Sometimes a new patient comes in to the office and, in the course of our typical 20 minute conversation that we have before the physical exam starts, something will be said which raises an eyebrow.
In dealing with a patient, there can be “yellow flags” or “red flags“. A yellow flag is something that raises the level of concern about a case. A red flag is something which merits an immediate change in strategy.
An example of a yellow flag for a chiropractic patient with neck pain would be numbness in the arm or hand. It’s not a deal-breaker for chiropractic care. In fact, it’s right there on the list of things chiropractors can treat. It might be something “not that serious” such as a tight shoulder muscle, or it can be something more serious, like a disc bulge in the neck. It might be both!
Since the level of concern is increased a patient with a complaint about this numbness will be carefully interviewed and examined and might be sent for imaging (X-ray or MRI). In most cases the presence of numbness doesn’t mean a chiropractic neck adjustment can’t help.
At Park Bench we have seen hundreds (thousands?) of neck pain clients, and there has been countless examples of a neck adjustment helping reduce numbness or tingling in the hands or arms.
An example of a red flag is if the patient says that part of their face is numb and they have the worst headache ever, and that it feels different that any other headache they’ve ever had. This represents a possibility the person is having a stroke. It might just be a migraine, but this means that the interview and exam must be tailored to tell the difference between a stroke and a migraine. The likelihood of imaging, or a 911 call, is much higher than a typical neck pain or headache patient. Saying things like “worst headache ever”, “different headache than ever before”, or “my face is numb on one side” are all things which should create immediate concern in any healthcare provider.
It’s usually not something scary.
There are much more benign things which would lead us to tell a patient that chiropractic isn’t what they need. Maybe we have adjusted you gently, adjusted you less gently, adjusted you aggressively, performed myofascial stretch and trigger point therapy on you, given you home exercises, and talked to you about posture and nutrition and you still aren’t improving.
In cases like this we have that conversation with the person about progress and other options. We aren’t against sending you back to your Primary Doctor, sending you to a local Physical Therapist, referring you to a Massage Therapist or Acupuncturist, or sending you to an orthopedic consult or Pain Management specialist. We want to see you get better, whether it is due to our efforts or someone else’s.
It’s not uncommon for a person during their first appointment to start off with something like “I’m not sure if this is the right place to start…”, letting us know that they aren’t really sure that chiropractic is the place to start. Sometimes it is a concern about bone density – a very smart thing to wonder about if you are a female over 40 years of age. Sometimes you know from prior imaging that you have degenerative or bulged discs. We treat those cases all the time and we know when it’s OK and when it’s not OK to adjust. Still, we like educated and informed patients and we apreciate it when our patients give us a “heads up” about their pre-existing conditions and their concerns about safety.
We get it. If chiropractic isn’t the answer to your problem, we will be the first to tell you that.
Sometimes the best chiropractor isn’t the one who knows what bone to adjust, it’s the one that knows what bone NOT to adjust.
If you’re looking for a chiropractor in Frederick, then give us a call or send us an email. We take most insurance plans and we have reasonable self-pay (cash) rates.