When you go to the chiropractor, you won’t get a cookie cutter approach to treatment. Chiropractors treat each client as an individual, providing a unique treatment plan that targets the specific issues that client has. Different patients may have some of the same types of adjustments as part of their treatment plans, but each overall plan looks different due to the differences in each patient’s situation. The following are some tests a chiropractor may conduct.
Flexibility Tests
Your chiropractor may have you bend and move in various ways so he or she can watch how your body moves and get an idea of how flexible you are. Perhaps the left side of your body is more agile than your right, or you can’t turn your head as far one way as you can the other. All of these movements will give the chiropractor an idea of what you are dealing with.
Posture Assessment
Whether the patient is sitting down or standing up, a chiropractor can look at his or her posture. Many patients experience subluxation due to poor posture. It leads to muscle pain, joint pain, minor misalignments, and serious subluxation. As a chiropractor looks at your posture, he or she can pinpoint some areas that need to be realigned.
Measurements
Some balance and pain issues are due to discrepancies in length. For example, one leg could be longer than the other leg, which could cause serious pain in the hips, knees, back, and neck. With proper measurements, the chiropractor can determine how to adjust the pelvis so balance is brought back to the body.
Strength Tests
The chiropractor may perform a variety of strength tests. This could include grip tests in which you grab hold of various objects and the chiropractor tries to pull them out of your grasp. He or she may have you push against an object to see how far you can move it. The chiropractor may have you pick up heavy objects using correct form with your legs and back to see if you have that strength.
Other Tests
After the chiropractor has performed these and other types of assessments, he or she could have an idea of how to treat your issue. If there are still questions, the chiropractor may suggest an MRI, x-ray, urinalysis, blood test, or other type of lab tests that could help.
Contacting a Chiropractor Today
If you’re worried about what your first assessment will include, it’s best to get in touch with the professional. Contact a chiropractor, like a chiropractor in Silver Spring, MD, today to learn more.
Thanks to AmeriWell Clinics for their insight into some of the tests chiropractors use to determine what kind of treatment he or she should use on a patient.