FAQ’s
Initial Consultation Faq’s
If you are in pain and need help we aim to get you booked in for your first consultation within 24 hours. We may have same day appointments so please call us when we open at 8.15 am on 01332 224820 to check availability as appointments are offered on a first call basis. If you would like for example a specific time (e.g. we work late 2 nights a week) then you may well need to wait a little while as a new consultation takes quite a bit longer than a standard treatment and the late appointments are very popular for everyone. Essentially the more flexible you are time wise for the first consultation the quicker we can get you seen.
Yes. However the main purpose of the initial consultation is to gather as much clinical information as possible about the cause(s) of your problems, so that the right treatment or course of action can be decided upon. If time permits (and if it’s appropriate) you will be be treated at this visit. If this is not the case, you will be given advice on how you can start to minimise the pain severity and you will be asked to return to start treatment within the next few days.
The fees for the initial consultation and treatment (if appropriate/time permitting)
- Adult £60
- Child (under 18) £40
You will need to set aside about an hour of your time for the initial consultation. You will be asked to come 15-20 minutes before your allotted consultation time in order to complete the necessary paperwork (consent, past medical history form, etc). The chiropractor will personally collect you from reception the take you to his consulting room for your 45 minute consultation.
Of course! You can bring anyone into the room for moral support having two sets of ears can be helpful too! Partners and friends will remember things that you may not, so feel free to bring someone along.
If you arrive by car we have ample, dedicated free parking. You will see the block paved parking spaces all located on one level, so you have easy access to the front door. All the spaces are located directly in front of the clinic itself. There are numerous light sensitive security lights on the exterior of the Chiropractic Clinic thereby giving you a sense of security and safety. This also has the bonus of providing clear lighting over the car park to further reduce any possibility of car crime.
WellBeing Clinics is located close to the A52, A38 and the Derby ring road, as well as being close to bus routes – how to find us. The train station is only a five minute taxi ride away for those who travel from further afield. Local taxi firms regularly drop patients off at the clinic and know the fastest routes to reach us. After your treatment, our staff will be happy to telephone a taxi if you wish. Of course this telephone call is complimentary.
Come in your normal clothes. If you do need to get changed, gowns will be provided. At the end of the initial consultation we will advise you whether you will need to change into a gown on subsequent visits or whether we will be able to treat you without having to get fully changed.
Yes. All the major insurance companies cover Chiropractic treatment. We will ask you to pay for your consultation and treatment as you go along and we will then provide a full receipt either hard copy or by email each time you come in (or at the end of a treatment episode if you prefer). You can then forward it to your insurance company for reimbursement.
Treatments Faq’s
Our experience allows us to give you an idea how many treatments you are likely to need to feel better and this will tell you how much your treatment is likely to cost. The fee’s for treatments are:
- Adult £39
- Child (under 18) £36
This is sometimes very easy to answer sometimes not so. Those of you with more recent problems on the whole settle far more quickly compared to those that have had problems for a long time, have had a number episodes over the years or have underlying health issues. Many factors affect how quickly you get better e.g:
- The older we are generally, the slower the healing time.
- Fitness – how much muscle strength and flexibility do you have? Do you need specific rehabilitation exercises for your problem?
- Do you have co-existing underlying arthritis or other health issues complicating your problem?
- What job you do i.e. what physical strains do you place upon the part that hurts? Do you sit all day on a computer or do you bend over in manual work?
Notwithstanding these variables we always try to give you an idea of how long (and therefore how much £) it is going to take for you to feel better. We will discuss with you whether we expect you to make a full recovery or, realistically whether you can expect to improve but always carry an element of your problem. This is important so that your expectations are discussed and understood.
Chiropractic care is covered by all the major medical insurance companies (not just the major players) and we can provide you with a receipt (hard copy or .pdf by email) for your treatment so that you can send a copy to your you medical insurance company for reimbursement.
Other Faq’s
Despite a growing body of research evidence that has demonstrated the effectiveness of Chiropractic (manual treatments) for the treatment of many mechanical pains, Chiropractic treatment is not widely available on the NHS. This is despite for instance – NICE (the National Institute of Clinical Evidence which recommends the best treatment methods to the NHS) recommending that manipulation as carried out by Chiropractors could be one of the treatment options for low back pain. Unfortunately a recommendation is not the same as a mandate.
It is quite true that Chiropractors are considered experts in treating bad backs and so a high percentage of patients that come to see us are suffering with pains in the neck, mid back and lower back regions. However, Chiropractors do far more than just ‘bad backs’. Chiropractors diagnose and treat all manner of aches and pains all over the body from head to toe e.g. Headaches, painful shoulders, elbow pains, sports injuries and arthritic pains.
If you are unsure if you should come to see us for your particular problem then why not give us a call on 01332 224820 and ask (with no obligation) to speak to one of the Chiropractors first. You can rest assured you will not feel pressurised into making an appointment by us, we promise to give you honest advice as to the best course of action.
