How to Choose the Right Chiropractor for You
The easiest way to choose a qualified chiropractor is through a referral from another medical professional or from a personal referral from a friend. It’s always valuable to utilize the advice of a person with first hand information when selecting this type of healthcare provider.
You can also choose to use national associations, such as the American Chiropractic Association. Many state trade agencies also keep listings of chiropractors that hold board certifications, as well.
If you deal with a particular medical concern, or will be scheduling chiropractic care for a child or infant, you may want to choose a chiropractor who specifically has experience in pediatrics. You can choose to call the office to ask about the chiropractor’s experience and education with specific conditions, as well. If you have insurance coverage, you can also choose to investigate whether chiropractic care is covered by your insurance policy.
Please note that the recommendations for care that you obtain from one office may be very different from those that you get from another chiropractor’s office. This type of care is different from medicine, and there is a very different range of types of treatments, as well as a bigger range of acceptable approaches. Dr Greg Gruba is a Rapid City chiropractor who uses different techniques to match each individual.
For example, there are more than one hundred methods that fall under the label of chiropractic techniques. Each is quite varied in the approach, as well as in the assessment and in the method of correcting the problem. Some may rely on x-rays, others may rely on responses to touch, while still others may rely on response to spinal manipulation. Examples of chiropractic adjustment methods include applied kinesiology, Gonstead, and motion palpation. Each utilizes their own approach for assessment and type of adjustment.
Many chiropractic doctors use multiple methods in their practice, using a holistic approach to adapt to the individual patient or to the problem that they are treating. These may be referred to as integrated techniques or a diversified approach. One approach is not superior to another. If you find that you are interested, consider asking about these techniques and why the specific chiropractor uses them. Also consider doing your own research in the library and on the internet for more information
You may also consider asking potential chiropractors other questions, including:
How would they feel about collaborating with your primary care doctor?
Are they willing to refer you to a specialist if necessary?
What services do they provide in their offices, such as physiotherapy, massage, etc?
What are their preferred goals of care? What do they typically do on a first visit? (Will you be treated, or simply assessed) Continued care to sustain wellness is important, but this decision will need to come through multiple discussions between you and your chiropractor, not simply as a decision made by your chiropractor.
How much will the care cost over time? Do they accept insurance plans?
The cost of chiropractic care can vary a great deal, depending on where you live and what type of insurance coverage you carry. If you carry healthy insurance, be sure to check your policy. More and more companies are covering chiropractic care. It is often covered to help with automobile accident recovery, as well as recovery for accidents that occur at work. Your policy may insist that you use a chiropractor only in your network, insist that care be approved in advance, require a high copay, or limit the visits that your insurance will cover.
Compared with most other types of alternative or complementary care, the amount of chiropractic care that insurance covers is quite high. As of 2002, a large number of health insurance plans covered chiropractic care as a part of the coverage that they offered their members. These numbers have likely grown since then.
To Your Health,
Rapid City Chiropractor
I was interested to learn that chiropractors generally have multiple methods that they can use to help heal your pain and back. A good friend called me up the other day and asked me if I had ever been to a chiropractor. Once he finds one, I’ll be sure to recommend he try a variety of different methods as his body might respond differently than what other people’s might.
My wife has been having a lot of headaches recently. She has been looking for treatment that can help her feel those pains less often. I didn’t realize chiropractors collaborate with primary doctors to ensure they provide the best service possible. I’ll be sure to share this info with my wife.
My husband has been having some back issues lately, and I am wanting to take him to a chiropractor to hopefully get it taken before it gets to far gone. We never had to use one before, and need help in being able to find the right one. I like how you pointed out that when it comes to asking questions, that one we thing we need to inquire about is how much the care will cost over time. This will really help us know for sure if they are a service that we will be able to afford to use, and if we need to budget for it.
I totally agree with what you said about asking for a referral when choosing the right chiropractor. Your friends and family may be able to recommend one whom they have consulted with before. Ask them for some feedback regarding the experience they had with this doctor. If you receive mostly positive responses, then chances are, the chiropractor may indeed be reliable and trustworthy. If I were to look for one myself, I would make sure to keep this in mind. Thanks.
