One of the most common (and frustrating) things I hear from non-chiropractic patients is this: If I see a chiropractor, I will have to go for the rest of my life. I hear it all the time from family, close friends, to people that I see at the gym. There is an underlying suspicion that, to be honest, is a little bit crazy but understandable for those that simply don’t know. Normally when I hear this - I don’t challenge it. I should.
Of course I have patients that have invested in their long term health through maintenance (wellness) care that involves incorporating adjustments into their health and wellness plan. Ironically, these are also the patients by and large that pay the closest attention to their body (exercise, diet, etc..). Do they have to? Did something happen after their first adjustment that made chiropractic adjustments necessary for their long term health, so much so that they have to keep doing it? The answer, is yes.
Now, there was nothing psychologically manipulative after that first adjustment that ‘hooked’ them to chiropractic care. Nor was there anything so physiologically manipulative that their body demanded adjustments forever, and if these adjustments were to be skipped that they would go backwards. Truthfully, the first adjustment just is not able to affect such long term change on either of these levels. If they decided to stop, the result would be simple. Like Maxine Nightngale said - ‘Right back to where we started from’. But something did happen, that leads most people to keeping chiropractic in their life.
It’s really simple. When our patients start care, they start to see and feel things that they like. They move better, they feel healthier, they sleep better, their headaches decrease in frequency and mostly entirely for example.
So when you break it down, if you start to get your adjustments and begin to get healthier, you certainly don’t have to continue at all. Like most things in life, you have a choice. Think about going to the gym. You may start at the gym, for a variety of reasons. When you start exercising, the beginning is hard. You have to work harder to get things going. You know that you are doing the right thing for your health, and you also have the option of stopping at any time. You know that if you stop, you won’t be getting any more healthy. Instead, you will be moving further from health rather than closer to it. Soon, and if you commit, you feel healthier (because you are healthier). You become your results. You have more energy, strength, drive, and you feel better about yourself. You went through the process… and you got your results. Do you have to keep exercising to keep these results? YES! Do you have to forever - well, that’s your choice. But if you incorporate something into your life that improves your health and how you feel day to day - why would you ever stop that?
So, imagine that if you start your care - you start to feel better, you begin to get healthier. Your old pains are much more manageable, they’ve decreased, or disappeared entirely. You know it’s because you have taken control of your health, and the adjustments have become a big part of that, for your turn around, and for your maintenance of it. Do you have to maintain what you are doing to keep your results, or more specifically - to keep improving? YES! Do you have to do that forever? Well, that’s your choice. But… if you incorporate something into your life that improves your quality of life - why would you ever stop that?
This is how you should respond to those non-chiropractic patients who say “I heard if I go, I have to keep going”. Of course this is untrue. However, if they want to have a healthier life and experience a quality of life they never have before - then why wouldn’t you want that to start as soon as possible and for it to continue?