I was recently consulting for a chiropractic operation and I got the attention of the person I was meeting with when I stated, “The chiropractic economics of today are not good and the biggest reason is a saturation of chiropractors in the marketplace.” I went on to say, "Chiropractors that market long term chiropractic health plans are creating a bad name in the industry for others that do not do this chiropractic marketing technique.”
I seldom go to a chiropractor but when I do, I need one bad. With two different length legs I throw my lower back out about once a year and when I do I the lower back pain is unbearable. Since I have done this many times, I have had the pleasure of getting treated by numerous chiropractors providing many different chiropractic techniques to make me walk straight again and without pain. Since I have moved throughout my career, I have not had the luxury of staying with one chiropractor. I have categorized below the four most commons chiropractic techniques that I have experienced in getting my lower back pain treated:
- The Chiropractic Marketing Techniques – This may be the most painful approach overall because it hits your pocketbook and draws out the agony of the lower back pain. In this approach I am told that to fix my lower back I will need to get on a plan to see the chiropractor 3 times per week for the next two months. Being that this was the first exposure to chiropractic marketing so I said, “OK let’s get started.” In this I am getting everything the chiropractor can do for me including electrotherapy, ultrasound treatment, mechanical adjustment (via a chiropractic table) and manual adjustment. After four weeks of nominal improvement I asked why it is taking so long to get healthy and the chiropractor said that this is normal and a lower back issue like I have will take at least two months to heal with the treatment plan I am on. Otherwise is will take much longer. The fear factor worked on me for two more weeks and then I abandon the treatment and took my chances that my lower back pain would get better over time…which it did.
- The Old School Chiropractic Techniques (Adjustment Method) – In my first experience with this chiropractic technique I hobbled into the chiropractor in excruciating pain being new in town and going on a referral from a very obese man that said he is the best in town. The treatment was primarily focused on the length of my legs and getting them in line using a chiropractic table that looked like a medieval torture device and in some cases it felt like it. After what seemed like a long time getting adjusted the chiropractor said you are all set and you can pay the lady at the front. Startled I said, “Well when do I see you again?” and in his reply he said, “Next time you throw your back out.” I have to admit this was a major departure from my last experience and maybe too much for me to handle at the time. I felt better my not great and the chiropractor said it may take a day or two for me to get back to full health. Guess what? The next day I woke up and got out of bead and felt great, maybe 75% better and the following day I was back to my old self. Funny thing is, the next time I went to schedule an appointment with him, he had retired and I was once again in search of another chiropractor and get further chiropractic education. This leads me to the next technique I used.
- Do nothing and deal with the pain - I have tried this more times that I want to remember and in most cases I ended up going to a chiropractor. Do nothing chiropractic techniques for fixing lower back pain does work sometimes but in most cases it makes the problem more difficult to fix once you get around to going to a chiropractor which leads me to my final and favorite of all shiropractic techniques.
- Old School Chiropractic Combined with Modernized Chiropractic Techniques including (Activator Methods) – Let me preface by saying I am more of the “crack addict” that likes the manual adjustment technique. However, in my first experience with this combo technique, I had one of the worst cases of lower back pain and I had waited about one month before going to the chiropractor. My selection process was simple; I went to an online chiropractor directory and found a chiropractor near my office. Going into the chiropractor with skepticism and not being sure I made the right decision. I was shocked to find out that this chiropractor used the leg measurement approach along with a newer technique called Activator Methods. He combined the manual adjustment on an old school adjustment table along with a device that looked like a syringe called the Activator Method. The adjustment technique altered between manual adjustments (because I said I did not have an issue with manual adjustment) and using this activator adjustment technique. I did not know the reasoning behind it and when he was all done he said, “Let’s schedule an appointment for three days from now.” Immediately I was taken back and thought, this guy wants to use the classic chiropractic marketing technique and get me going for the next few months. When I questioned him he said that since I went quite a while with my back out of alignment he want to see me in three days to see how the adjustments were doing and is expecting that I will need more adjusting.
In my next visit he was right, I was not 100% (but better overall) and it felt like my back slipped back out of alignment. This visit was much shorter with fewer adjustments and I saw him one more time for a final adjustment and I was all good to go. Being pleased but still skeptical that it took three visits to fix my back he said to me, every patient is different. You happen to have a healthy back but when it goes out and you wait before you get adjusted, it will take longer to heal the back. He has been my chiropractor ever since. I have also become the number one referral source for this practice and strongly support their chiropractic treatments.
I think the chiropractic economics are quite simple; if there were more chiropractors that focused on patient wellness and used the traditional chiropractic techniques along with the Activator Method adjustment technique, there would be more people visiting chiropractors and hence more healthy people walking around pain free. I hear more and more cases of supposed new chiropractic equipment that costs upwards of $80,000 that will automatically sense the back issues and fix them with a machine. Get real! Also, be skeptical of techniques that are now backed by the Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research.
I trust the human diagnosis and treatment over a machine any day. Besides, look at the ROI on traditional techniques and chiropractic economics of devises like the Activator Methods technique over anything else on the market…besides it works faster and involves pain-free adjustments from my experience. 
