The aim of your first appointment with a Chiropractor is to investigate any problems or pain you may be suffering from, establishing what caused it and what the diagnosis is and explaining the findings in a way you can understand.  If appropriate, we will also start your treatment programme on this appointment.

When you attend Shifnal Chiropractic Clinic for the first time, you will be asked to fill out a form with some of your personal details, including previous medical history, occupation and any pain or other complaint that has brought you to our clinic.  All information will be kept completely confidential and will never be passed on to a third party for any purpose.

Once you have done this, your Chiropractor will then spend around 20 minutes with you discussing what has brought you to our clinic at this time.  If you are suffering from a painful complaint, then questions may include the character and duration of the pain, things that make it worse, things that make it better and whether you have ever experienced anything like it in the past.  Your Chiropractor will also take you through your general medical history, to make sure that no other problems you have had in the past or are currently experiencing are affecting your overall health, or are indicative of some other disease process being present.

Having covered all of this information, we move on to the physical examination.  While this is primarily focussed around your area of complaint, here at Shifnal Chiropractic we believe we have a responsibility as primary healthcare practitioners to ensure your overall health is good.  To this end, your Chiropractor may choose to perform examinations such as taking your blood pressure and listening to your lungs to ensure everything is well.  A thorough Chiropractic examination of the muscles and joints in the area where you are experiencing pain will then be performed, as well as checking the overall movement, nerve function and investigating any other areas which could be causing you pain or discomfort.

Your Chiropractor will then take you through the results and what they mean, carefully explaining it all so that you are completely confident you understand what has happened to cause your pain, and what can be done both by yourself and by the Chiropractor to improve your situation.  Once you have confirmed that you are happy with the diagnosis and treatment plan, your Chiropractor will be able to begin taking care of your complaint, usually through a combination of Chiropractic adjustments, massage and advice regarding factors such as posture or stretching.

Finally, an appointment will be arranged for a time that suits you, so that your follow-up care can begin.  In most situations, this subsequent visit will take place within a week of your first appointment.