Types Of Care
It is important to understand the stages of chiropractic care because they are unique relative to those of other health-care disciplines. Because chiropractic addresses core physiological and biomechanical aspects of the body, the process to correct problems without drugs or surgery can take some time. Some conditions can be treated in a few visits, while others may take longer.
The following is a brief summary of the three types of care provided at Complete Health & Chiropractic Center.
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If an ache, pain, or other obvious symptom has prompted you to begin chiropractic or physical therapy, the first thing you want is to feel better. Office visits will be frequent and your treatments will be designed to get you relief in addition to building the foundation for your body to heal maximally. Depending on your age, condition, and lifestyle, repeated visits over weeks or months may be needed to reduce or eliminate your symptoms.
Initial intensive care may be necessary for an Acute, Sub-Acute, or Chronic condition.
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Muscle and other soft tissue damage often remain after your original symptoms have improved. Corrective care stabilizes our spine and joints to promote more complete healing. Visit frequency is reduced and you may be encouraged to supplement your care with exercises or other self-care procedures. With your ache or pain gone, more complete healing can occur. Stopping care now may risk a relapse.
Corrective care may be employed for a Sub-Acute, or Chronic condition.
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Supportive care may be required to "support" a chronic condition after maximum improvement has been reached. In some instances, lapses in care will allow the condition to regress and worsening symptoms will be apparent.
Wellness or Elective care is a sub-classification of Supportive Care. When maximum improvement is reached, periodic chiropractic "checkups" are recommended. These wellness or elective visits can detect and help correct new problems before they become serious. Health-conscious adults choose this type of care for themselves and their children. Like other preventative measures, wellness or elective care can save time and money by helping you stay well.
Supportive care is used for Chronic conditions and in wellness situations for prevention.
Phase I Condition: Acute (0 - 72 hours)
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The acute phase is most often an inflammatory state.
There are several goals of treatment in the acute phase, each with an accompanying plan of care.
- To control pain, edema, and spasm, physical therapy modalities and RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) are used.
- To maintain motion, chiropractic manipulative therapy, passive ROM (Range of Motion) and manual therapies would be included in the plan of care.
- To facilitate healing, nutritional supplements may be included in the plan of care.
Phase II Condition: Sub-Acute (48 hours - 12 weeks, a minimum of 4 weeks)
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The sub-acute phase is also known as the Repair Phase.
As with the acute phase, there are several goals of treatment in the sub-acute phase with accompanying plans of care..
- To control pain, edema, spasm and joint swelling, physical therapy modalities would be included in the plan of care.
- To progressively increase mobility in soft tissues, muscles and joints, the plan of care would include passive to active exercise/rehab, chiropractic manipulative therapy, manual therapies, massage therapy, traction, spinal decompression, physical therapy modalities, and stretching.
- To strengthen supporting and related muscles, progressive resistance exercise would be included in the plan of care.
- To facilitate healing, nutritional supplements may be included in the plan of care.
- To assist with biomechanical adaptations, spinal pelvic stabilizers and bracings may be included in the plan of care.
Phase III Condition: Chronic (4 weeks - 36 months)
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The chronic phase is also known as the Remodeling Phase.
As with the other two phases, there are several goals of treatment in the chronic phase with accompanying plans of care..- To maintain mobility in soft tissues, muscles and joints, the plan of care would include active exercise/rehab, chiropractic manipulative therapy, manual therapies, massage therapy, traction, spinal decompression, physical therapy modalities and stretching.
- To strengthen supporting and related muscles, resistance exercise would be included in the plan of care.
- To facilitate healing, nutritional supplements may be included in the plan of care.
- To assist with biomechanical adaptations, spinal pelvic stabilizers and bracings may be included in the plan of care.
