chiropractors, like any other profession, have their share of rotten apples. When someone, especially a Medical Doctor, hears a story about a terrible Chiropractor, all Chiropractors are grouped together. Then there’s the old adage that once you visit a chiropractor, they want you to keep coming back! Ugh! That’s a different issue about which you can learn more here.
Finally, a large number of chiropractors overstep their bounds.
Some falsely claim to be able to treat symptoms and ailments for which there is no evidence, as well as preach anti-medicine ideologies to patients.
Other healthcare workers that tell patients they don’t need to see their doctor or stop taking their prescribed prescriptions irritate medical doctors.
But, I have some great news for you!
The truth is that not all chiropractors are created equal. Some, like the Chiropractors at our practice, have established relationships with a number of local medical doctors. That’s correct, medical doctors, such as our Chiropractors, refer their patients to us to get better! What causes this, and how does it happen? Because there are some excellent chiropractors who want to improve the field of chiropractic. There is no turf war, to be honest. Medical doctors are at the cutting edge of healthcare and have a wide range of skills. When it comes to musculoskeletal disorders like neck and back pain, however, everyone knows (and many study studies have confirmed) that movement is medicine. Medication can provide temporary relief, but patients must move, stretch, and strengthen the appropriate muscles in order to fully heal.
Furthermore, some patients are not well-suited to drugs that are prescribed to treat pain.
Patients with high blood pressure, a history of heart attack, a stomach or intestinal ulcer, pregnancy, or a habit of drinking alcohol, for example, should not be provided non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines like ibuprofen because of the risk of side effects.
It is also recommended that people who are using muscle relaxants do not use heavy machinery or drive automobiles.
Due to daily duties such as work or child care, many people are unable to adhere to these limits.
Taking a drug-free approach to pain management is a far better alternative for these folks.
In fact, there is a substantial amount of research that shows spinal manipulation is safe and effective for neck and back pain, and even more research that shows manipulation combined with a home exercise program is just as good as or better than medications alone in terms of long-term effectiveness in reducing back and neck pain.
The best thing is that, contrary to popular belief, we don’t want you to stay at Select Spine & Sports Medicine indefinitely! In fact, we want to get you healthy and back to your usual life as soon as possible!
When most patients and doctors think of Chiropractors, they think getting their “back popped or what we call spinal manipulation.
Spinal manipulation causes movement in the spine’s facet joints, which helps to relieve pain while also restoring motion and function to the joints. However, that is not the only therapeutic option available to our profession. Not only is that not all we do at Select Spine & Sports Medicine, but we also offer a comprehensive range of conservative treatment options, including:
Pain, inflammation, and muscle spasm can all be relieved with electrical muscle stimulation.
Physical medicine and rehabilitation are used to assist an injured joint or muscle regain its flexibility, strength, and function.
We’ve had a lot of success treating a variety of musculoskeletal conditions with these techniques, including neck pain, back pain, herniated discs, sciatica, whiplash, sports injuries, shoulder injuries, tennis elbow, carpel tunnel syndrome, hip pain, knee pain, IT band syndrome, patella tendonitis, ankle sprains, and much more.
Select Spine & Sports Medicine is here to help if you need a chiropractor in Friendswood (Houston area). We can be found at:
Why chiropractic care is bad?
Chiropractic therapy is usually believed to be safe for several illnesses when chiropractors are properly trained and licensed. Patients with osteoporosis, spine abnormalities, spine cancer, elevated stroke risk, and other serious illnesses that may require surgery are not advised to use it. Mild side effects including as transient discomfort, stiffness, and tenderness in the treated area are to be expected. You should, however, continue your investigation. Your healthcare professional should be able to give you with a recommendation. Examine the chiropractor’s website, which includes patient testimonials. Meet with the chiropractor to discuss their treatment methods and inquire about any potential side effects.
How do I know if I should see a chiropractor?
A chiropractor is a medical specialist who diagnoses and treats mechanical skeletal diseases, particularly spinal misalignment. Because the spine controls how all of your limbs move and function, these illnesses have the potential to affect a person’s physical well-being, long-term health, and wellness.
Massage therapy is a practice used by chiropractors to treat their patients that has now extended to almost every country on the planet. Physical manipulation of the spine, joints, and surrounding soft tissue is frequently used. In addition to treatment, these specialists may offer health counseling and exercise.
There are several reasons to seek chiropractic care, and we’ll go through five of them here.
