Do I need treatment forever?

Do I need treatment forever?

This is probably the #1 question I get asked in the clinic. The very simple answer is no, nobody needs treatment forever. 

Many patients arrive with a fresh injury, feel better after 6 weeks of treatment, and just return when something else hurts. For a lot of people, this is perfect, and it’s often what I recommend. 

With that said, there are situations where a monthly maintenance treatment will have a ton of value for a patient.

Who might benefit from maintenance care?

The first example that springs to mind is a patient of mine in Kanata. I had seen this patient a handful of times for acute episodes of mild low back pain over the course of several years. They always improved after a short treatment plan, and then I wouldn’t see them again until something started to hurt.

After this patient had their first child, they called me up and said their upper back was constantly stiff and in nagging pain (this is a super common complaint amongst new moms!). We booked a chiropractic appointment, I met their super cute little baby boy, and in our assessment we found that mom was tight and stiff throughout her upper back, shoulders and neck.

We addressed the factors influencing her pain.

In our discussion, we identified that she was more sore after prolonged breastfeeding sessions and on days with worse sleep. As part of her treatment plan, we went over the various factors that were influencing her pain including sleep, movement, muscle tension and posture. 

We even discussed sleep hygiene and came up with a few ideas she could try (but let's be real, the baby is the one in charge when it comes to those first few months of sleep). 

This patient had multiple stiff upper back joints, sore muscles throughout her neck and shoulders, and simple movements like checking her blindspot were sore due to the tension in her shoulders and neck. She responded super quickly to a few sessions of chiropractic treatment consisting of upper back adjustments and soft tissue therapy, and she was very diligent with her exercises and stretches and it really paid off. 

The value of maintenance appointments is maintaining function!

This patient was still breastfeeding and still having lousy sleeps that were creating stiffness in her upper back. She noticed that around 5 weeks after our last session, some of her symptoms came creeping back. She was still exercising as best she could and still stretching, but many of the aggravating factors in her life could not be changed.

This patient’s situation was a great example of when maintenance care can provide a ton of value. Together we discussed some options to move forward, and decided to trial a monthly chiro appointment to keep her joints and muscles functioning well.

We had an appointment every 4 weeks and in this appointment we would adjust the stiff upper back joints, use soft tissue therapy to alleviate the tension in her neck and shoulders, and discuss ways she could slowly incorporate more of her normal movements and activities into her life now that she was starting to get more comfortable with mom-life.

This approach was a huge success for this patient. She was less sore from breastfeeding, able to get back into hockey without discomfort, and has since returned to her deskjob full-time with minimal pain.

She saw a ton of value in these maintenance appointments, and despite no longer breastfeeding, she does get tight and tense working at a desk so she likes to keep an appointment every 6 weeks, just to keep herself moving and accountable to her own health.

I hope that was helpful in answering the question “Do I need treatment forever?”.

To recap, the simple answer is no, nobody needs treatment forever. Oftentimes, once an acute injury is healed (usually 6-12 weeks), patients never even have to think about it again.

However, many patients get a ton of value from a monthly maintenance treatment to help improve function of their spine and joints (especially when their are factors in their life that can’t easily be controlled such as occupation, family, stress, etc), and they find it is a convenient way to improve their wellness and avoid many of the aches and pains of their day-to-day life.