FAQs

On the surface, this is a reasonable and common question from people who have only experienced pharmaceutical-driven medical care. Whole person health care, however, approaches “conditions” from the “what is missing/what is excessive” framework. At River City Chiropractic, we believe the human body’s natural state is optimal fitness and function. Regardless of the condition that motivated your search for guidance, improving one’s diet, exercise, and mindset will always improve one’s health and modulate, if not eliminate, pain and symptoms!

Doctors of Chiropractic complete undergraduate studies with an emphasis on the hard sciences and four additional years of chiropractic-specific studies, including outpatient clinical rounds at a Chiropractic College. Additionally, they must pass four separate national board tests and state-specific testing. An additional 24 hours of advanced post-graduation coursework is required annually to maintain one’s license in California.

Typically, treatments are relatively quick, but this depends on the severity of the patient’s condition, age, and ability to ambulate. One’s initial consultation and evaluation are obviously the longest, and the more thorough and detailed your doctor is, the longer that visit will take; something to consider when choosing the right doctor for you and your family.

Any service’s costs depend on one’s goals, and health care is no different. Clarification surrounding one’s short-term, mid-term, and long-term health goals should always be at the forefront of any healthcare regimen. Short-term is typically pain or disability control. Mid-term generally involves a stabilization process accomplished by modifying one’s lifestyle. Long-term care is focused on optimizing daily habits to maximize the fitness and function of one’s body. Each stage of care will be thoroughly discussed so that patients can set their own goals and make proper agreements and expectations surrounding their budgets of time, effort, and financial commitments.

This all starts with a very clear understanding of where one’s health status sits right now, Short-cutting your initial evaluation due to time and or cost will only cost you more in both later.

This is perhaps the most common question asked and the most complicated one to answer. The reality is the medical establishment, which includes insurance companies, is largely dependent on the pharmaceutical industry; alternative care takes a back seat. As more people seek non-drug, non-surgical approaches to health challenges, insurance companies must include “alternative treatments.” Sadly, these are heavily restricted by a number of visits per episode or capped at a total per year, and testing is strongly discouraged. At River City Chiropractic, we work for our patients not some corporate insurance plan, so we have developed “Health Care Made Affordable” plans for those out of network, underinsured, or uninsured. We will never let some corporate claims adjuster dictate the tests or care we recommend. To be frank, we wonder why any doctor ever would.

To get the best outcomes, one needs the best treatment. To receive the best treatment, one needs the best testing. To get the best testing, you need a doctor who doesn’t cut corners because of time constraints or insurance restrictions. At River City Chiropractic, we work with our patients, not simply on our patients; our approach is a “do it with you,” not a “do it to you” approach; this includes in-clinic care and specific home care for self-empowered patients! Many of our patients continue to attend workshops throughout the year to learn how to optimize their health and their family’s health!

During the profession’s early years, the medical and pharmaceutical industries attempted to eliminate the practice of Chiropractic. As a reaction, many Chiropractors divided into “technique camps” dedicated to a specific “guru.” Modern Chiropractors are now trained in a diverse approach to optimize care. Our Chiropractors are experts in the techniques that range from the traditional adjustive arts that patients call “popping and cracking” to low-force instrument-assisted adjustive arts. At River City Chiropractic, our Chiropractors use the proper techniques for the right reasons and for the right area each visit!

At River City Chiropractic, the same tests that revealed the sources and magnitude of your condition on one’s first visit are repeated at specific “milestones” to indicate progress and empower optimum self-care for complete health independence! Our experience with thousands of patients suggests that retesting is rarely, if ever, done at other clinics.

Let’s face it: ALL medical treatments have risks—even over-the-counter self-medication results in thousands of emergency room visits each year. Comparatively, chiropractic care has been proven to present negligible risks, even compared to over-the-counter medication! The most commonly reported side effect is soreness at the place of treatment, which often is the area of original complaints.

The short answer is “of course”. The more complete answer is that if your medical doctor truly believed that chiropractic care was safer and at least as effective as drugs and surgery, they would likely take the time to learn how to perform chiropractic care. Our Chiropractors could have chosen to go to medical school but believe that non-drug, non-surgical approaches should be exhausted before turning to those side-effect-ridden approaches.

Your doctor will take a detailed history of your current health status, personal health goals, and expectations of care. This process begins with your initial paperwork, which can be sent to you before you come into the clinic, saving you time! After your consultation, the amazing discovery process begins; our patients have commented that the examination process is the most thorough and revealing process they have ever experienced! All told, this can take between 45 minutes and 60 minutes.

We jokingly tell our patients, “Come dressed like you are going through TSA at the airport!” Seriously, come in close-fitting but comfortable clothing, minimal, if not no, jewelry, and layers that are easy to remove on chilly days.

Any paperwork forwarded to you will definitely make your first visit more comfortable and convenient. A complete list of current medications for any conditions you may be experiencing. Any diagnostic images (X-rays, MRIs, or CT scans) that you have had of your spine in the last 10 years. All of these will assist you and your chiropractor set reasonable agreements and expectations to help you reach your personal health goals!

The short answer is “Yes”. Spinal degeneration and dysfunction are leading causes of disability, lost work, and drug use, including addictive opioids. Most rational persons get their teeth examined on a regular basis, including updated X-rays to detect early decay; why not their spinal cords armor their spine?

Degeneration is not “normal aging.” If it were, ALL levels would decay simultaneously and at the same rate, but this is rarely the case. Undetected degenerative changes that don’t produce pain in the early stages are the root cause of one’s “back going out for no apparent reason,” including spontaneous disc herniations!

Over our 30+ years of clinical experience, we are seeing degenerative changes in younger and younger persons, so we recommend updated spinal X-rays every 5 to 7 years for those older than 18.

While many offices do this because they perform minimal testing, if any at all. At River City Chiropractic, we take the assessment and care of our patient’s spine and nervous system very seriously. Our examination process is detailed and extensive, so our Chiropractors want to take the proper time to make clinical decisions about what, where, when, and how to adjust you before rendering any conclusions or treatments. Obviously, if one is in a severe crisis, we will do everything safe and effective to lessen that pain on that visit.