YOU KEEP HAVING MUSCLE AND JOINT PAINS
Joint and muscle symptoms are frequently linked to issues with spine alignment. If such aches are ignored, they may get more severe over time, making the problem much more difficult to solve. To relieve the pain, the greatest chiropractor would twist and modify your spine.
These changes increase blood flow to the nerves in the damaged muscles and joints, making you feel considerably better. It can be a good idea to seek expert help if you have frequent muscle and joint problems. This will assist in ensuring your long-term health and well-being.
YOU SUFFER FROM INTENSE BACK PAINS
Back discomfort is one of the most clear symptoms that you should seek medical help. There are numerous variables that contribute to these aches and pains. The type of work you do, your posture, and the amount of time you spend standing each day are all important factors to consider. Back aches can also be caused by physical trauma, in which case you should consult an injury chiropractor.
A specialist will assist you in reducing your pain without the use of narcotic medicines or invasive surgical procedures. Taking care of your back discomfort can make it much easier for you to move around, assuring your long-term health and fitness.
YOU HAVE FREQUENT HEADACHES
Some of the most prevalent causes of headaches include dehydration, starvation, and oxygen deprivation. Headaches can be caused by a misalignment of the spine and neck, which obstructs blood flow to the brain. Seeing a chiropractor is in your best interests for long-term health and wellness. As a result of the misalignment, the supply of oxygen and blood to the brain is improved, and your headaches are successfully relieved.
YOUR LIMBS HAVE LIMITED MOBILITY AND FLEXIBILITY
Our legs and arms may not be as flexible as they once were as we adapt to changing lifestyles and activities. It’s also possible that the neck will stiffen up and make it impossible to rotate far in either direction. If you find yourself in this situation on a regular basis, chiropractic care may be beneficial.
Chiropractors use procedures to realign your joints and bones, increasing the range of motion in your limbs and reducing any aches and pains you may be experiencing.
YOU HAVE POOR POSTURE
If you spend the majority of your day sitting at a desk, working on your computer, your chances of acquiring poor posture are extremely high. Poor posture is a huge concern, even if it doesn’t appear to be. It exerts undue strain on your shoulders, neck, and upper back. To accommodate this pressure, your bones and discs tend to shift, resulting in a slipped disk or other much more serious disorders.
Seeing a specialist can assist you in resolving your posture issue. They could, for example, assist you in selecting a posture corrector, standing desk, or ergonomic chair so that you don’t damage yourself while working or studying at your computer. This is beneficial to your physical well-being as well as your long-term health and wellness.
Can a chiropractor break your neck?
No. The neck is a region of the body that is encased in strong muscles and ligaments. There is no evidence that chiropractic treatment has resulted in “neck-breaking” over the world, according to any study.
How long does it take to realign your spine?
When a patient comes in for an evaluation, one of the first questions they usually have is how long it will take to get them to hold a correction and how it works. To find an answer, we must first consider the nature of a spinal injury and how it heals. The ligaments (connective tissue that maintains bones in place) and other supportive/structural tissues of the spine are principally responsible for maintaining a spinal correction (muscles, joints, discs, bones). The tissues around the spine must mend and adapt to the corrected spinal position in order for a patient’s correction to last. To stay in place, the spine must be retrained.
The ligaments that surround the spine must be damaged by a physical injury. The bones shift out of their designed position and begin to squeeze the brainstem, blood vessels, and other nerves because the injured tissues can no longer keep the spine in a healthy position. It’s essentially a spinal sprain, similar to a sprained ankle, but it’s more serious since a sprained spine puts pressure on the nerve system, which regulates and organizes all body functions.
The only method to stabilize the spine is to hold the bones in the appropriate position long enough for the supporting tissues to heal, similar to how you would stabilize an injured ankle. A doctor will place the sprained ankle in the proper position and cast it for several months, allowing the tissues to mend and stable. One of the difficulties with the spine’s healing process is that we can’t cast it after we’ve corrected its position (body casts aren’t very functional!). Instead of casting the spine to let it to heal, we must keep it as aligned as possible to allow it to repair.
Obviously, the more seriously a someone has been hurt and the longer they have had that injury, the longer it takes for them to heal and stabilize.
We can correct patients as soon as they lose their correction and keep them in alignment as much as possible by closely monitoring them. The nerves and tissues mend continuously while the patient is in alignment until the corrective is removed. When the spine is misaligned, it’s like removing the cast from a freshly damaged ankle and walking on it, extending and reinjuring the tissues.
