How often should you see a chiropractor?
When you visit your chiropractor for the first time, you may be one of the many people who ask, “How often should I come?” Often, the answer people want to hear is “once,” but chiropractic care—like most things that are truly good for us—rarely makes a lasting difference to your health and well-being after just one visit.
One of the reasons why a single visit to your chiropractor might not bring about long-term change is that it usually takes years for the problem to develop before someone visits a chiropractor for the first time, and it may take many visits to the chiropractor to correct that problem.
Going to your chiropractor is a bit like going to the gym. It takes time, consistency, and ongoing care.
One way to explain it is that it can be like the thousandth drop that makes the bucket overflow. A problem can build up day after day as you sit hunched over your desk, or bend and twist when you lift things, or get tense as you deal with your daily stress—and then one day, you bend down to tie your shoelaces, and suddenly something hurts! You can be sure that tying your shoelaces isn’t the cause of the problem, but simply the thousandth drop that made the bucket overflow (or was too much for your back), and that’s why you’re in pain.
Usually, there are changes in the way the supporting muscles in your spine function, which build up over time until your muscles can no longer cope and symptoms appear. (1-2) So visiting your chiropractor can be a bit like going to the gym. It takes time, consistency, and maintenance. We work with you to correct the problem and help your brain and the muscles in your spine communicate—or “talk”—to each other again, so you can regain the stability you need to function properly and resolve your pain symptoms. (3)
But how long does this take, and how often should you see your chiropractor? Everyone is different, so your chiropractor will base his recommendations for a treatment plan on his clinical experience and your goals.
U.S. research
A new study was recently published suggesting that, in the early stages of chiropractic care, the more frequently you receive treatment, the better the results—and this may also be better for you in the long run. (4)
In this study, conducted by researchers in the United States, the researchers examined 256 people who suffered from chronic, frequent headaches and divided them into groups that received chiropractic care either once a week, twice a week, or three times a week for up to six weeks, or received no chiropractic care at all and instead received light massages during the same six-week period. Previous studies have shown that people with this type of headache often respond well to chiropractic care.
The researchers in this study were primarily interested in determining how many visits to the chiropractor per week yielded the best results. They looked at the number of days per week that a patient experienced headaches at the end of the study and whether the changes in headache frequency between the groups were still present one year later. What they found was that the patients who were seen most regularly by their chiropractor—that is, up to three times a week—had fewer headaches than those who were seen once or twice a week, and they fared much better than the patients who received no chiropractic care at all.
In fact, after one year, the patients who were seen three times a week had more than three times fewer headaches per month compared to the patients who received only a light massage. These effects were therefore clearly sustained.
The more you adapt, the better the results will be.
This study was conducted on people with chronic headaches, so we cannot be certain whether the same differences occur in people with other conditions who see a chiropractor. A similar study of patients with chronic low back pain found that people who received adjustments more frequently had the best outcomes, but the results were not as clear-cut as those from the study of patients with headaches. (5)
The studies suggest that seeing a chiropractor more frequently when you first start treatment has real, beneficial long-term effects on how your spine and nervous system function, but the extent of the benefits may depend on what is wrong with your spine when you first start treatment.
So, when you visit your chiropractor, keep in mind that his recommendations for your care plan are based on what his clinical experience tells him is best for you, and that research suggests that more frequent adjustments have the greatest positive impact on your health and well-being.
References
1. Hodges & Moseley. J Electromyogr Kinesiol 2003;13(4):361-70.
2. MacDonald et al. Pain 2009;142(3):183-8.
3. Ferreira et al. Manual Therapy 2007;12(3):240-48.
4. Haas et al. Spine J 2018. 18(10): 1741-1754.
5. Haas et al. Spine J 2014;14(7):1106-16.
Acknowledgments
· Dr. Heidi Haavik - B.S. (Physiology), B.S. (Chiropractic), Ph.D.
· Dr. Kelly Holt - BSc, BSc(Chiro), PGDipHSc, PhD
· Dr. Jenna Duehr - BChiro, BHSC (Nursing), MHSc
