Your first visit
What actually happens when you walk in.
Most people want to know this before they will take a single step through the door, which is fair enough. Here is the whole of a first visit, in order, with nothing left to find out when you arrive.
You will not be treated on day one
The first visit is for working out what is going on. Nothing gets decided before anyone has examined you.
You do not need a diagnosis first
“My back hurts and I do not know why” is a perfectly good reason to come in. Working out the why is the job.
We will tell you if we cannot help
Sometimes the honest answer after a consultation is that this is not the right place. You will be told that rather than booked in anyway.
Before anything else
Nobody here is going to rush you.
If you have never seen a chiropractor, you probably arrive with a set of ideas about what one does — some of them right, some of them from television. The first visit exists to replace that with what is actually true about your back, your neck, or whatever brought you in.
Either Dr. Morgan or Dr. Chowning may see you. Both work the same way.
In order
Four stages, across two visits.
The first visit works out what is going on. The second explains it and sets out what happens next. You are not asked to commit to anything in between.
We do not accept patients for care we do not believe we can help with. That is worth saying plainly, because it is the reason the consultation comes before everything else.
01
Consultation
You sit down and talk. How it started, what it feels like, what you have already tried, and what worked even if only for a while. This is the part that decides everything after it, so it is not rushed.
02
Examination
If it sounds like something chiropractic care can help, an examination follows — range of motion, then chiropractic, orthopedic and neurological testing. If it does not sound like that, you get told so at the end of the consultation instead.
03
X-rays, if they are warranted
Not everyone needs them and not every condition calls for them. It is decided case by case, and the reason will be explained to you before anything is taken.
04
Report of findings
A second visit, where the results get gone through properly: what was found, what it means, and what can realistically be done about it. Costs are covered at this point too, so you know before you decide anything.
Bring with you
What to have on hand.
- Insurance card and driver’s license
- A list of the medications you take
- Previous medical records, if you have them
- Previous x-rays or MRIs
Paperwork depends on the kind of visit, so it is not on the website. Once we know what brings you in, the office emails you the forms that fit.
Coming after a wreck?
There is a little more to bring.
Auto accident visits involve paperwork that ordinary visits do not — claim numbers, adjusters, accident reports. There is a full list on the auto accident page, and our staff deal with this every week.
Book the first visit.
Call and describe what is bothering you. If it sounds like something we can help with, we will get you in; if it does not, we will tell you that on the phone rather than waste your afternoon.