Top 6 Functions We Look For in New Patients

I wanted to share with you our medical model; what we look at on every visit with every patient. Learn what these top 6 things are in the videos below.

Joint Mobility

The first thing we look at is active and passive ranges of motion. It is so important for us to focus on the mobility of the injury that you're having. If something is restricted, we want to free it up. If it is hypermobile, we want to tighten that thing up. Joint mobility is all about restoring the viscoelastic properties, or the properties to that specific joint and just allowing that joint to work with freedom, with less irritation, and less friction; less rubbing down in through there on those joints.

Muscular Function

After assessing joint mobility we then focus on muscle function and we look for muscles that have been damaged are to tight or to loose. We want to see if there is anything impairing joint and muscle mobility whether its a nerve or due to inflammation.

Neurological Function

So far we’ve mentioned active and passive ranges of motion, which are so important to restoring mobility. The importance of restoring those muscle functions and to really address anything that might be impeding that muscle function, such as the neurology. Neurology is crucial to being a chiropractor, and it controls and coordinates everything in your body.  If your nerves are jacked up, nothing is gonna work right. So, it’s crazy important for us to make sure that the neurology is really dialed in and that your nerves are affecting those muscles and those joints most appropriately. 

Histological Response

Any time there is trauma, things are gonna swell up, things are gonna get red and inflamed, and all of that is know as histological responses to an injury.   We want to really control that and really try to get that out of there. We want to get rid of anything that is inflamed and swollen, we want to dial down and edematous processes going on to really just help to restore the normal mobilities and function of that joint.

Pathophysiological Changes

I want to talk about today are pathophysiological changes that are happening because of chronic or acute cases. Have you ever known someone that had degenerative changes in an area because of old stuff that had been going on?  That’s what we’re talking about. Whatever is going on in your body, whether you fall and hurt yourself, you’re going to start walking differently and that’s going to lead to other problems.  So we want to look at the body as a whole. What is happening to you in your knee, or your pelvis, or your spine, and how is that affecting your shoulder, or your neck, or now I’m having headaches?  So, we just want to look at the body as a whole and see how everything is working together. 

The Somatosensory System 

The last thing in our medical model that we really want to address, and we really want to do a good job with, is what is called the somatosensory system.  Now that is the ability for your brain and your body to coordinate movements. It’s where your body and your brain know where things are without, you know, your eyes being involved.   Umm, you talk about balance with patients; how important their balance is. That’s the somatosensory system.

People who come in with injuries, chronic or old, we want to, at the end of treatment we really want to get them dialed in to where they are using their body more efficiently, more effectively, and with this newfound freedom of movement so that they can go out and do things in the that they were not able to do before the injury.