A Pain in My Neck: How Often Do You Need a Neck Adjustment?
A Pain in My Neck: How Often Do You Need a Neck Adjustment?
You know that the chiropractor makes you feel better, but how often should you go? Learn the timing for your neck adjustment schedule here.
Chiropractors treat over 35 million American children and adults every year.
Getting chiropractic adjustments, such as a back or neck adjustment, can relieve pain, reduce inflammation, ease headaches, and benefit a number of other medical conditions. Some of these include scoliosis, sciatica, and high blood pressure in adults and colic and ear infections in children.
In this guide, we'll take a look at how often you should visit your chiropractor.
So let's get started.
How Often Do You Need a Neck Adjustment?
There is no easy answer to this question.
Because everyone's pains and aches are unique to their personal circumstances, it's almost impossible to come up with a general answer. A person with a lot of pain in their neck may need to get adjusted more often than a person with minimal discomfort.
The best way to figure out how often you should get adjustments is to tell your chiropractor about any pain or problems you're experiencing. Once they understand your condition, they can recommend a treatment plan.
But for now, we'll help you come up with a rough number of times you should visit your chiropractor a year.
So keep reading below.
Think About Your Goal
To find out how often you should get adjustments from your chiropractor, you need to spend some time thinking about your goals.
Why are you visiting a chiropractor in the first place?
Do you go because the adjustments keep your body feeling good and staying healthy? Were you involved in a car accident and need a chiropractor to treat your injuries?
Figuring out your goals will help you figure out how often you should keep seeing your chiropractor in the future.
We've laid out three different scenarios you might fit into. So let's take a closer look at each one.
1. You're in Serious Pain
If you have an injury or other medical condition that's putting you in a lot of pain, you might need intensive chiropractic treatment.
This could involve visiting your chiropractor of adjustments several times a week. As your body heals, you'll reduce the number of visits over time. But the treatment could last a year or longer.
But again, this depends on your personal circumstance. Depending on things like your pain level, the type of injury you're dealing with, and how you respond to the treatment, the number of adjustments you need might vary.
You should start to see improvements in the first few weeks of treatment. You chiropractor will then make changes to your treatment plan based on your current condition.
Expect a 3 to 6-week treatment plan. At the end of this time, your chiropractor will evaluate your progress and create a new 3 to 6-week treatment plan.
This will continue until your body is fully healed.
2. You Just Want Minor Adjustments
Some people just want their chiropractors to catch and fix small problems before they turn into big ones. This type of treatment only requires visits every once in a while.
You might need to see your chiropractor once a month or as little as twice a year. Again, it all depends on your personal situation.
If this is the type of chiropractic care you're looking for, you can also call and schedule an appointment whenever you start feeling any tension.
3. Your Main Priority Is a Healthy Body
Even if you aren't in pain or don't feel any tension, it's a good idea to visit your chiropractor every week.
Why?
Weekly visits help you maintain a healthy body over a long period of time.
Think about it this way. If you want to lose weight, you don't go to the gym one time or diet for a single day. Instead, you take strides every day to help you reach your goal.
The same is true of chiropractic treatment.
If your main priority of getting chiropractic adjustments is to maintain a healthy body, you should visit your chiropractor several times a month. You might benefit from getting adjustments as often as every week.
Do I Need a Referral to Visit a Chiropractor?
Some people believe they can only visit a chiropractor if they get a referral from a doctor or hospital.
This isn't true.
There's no need to talk to a doctor before setting up a chiropractor appointment. If you think you could benefit from chiropractic care, you can head straight to a chiropractor.
This gives you a way to get treatment quickly when you need it. You don't have to wait around for other doctor visits when you're in pain. Skip that step and talk to a chiropractor first.
If they don't think you'll benefit from their treatment, they can point you to other options. Otherwise, you'll get the care you need right away before your medical problems get any worse.
Talk to Your Chiropractor
Hopefully, this guide gave you a better idea about how often you should get a neck adjustment or other chiropractic treatment. But you won't know exactly how often you should schedule appointments until you talk to your chiropractor.
They can set up a treatment plan that'll be the most beneficial option for your body.
Are you trying to find a chiropractor who can help you on the road to a pain and tension free life?
Make sure you check out our chiropractic care services. If you'd like additional information or want to set up an appointment, please don't hesitate to reach out to us!