No! This is probably the most common misconception about Chiropractic treatment. Chiropractors are trained in numerous different treatment techniques. The decision to use a specific technique or a group of techniques for a problem is dependent upon taking into account numerous factors such as:
- A persons age – Chiropractic is suitable for every age group – children to the centenarians
- Pain levels
- The nature of the problem
- The presence or absence of arthritic changes in an area
- Previous surgery in an area
- Medications you may be taking. Warfarin for instance could mean that you would bruise more easily and so deep massage techniques may not be appropriate. Long term steroid use for asthma or arthritic conditions could make your bones more brittle and so you may be better suited to specific mobilisation techniques
- Your personal preferences. If you do not want to have a specific treatment type e.g. manipulation (even if it would get you better faster) we can discuss what options you have from our repertoire of other techniques
Our aim is to get you better in the shortest period of time. For spines this often does involve manipulation techniques which can produce popping or clicking noises from the joints. For sporting injuries the treatment given may well be indistinguishable from an approach by a Sports Physiotherapist and involve deep tissue massage and rehabilitation exercises, both in the clinic and at home. We may decide to use our Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) – PBM Therapy machine which painlessly reduces:
- Pain
- Inflammation
- Swelling and
- Promotes tissue repair
The PBM Therapy machine may be used exclusively for a particular problem or as part of a package of care. It has the benefit that it and can be used anywhere from head to toe, but it is especially useful for treating joint, tendon and ligament problems.
Chiropractic treatment is suitable for patients from newborns to the very elderly. Our Chiropractors treat children right up to nonagenarians and pregnancy does not exclude you from it’s benefits. We have special equipment which means we can safely accommodate you and your ‘bump’. As you get bigger we will use different techniques based on what is most suitable for your body and problem.
You may have arthritic changes (many of us do!) but even so, it does not automatically mean that all the pain is solely due to any arthritis present.
- The arthritis could well be a Red Herring – the pain could be referred from another area and so not coming from your arthritis at all
- Other tissues around an arthritic joint e.g. tight/short/spasmed muscles around a stiff hip/back joint may be the cause and not the arthritis
- In most cases, when patients have been told ‘it’s arthritis’, we can find evidence of arthritis but in our opinion its only responsible for part of your pains. This means that if 40% of your pains are arthritic you could still potentially improve your pain and symptoms by up to 60%!
- Studies have shown a manual treatment approach combined with physical exercises can help reduce/manage the symptoms of arthritis to help you feel better
- Research shows that PBM Therapy can also be a very good way to help manage pain and symptoms that you get when you are arthritic.
We will be happy to discuss what will be your best course of action at your consultation after a thorough case history and examination. If we conclude that we are unable to help you, then will be honest with you about that and will discuss what your next course of action might be. You will not be advised to start treatment if we do not think we can help you.
Not all therapists have same levels of expertise and experience. Ask yourself this simple question, if your trusted local garage could not find that annoying fault with your car and fix it, would you then assume that all garages are the same and not take it to another garage? The simple answer to that is of course ‘no’ you would take it to another garage to get it looked at by a fresh pair of eyes. We can often help patients where others clinicians or approaches have failed. If for instance you have had manipulation / mobilisation/ exercises in the past and it did not yield the best results, we can also offer Photobiomodulation Therapy or PBM Therapy for short. As PBM Therapy treats you at the cellular level (inside out – not outside in treatment!) PBM Therapy can often provide results where other treatments have not. PBM Therapy can, at the cellular level:
- Treat pain
- Treat inflammation
- Treat swelling
- Promote tissue healing.
This can be achieved without touching you with our state of the art THOR LX2 PBM Therapy machines.
Chiropractic Vs Osteopathy
If you want to get bogged down in details about philosophies (and we say don’t bother going there!) there really isn’t enough difference to significantly separate the professions which may come as a surprise to you. Both professions have statutory regulation, both have similar training. There are urban myths about how Osteopaths work more on muscles and manipulate less and Chiropractors manipulate more and do less work with the muscles. In our opinion this is not the case. As for manipulative techniques, there are some differences but we feel they are just different ways of achieving the same result; who is to say which is best? There has never been any research into this.
Look, a great clinician treats you as an individual. After taking into account what he/she has learnt about your general health, the nature of your problem, what has been gleaned from a physical examination etc. etc. You deserve to receive a package of care that is tailored specifically to you. Our advice is don’t get hung up on which profession is right for your problem but go with the individual(s) and practice that inspires you the most.
Chiropractic Vs Physiotherapy
In comparison to a Physiotherapist, as a general rule physiotherapists do not use hands on manipulation to anything like the extent that Chiropractors do. Physiotherapy is often an exercise based treatment programme and to quote a physio I spoke to at a conference a while ago “physiotherapy is something you do, not something that is done to you” – and this probably epitomises the difference.
Chiropractors ‘do things to you’ and get you to do exercises in your own time, rather than go through sets of exercises as the predominant method of treatment in the clinic setting. Having said that of course there are physiotherapists who work very much like Chiropractors and vice versa.
The main thing to remember is if Osteopathy or Physiotherapy has not ‘worked for you’ then please do not assume that Chiropractic is just the same and will produce the same lack of results.
It may surprise you that up until graduation Chiropractors study many of the same subjects as your GP and spend thousands of hours studying. Ian has worked out he spent IRO of 6000 hours studying (lectures and self directed) for his degree but thinks it could have been a lot higher than this! As you would expect there are distinct differences in their core training and so scope of practice (what Chiropractors can do and what your GP cannot and vice versa).
