Chiropractic – Why results are dose dependant
Chiropractic adjustments just like medication need to be administered at the correct dose for the full therapeutic benefit. Click here to listen to my latest video blog or just read on to see why you may be missing on out on the full benefits of your chiropractic care
Let’s say you went to the doctor and got diagnosed with a bacterial infection, prescribed the right antibiotic and was told to take it 3 times a day for 4 weeks. What would happen if you only took it once a day or stopped the course of treatment half way through when you started feeling better? Yep, you would probably not get better or have a relapse.
Well chiropractic care is the same. Yes you need the right diagnosis and the correct adjustments but they also need to be given at the right dose or what we call frequency. The reason for this is because a chiropractic adjustment is actually working on helping to re-wire your nervous system. The adjustment, by unlocking joints and restoring movements that have been lost improves your brain’s ability to perceive space. When your brain can better perceive where your body is in space your brain can better co-ordinate muscles to support and control joint motion so healing can take place.
So just like a course of medication if your particular injury requires 3 chiropractic adjustments per week for best results and you only get 1 per week or do 2 weeks worth of care you may not get the result you are after or invite a predictable relapse in your condition.
Chiropractic adjustment frequency (or dosage) has to take into account factors such as
- How long the problem has been there (chronicity) and whether there is any joint degeneration
- Life-style factors such as sedentary work practices, sporting activities and hobbies, emotional and chemical stressors that may be causing imbalances and distorted alignment
- Genetic factors such as anatomical anomalies
- Learned behaviours that need to be undone and replaced with new ones
So if you feel like you have tried chiropractic and didn’t get the best result or had your problem recur please consider whether a revised treatment frequency may be the key to long term success. We have seen many cases in practice where a revision of frequency has been the difference between success and failure.
Yours in Better Health