The American Chiropractor Volume 36, Issue 6 | Page 40

FEATURE

Once You Go,
You Have To Go For
The Rest OfYour Life
By Miles Bodzin, DC
Ou 've all heard someone say, "Once you go to a chiropractor, you have to go for the rest of your life." And it's
not usually said as a compliment. When chiropractors
hear this, they immediately get defensive and attempt to educate
the person as to why people need to continue chiropractic care.

Y

We 've invented all kinds of clever analogies to get the patient
to understand. We say things such as, "You know, it's like going
to the gym. It takes time to make a change." There's also, "It's
like getting braces on your teeth. It takes time. " Another that
I often hear is, "It's like a broken bone. It takes time to heal. "
There are many ways to talk about it and attempt to educate
someone about why chiropractic takes time.
Even with all of these great analogies, we often feel disgusted
that we have to somehow even deal with this negative comment. Since chiropractors like to get to the cause of things, I'd
like to talk about why people even have this thought. Where
does it come from?
What actually causes people to think, "Once you go to a
chiropractor, you have to go for the rest of your life"?
Some of you probably assume it comes from doctors who
tell patients they need care for the rest oftheir lives. Sure, there
are doctors who tell their patients that. However, these patients
don't usually think of it in a negative sense; it's usually a pretty
positive one. These doctors usually take the time to educate
patients over a long period about why they need ongoing care.
So where does this negative sentiment come from? I believe
the cause of the negative tone is a result of patients not being
told by their chiropractors that there 's going to be an end to
their care plan. Think about it. If a doctor says to a patient at a
report of findings, "Let's take care of you for a month, then I
will reevaluate you and let you know how you're doing," then
it seems acceptable to the patient. I refer to this as an openended treatment plan.
The patient starts care without knowing how long it will take
and a few weeks pass. It's time for the chiropractor to do the
first reexam. At its conclusion, what does the doctor say the
patient needs? "Mrs. Jones, you still need more care." At this
point, some patients drop out because they ' re out of pain. Let's
assume that Mrs. Jones continues with care, though.
36 I The American Chiropractor I JUNE 2014

HANG

IN
THERE

Another month passes and the chiropractor does a second
reexam. What is Mrs. Jones told again? "More care is needed. "
By the way, it doesn't matter how many visits are provided
between the reexams and further recommendation for more
care. It's the fact that at each progress exam the doctor tells
the patient that he or she needs more care.
What do patients start to do? They form their own opinions!
I know, that seems crazy, but they actually start to think, "This
is going on forever. Every time I am evaluated, the doctor just
tells me I need more care. Damn, they were right. It's true ; this
chiropractor just wants to keep me coming back."
This also happens if the doctor fails to do reexams at all.
Patients need to know if they ' re making progress toward a
goal. Even if you tell them in the report of findings how long
care will take, if you don' t do reexams or fail to effectively
communicate the progress being made, the same thing happens.
Understand that the patient can start forming this negative
opinion very quickly. It's not that the patient has had months
and months of care. It's the fact that the doctor never told the
patient that the care plan would end, and in order to do that, the
doctor needs to tell the patient how long the treatment plan will
take. I refer to this as the closed-ended treatment plan. Once the
treatment plan ends, the patient transitions to a wellness plan.
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