How to Find a Chiropractor in Hilliard, Ohio

How to Find a Chiropractor in Hilliard: What You Should Know Before Booking an Appointment

Choosing a chiropractor can feel intimidating—especially if it’s your first time or you’ve never had chiropractic care before.

One of the hard parts about choosing a chiropractor is that a lot of people don’t know what’s going to happen when they visit a chiropractor, especially for the first time.

• Will it hurt?
• Will the chiropractor really understand your pain?
• How do I know this is going to work for me?
• Will my health insurance cover chiropractic, how much does everything cost?

I want everyone to have a positive chiropractic experience, even if it’s not with our office.

I’ve explained to my friends and family what to look for when choosing a chiropractor and turned it into a mini-guide, so maybe it can help you.

Check out my recommendations below and use these tips to help make sure you have the best and safest chiropractic experience that you can possibly have.

#1 Different Chiropractors Have Different Practice Focus

People often think that all chiropractors practice the same way. Usually the idea is that if someone has mild to moderate back pain, you go to a chiropractor and he/she will POP your spine back in place. While this may make up a large portion of practicing chiropractors, it is far from the only option that’s available to you.

There are chiropractors that focus on pediatric and maternity cases. There are those who focus on Structural Correction of the spine. There are those that are primarily concerned with injuries related to accidental injury or Sports Injury. There are even chiropractors that act under the umbrella of Chiropractic Functional Neurology.

When choosing a chiropractor, it will help you tremendously to know what is their area of focus or expertise, and if that area of expertise is right for you.

If you just got into a car accident and it feels like your neck is on fire, then a pediatric and family chiropractor may not have your immediate goal in mind. At the same time, if you’ve been dealing with the consequences of chronic spinal degeneration, then a chiropractor who has built his practice on a sports medicine type practice may not fit the bill for you.

What To Do:

1. Define what aspect of your health or what condition you’re most concerned with
2. Do Your Homework: A look at a chiropractor’s website is usually very informative on what special focus or services that chiropractor offers
3. Ask a chiropractor during a consultations. “What is the focus of your practice?” and,  “How is that going to help me achieve (your area of concern)”

#2 X-rays or No X-rays?

For better or for worse, not all chiropractors use X-ray as part of their examination protocols. As a chiropractor that focuses on Structural Correction, X-rays play an essential role in allowing me to know when a patient needs a correction, how to make the correction, and also when to keep my hands off. Because of that, I’ll make an effort to give an unbiased assessment on its use.

X-rays provide the most cost effective way to have a direct look at the structure of the spine. They allow us to see how the spine is aligned, and they also let us know if the spine is safe to work on. They may also provide critical information that may lead to an accurate diagnosis of someone’s condition.

There are plenty of chiropractors that do not use X-rays and their patients are happy and satisfied with their care. This is more common amongst doctors that have a neurology, maternity/pediatric, or athletic focus to their clinic. You may also find that this is more common amongst doctors that use very low force procedures to take care of the spine. One of the obstacles to patients getting X-rays is fear of radiation exposure. While radiation exposure is a perfectly reasonable and rational reason to be wary, the amount of radiation used for chiropractic purposes is very, very low. You would get more radiation exposure from a cross-country flight from New York to California than one set of X-rays of the neck. In fact, our clinic uses a high-frequency digital x-ray machine which has even less exposure than a traditional x-ray unit.

The dangers of radiation exposure come from procedures that have much higher dosages. The biggest culprits for large radiation exposure come from CT scans and radiation therapy used in cancer treatment. One CT scan has the equivalent dosage of hundreds of X-rays, and a cancer treatment has the exposure of thousands of X-rays.

So be wary of advice from TV doctors like Dr. Oz who scare you out of necessary procedures. Worrying about chiropractic X-rays for radiation exposure would be like worrying about the radiation from a cell phone while you’re busy getting sunburned from a day at the beach.

The question you need to ask yourself is whether you want someone to guess on your spine, versus having someone know exactly what needs to be done. The difference may mean a lot less adjustments and getting results more quickly.

What To Do:

1. Ask the doctor if they use X-rays as part of their exam procedures
2.  If they don’t use X-rays, find out what methods they use to assess the condition of the spine and see if those methods make sense to you.
3.  If X-rays are important for a doctor’s care plan, find out if they will be taking post X-rays to see if they are creating a change.

#3: How To Make Sure You’re Getting Results

A frequent criticism of people that have gotten better under chiropractic care is that they probably experienced a Placebo Effect. The Placebo Effect is when someone goes through a treatment process and gets better even though there is no beneficial effect of the treatment itself. In other words, the person was tricked into believing they are better.

This isn’t isolated to chiropractic, but it happens frequently in medicine and other holistic healing arts. The mind is a powerful thing, and the simple belief that a treatment is effective can lead to some incredible changes in someone’s health. However, no one wants to PAY for a treatment that is fraudulent.

Additionally, people in pain are especially prone to placebo effects. With that being said, you need to know if what you’re doing is causing a physiologic change or if it’s a product of your belief.

There are lots of things in the world that can reduce pain. Over the counter medications, acupuncture, prescription medications, exercises, stretches, and massage just to name a few. But if you’re deciding to go to a chiropractor, I suspect that you are hoping that they are getting to the root of the problem, and not just making the pain go away.

This is why it’s important to see that your body is changing with OBJECTIVE MEASUREMENTS. Objective measurements allow both you, and the doctor, to see a measurable change as a result of treatment. It allows you to see if a treatment is working, when it should stop, and when you have reached your goal. Objective measurements allow you to see if something happens beyond just feeling better. If a chiropractor is truly looking to improve the structure of the spine and the function of the nervous system, they should be taking measurements that go beyond feeling for a sore spot.

Here are some of the most common Objective Measuring Tools:

1. Pre and post adjustment X-rays
2. Pre and post postural measurements
3. Grip strength tests
4. Digital Nerve Scans
5. Heart rate variability
6. SEMG (Surface Electromyography)
7. Pulse oximetry
8. Thermography
9. Muscle strength assessments
10. Bilateral weight scale improvements

What To Do:

1.  Ask Your Chiro: “What objective assessments do you use to monitor my improvement?”
2.  Ask You Chiro: “Will we be doing these tests again to see if I’ve gotten better?”
3.  Ask Yourself: “Does this Chiropractor have testimonies and honest reviews from current and past patients that show he/she gets good results?”

#4 Do You Like The Doctor?

Chiropractic comes from the Greek words “praxis” and “cheir“, meaning to practice or to treat using hands. This is why you should make sure you feel comfortable and can trust your Hilliard Chiropractor. A clear communication between the doctor-patient relationship is vitally important for your best results and recommendations.

Chiropractic is known for all types of health. It’s not just about back pain and neck pain. Make sure your Hilliard Chiropractor takes his/her health seriously. How can someone teach you about health when they aren’t healthy themselves?

At our Hilliard Chiropractic office we offer male and female Chiropractors with specific specialties to give our patients the best and most comfortable results possible!

What To Do:

1. Ask Yourself: “Does this Doctor seem competent and have your best interest at heart?”
2. Ask Yourself: “Does this Doctor Walk the Walk or Talk the Talk when it comes to their own health – is he/she healthy?”
3. Ask Yourself: “Do I feel more comfortable with a male or female chiropractor?”

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In Summary: How to find a Chiropractor in Hilliard, Ohio

I hope you found this mini-guide helpful. I’m confident if you follow my “What To Do’s” while searching for a Hilliard Chiropractor, you can’t go wrong!

If you have any further questions or concerns. Please don’t hesitate to reach out by calling us or email.