I really like that one of the questions that the article asks is about what services the chiropractor offers in their office. After all, if you deal with a ton of back pain in-between sessions then a massage might help. It never hurts to ask your chiropractor about what services they can offer to help you deal with your chronic back pain.
My wife has been waking up with bad back pains lately, so we are looking for a chiropractor to start visiting. I like that you mention how chiropractors use lots of different methods and unique approaches to chiropractic care. We’ll have to ask about these treatments to find someone my wife is comfortable working with.
I couldn’t agree more when you mentioned asking for a referral from a medical professional or from people you know as just one way to find the right chiropractor for your injury concerns. Your personal physician, friends, and family may be able to recommend someone whom they have consulted with in the past. If they tell you that this doctor did a great job treating their injury, then it’s probably a good idea to pay him a visit and see for yourself. If I were to look for a chiropractor myself, I would make sure to keep this in mind. Thanks.
The best part of your blog for me is when you talked about how easy it is to find a qualified contractor if you can ask referrals from your friends. It has been weeks since my lower back has started experiencing pain. My goal is to be pain-free as soon as possible, but I don’t know where I can start searching for a good chiropractor. I will make sure to ask around for recommendations from the people that I know. Thanks!
I really appreciate how you said that you should look for a chiropractor that your insurance will be able to work with. I also like how you said that they should treat each patient specifically how they need it. My brother as in an auto accident, so we are looking for a chiropractor that can help him recover physically.
It did catch my attention when you talked about how you can easily find a qualified chiropractor by obtaining a referral from a friend. My husband is looking for a chiropractor for his mother because of chronic back pain. He wants to find a highly recommended chiropractor as soon as possible, so it will be helpful for him to ask around for recommendations in order to find the best one. Thanks!
I found it really helpful to check with your insurance how much they will pay for a chiropractor, especially in the event of an accident! My sister recently got into a minor car accident, but she is worried that the alignment in her back might be out of place! I will be sure to recommend to her that she looks into finding a chiropractor that her insurance would pay for, so she can save her money!
My husband has been experiencing a lot of lower back pain and he is trying to find a qualified chiropractor to help him manage the pain, so I am glad that I found this article. You make a great point that you should find out about the approach for assessment and treatment the chiropractor uses. I think that this is important because it will help my husband to find a chiropractor with the type of treatment methods that he feels comfortable using.
A few days ago, I slept a little weird on my neck, and it’s still feeling a bit stiff and sore. Because of this, I’ve been wondering if I should maybe see a chiropractor or something. It was helpful when you mentioned that I should take into account whether or not the chiropractor accepts my insurance, as it could help me save money. These tips could really help me find a great chiropractor, so thank you for sharing them.
I like the tip that you gave to look for recommendations on who you want to hire as a chiropractor. My doctor has asked that I see a chiropractor, so I can have my back put back into place after my car accident. I will be sure to ask for recommendations, so I can be confident in my choice to hire them.
I appreciate you stating that the easiest way to choose a qualified chiropractor is through a referral from another medical professional or from a friend. I got in a car accident a couple of months ago, and ever since have had really bad back pain, and want to go to a chiropractor. I will definitely utilize all of your great tips and information when looking for a suitable chiropractor.
I am really enjoying reading your well-written articles. It looks like you spend a lot of effort and time on your blog. I am looking forward to reading new articles. Keep up the good work.
My dad got into a car accident last week, and this caused a whiplash in his neck, which is why he’s currently looking for a chiropractor that may address this concern. Well, I also agree with you that he must see recommendations before opting for the right chiropractor. Although, I’m glad to learn that this type of professional will use various types of methods in curing the pain.
Thank you for explaining how to choose a good chiropractor. My husband’s back is not doing well right now, so we’ve been thinking about seeing a chiropractor. I’ll be sure to keep this in mind when we look.
Thank you for listing some questions that you can ask potential chiropractors. I’ve been wondering how I can find the best chiropractor to help with my shoulder pain. I’ll be sure to ask some of these questions before choosing.