Last week I hosted a dinner seminar for people with Stenosis, Neuropathy, Arthritis and Herniated Discs to teach them about the newest technology we have to treat these conditions WITHOUT dangerous medications and risky surgery - which far too many people become a victim of. A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine questioned why we do more spine surgeries NOT (almost 400,000) yet the success rate of these procedures is historically low (approximately 70%-90% FAIL). In the audience was a familiar face. It turned out to be a former patient of mine who I hadn't seen in many years. Her name was Cindy. At the end of the dinner workshop Cindy came up to me and said, "I have a question. If I come back in to see you - do I have to come FOREVER?" I smiled and said to Cindy, "Why would you say that?" And she responded by telling me that she always loved coming to the office, but that the reason she stopped coming is because she felt like she would need to come forever.
This is a COMMON MISCONCEPTION. Many people you will bump into will have that same concern, but it is inaccurate. The best way to answer this concern is to compare what we do here at OSR to a gym. If you've ever been to a gym there are three kinds of people who go: The first is the person who joins with 100% enthusiasm to really make a change in their life, however, when it comes to committing to going on a regular basis - they quickly realize they don't want that and drop out. The second person is the one goes for a period of time (maybe a few months) and achieves a level of success, but fades away because they achieved a result they wanted. This kind of member will usually go on this way for many years - stopping and returning. Each time they reach their goal they stop again. The third person is the person you see there every week without fail. They join the gym because they want a certain lifestyle and quality of life (looks, energy, athleticism) that only comes with long term commitment. They don't usually kill themselves when they are there - instead, they have a regular routing of 3-4 workouts per week. They like the way they feel and look so they maintain there fitness program for many years.
The same can be said of the patients we see in our office - some come in and quickly realize that they aren't interested in getting better - they are only interested in feeling better. They see that getting better and healing will take some time and commitment, but "It's not that bad," so they don't start.
The second type of patient is very interested in FIXING their problem. They see the results to their X-Rays and their examination and commit to correcting the problem. After they get the problem fixed they discharge from care and hopefully maintain their home stretching routing. This patient is LIKELY to come back in the future if and when their issues return. It takes a little while to get them back on track and when they feel better - they stop again. They achieved what they are looking for.
Finally, the last patient is the patient that uses our office to get well and STAY well. They are keen observers of where they were before they started with us and NEVER want to get back to that condition again. They see value in maintaining what they have achieved and usually stop in one or two times per month for a maintenance adjustment. They don't "have" to be here, they choose to. The good news is that NO ONE has to come forever - once we have gotten improvement it's easy to help you get better again.
Which on are you? No matter your answer - we are here to help.
