A Typical Chiropractic Visit with Dr. Himmel

A Typical Chiropractic Visit with Dr. Himmel

I routinely spend up to 45 minutes (and sometimes more) with my patients.  It's a decision I made a very long time ago, that I wasn't going to short change or sacrifice patient care for the purpose of cramming as many patients as possible into the day.  Yes, the more patients that get on my table, the more money I make.  But, its not about the money.  Patients come to me for help.  They are hurting.  Honestly, I never figured out a way to make a quality adjustment on a patient's spine, and make them feel better, in three minutes or less, like other chiropractors like to do.  

Everything takes time:

When a patient walks in, it could take up to 10 minutes just to listen and evaluate the patient's complaints.   I have to know if there was improvement since the last visit, or there are new issues, or the condition is getting worse.  All my visits consist of at least a basic exam to see whats going on since last visit. Sometimes the patient's subjective complaints involve a mental component, which complicates things and oftentimes, outright prevents the healing process from commencing.  The patient is his own worst enemy.  This is a different topic for a different blog post.

Therapies, if necessary are timed.  They usually last up to 15 minutes.  I do all the therapies myself with the patient.  I have no helpers or chiropractic assistants.  I have never met a patient that would rather have an assistant apply therapies.  They would rather have the doctor do it.  

An adjustment takes a careful approach.  It's not just "rack-em and crack-em."  There is an analysis to my adjustments.  Its important to know where to adjust, but it's even more important to know where not to adjust.

Then there are exercises and special stretches that I sometimes do with patients.  In my opinion, this makes a huge difference in the patient's recovery.

Professionally yours,

Alan Himmel, DC, PA