While recovering from a back injury, you may have decided to make an appointment with a chiropractor to see about adding their services as a complement to your medical treatment plan. During your first appointment, they will sit down with you and discuss your condition and any options that may be included in your chiropractic care. To help out with this first visit, use the tips below to ensure that you are prepared.
1. Write Down the Details of Your Injury and Any Symptoms You Experience
When the chiropractor first meets with you, they will want to know the details of your injury, as well as how its aftereffects have impacted your life. While you may think that you can remember everything you want to tell them, you may get in there and forget important details, especially when it comes to any symptoms that you may be experiencing.
To help you remember everything you want to tell them, write down a detailed account of your injury, as well as any other treatments that you may be getting, such as pain medication, physical therapy, or spinal injections. This can help the chiropractor start to build a clinical picture of your back injury.
Then, write down any symptoms that you have experienced, such as back pain, tightness, or numbness in one or both of your legs. If necessary, carry a notebook with you for a week before your appointment and jot down any new symptoms so that you can be sure to mention them.
2. Obtain Copies of Any Test Results Related to Your Injury
Along with your written account of your injury and treatments, the chiropractor will want to see the results of any tests that you have had. These tests might include X-rays and MRIs. You may also want to try to get ahold of your doctor's and physical therapist's notes.
Not only do gathering these pieces of information help complete the clinical picture of your back injury, but they also let the chiropractor know where to concentrate their treatment efforts, as well as areas to avoid. For example, if you have a severely herniated disc in your back, they can work around this area.
One the day of your first appointment, make sure you bring everything with you so that your chiropractor can review the information and test results. Then, you can both discuss your options for your chiropractic care treatment plan, ranging from spinal manipulations to ultrasound therapy.
