Edina Chiropractor

When you have your initial consultation with us, one of our doctors will sit down with you and discuss your past medical and family health history so that we can gather important clues as to what might be contributing to your condition. We will then move on to discussing your specific complaints and the impact that those complaints are having on you and your life activities. It is also critical, at this time, to identify your specific health and life goals because any treatment plan that we develop must encompass those goals.

We will then move on to performing a thorough physical examination. We will check your vital signs such as height, weight, body composition, blood pressure, heart rate, and rhythm. We will evaluate your posture using cutting edge posture analysis software. We will assess the movement of your spine and extremity joints, both generally and also very specifically looking for particular misalignments or malfunctioning joints. If necessary, we will do specific orthopedic tests to determine if you have joint damage and we will do specific neurological (nerve) tests to look for any negative impact on your nervous system.

At Chiropractic Health & Wellness we also specialize in Applied Kinesiology, a system of analysis that uses muscle testing to determine the source of problems in the body. As part of your initial visit we will do a full-body muscle testing analysis to look for imbalances, weaknesses and hidden problems.

If we see that you have postural/structural issues, abnormal spinal function, or have had a history of trauma or accidents, we will likely take spinal x-rays. We are very precise in our radiological procedures and have the latest digital x-ray equipment. We are interested in identifying not only pathology (disease processes), but also the existence of any damage, changes or congenital (from birth) abnormalities. We have a strong structural emphasis in our practice and therefore x-rays are an essential tool to identify key postural/structural issues that might influence your treatment program.

Once we have had a chance to study all of the information gathered in the consultation and examination we will have a meeting with you called a “report of findings” during which we do just that, report to you on what we found both through the examination and any x-rays we may have taken. We discuss with you exactly what we have found and whether or not we feel we can help you. If, for whatever reason, we do not feel we can help you, or we feel that other diagnostic work should be done, we will make appropriate referrals to other healthcare providers. During this report of findings, we will also clearly discuss your goals and how the various treatment options will help you achieve those goals.

Our treatment plans generally fall into four categories. The first category is what we call “pain relief”. Pain relief programs are designed to alleviate pain, and reduce muscle spasm and inflammation. Most people will achieve this goal within 30 to 60 days. The 2nd category is called “functional care”. Functional care plans are designed to go further than simply alleviating symptoms and seek to restore as much function to joints and associated soft tissue as possible. Functional plans generally range in duration from 2 to 3 months. The 3rd category is called “structural correction”. Structural correction plans seek to accomplish what the previous 2 plans did, plus they address the particular structural/postural issues identified on physical exam and x-ray.

Once a person achieves either pain relief or functional or structural correction our goal shifts to “wellness/maintenance” care. The goal of such care is to help a person maintain a high level of function and health throughout their life.

With over 30 years of experience, our Chiropractors deliver each of our patients a unique treatment plan that is dedicated to improving lifelong health rather than merely alleviating symptoms.