It’s no surprise that the most common complaint that brings people into a chiropractor’s office is some
sort of back or neck pain.
The numbers for lower back pain alone are quite astounding. According to the American Chiropractic
Association (ACA), lower back pain was the single leading global cause of disability in 2010. Furthermore, an estimated 80 percent of the population will experience back pain at some point.
Lower back pain can lead to missed days of work and costs Americans about $50 billion each year for treatment. It is also the second leading reason for doctor visits, behind only upper respiratory problems.
Approximately half of working Americans will have some sort of lower back complaint each year.
Making treatment more effective and efficient
Given these statistics, it behooves DCs to not only tout the benefits of chiropractic for back and neck problems, but actually be able to deliver on those promises with effective, efficient treatment. Doing so benefits not just the patient, but also the DC, in terms of being able to increase the bottom line. But how to both provide effective, efficient care for patients while also benefitting the DC’s bottom line? Instrument adjusting for the spine may be the answer.
Patient benefits from instrument adjusting for the spine
The key to patient benefits for instrument adjusting the spine is to understand what specifically brought them into the office. In many cases, chiropractic is the medical treatment of last resort. It can be rather
difficult for a DC to win over a skeptical patient who may be somewhat nervous about chiropractic, based
on stories they have heard from friends or relatives.
Instrument adjusting can benefit patients first and foremost by delivering what is known as a lowthrust,
highamplitude adjustment. What this essentially means is that a DC can apply the same amount of
pressure on the vertebra but with less force. The adjusting instrument concentrates all that force into a
smaller area.
Chiropractor benefits from instrument adjusting for the spine
While patient benefits from using instrument adjusting for the spine are obvious, the DC’s benefits
are less so. Just as instrument adjusting means less wear and tear on the patient, the same is true for the
chiropractor. Delivering spinal thrusts with the hands over and over again can take a toll on a DC’s body. Ultimately, it may shorten a DC’s career.
Furthermore, an instrument spinal adjustment takes less time than a manual one. The more patients a DC can see in a given day, the more the practice will thrive and grow. It can also increase the range of services and the types of patients DCs can treat.
If the statistics about the number of people with back pain are to be believed, almost all of those patients could benefit from spinal adjustments. It is a matter of finding ways to benefit both the patient and the DC. Instrument adjusting for the spine may be able to deliver on both.