The three most critical factors that affect a patient’s ability to hold adjustments are as follows:
- Consistency in Care: Consistency in care is by far the most significant aspect in stabilizing a patient. A person’s body will not mend instantaneously if they have been out of alignment for 30, 40, 50, or 60 years. Although their symptoms may improve fast, their body tissues will take some time to repair. The spine must spend more time in alignment than it does out of alignment if it is to stabilize properly. We’ve discovered that for most patients, the best way to do this is to check and correct the spine twice a week until it is consistently stable for one week. This stage lasts 6-8 weeks for most individuals. (Children typically take less time.) After the spine has held the correction for one week, we begin checking them once a week for the next 6-8 weeks. After the patient has stabilized at that level, we will reduce their visits to once every two weeks for the next 6-8 weeks. In our experience, by the end of this treatment program, the majority of patients are able to maintain an alignment for at least a month. We assess patients in a month if they can hold it for that long. We move them out to 2 months if they can hold it. As the patient’s condition improves, they are moved out for a maximum of three months. Patients are often asymptomatic (have no symptoms) once they reach this degree of stability (being examined once every three months), however the majority of the time they are out of alignment at the three-month point. This is most likely owing to the numerous stressors of modern life. NUCCA care is currently keeping patients out of discomfort, preventing the development of other illnesses, and preventing the body from degenerating. In our experience, seeing patients once a week is beneficial and can help people find relief, but it can take years to achieve what can be accomplished in months if people are seen twice a week at the start of their treatment.
- Managing Stress Effectively: Stress is the number one factor that leads people to become out of alignment sooner than they would otherwise. Stress is a horrifically destructive force that affects the intellect, will, emotions, and, eventually, the body of the person who is stressed. In essence, stress will overwhelm the mind, and when it reaches a certain threshold, the body’s ability to maintain the spinal correction will be compromised. One explanation for this is because stress causes aberrant muscular tension as a result of an overactive neural system, which pulls on the spine, making it more difficult to maintain the adjustment. As Christian doctors, our advice on how to deal with stress will be based on religion. According to 1 Peter 5:6, “Humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand, that He may exalt you at the proper moment, throwing all your anxieties on Him because He is concerned about you.” We must recognize our need for God’s assistance and humble ourselves enough to entrust our troubles to Him. Worrying accomplishes nothing and rejects what God says! In reality, it wreaks havoc on your health. So, if a problem or scenario arises, hurl it (aggressively and entirely) to Jesus and refuse to be concerned about it. Things will always produce tension; it is how we handle it when it occurs that decides whether or not it will throw us off balance.
- Fatigue is the third most essential component in stability because it occurs when people work themselves to exhaustion, become too fatigued, and fail to take breaks when they are needed. The ligaments will begin to mend once the spine has been straightened. The muscles around the spine support the spine in the corrected position until the ligaments recover enough to hold it in place. It’s vital to remember that muscle wasn’t designed to keep the spine in place; ligaments were created for that purpose. Unlike ligaments, muscles can become weary. If a person holds a bowling ball straight in front of them, for example, they can hold it until their muscles become fatigued, at which point they must drop the ball. The same thing happens with your spine: as the muscles become fatigued, the correction is lost since the body can no longer maintain it in place. So, how does a patient get around it? They must first detect the signals of weariness and respond by taking a 15-20 minute break to allow the fatigue to pass, after which they can return to their previous task. Weakness, tension, or tightness in the muscles of the neck and spine are the most typical indicators of weariness. The muscles tense up as a result of the tension they are exerting to maintain the alignment. Patients must learn to resist the urge to keep working and disregard their symptoms “Their bodies are giving them a “stop sign.” If discovered before it’s too late, the patient will hold on to the adjustment and, over time, their exhaustion point will migrate out, allowing them to go longer before fatigue sets in. It’s crucial not to become disheartened if you have to take a lot of breaks at first. As your body heals, the more disciplined you become, the more endurance you will gain. It’s also worth noting that any action, if done for long enough, can tire the spine. Working in the garden, sitting at a computer, or even taking a walk can all cause you to become exhausted. Patients will weary at different rates depending on their injuries and the activities they are undertaking. You may be able to work for hours before being fatigued on some days, while on others it may only take 10 minutes.
The most important thing to remember is that the best way to get stronger is to realize where you are and take breaks when you need them, no matter where you are or what shape you are in. Don’t get caught up in thoughts like “I used to be able to sit at the computer for more than 30 minutes without tightening up” or “it seems silly that I can’t sit at the computer for more than 30 minutes without tightening up.” If you follow our instructions, you will quickly become stronger.