I am often asked, “Doc, how long do I have to come see you?”

My initial response is usually, “Well, you don’t have to come see me at all, you should be coming to see me of your own free will...if you’re asking me how long should you come see me in order to get well, that depends on what you want me to help you accomplish.”

Often patients are not aware of what the possibilities are. We have been programmed for years by the medical community that if we don't have symptoms, we’re healthy. However, lack of symptoms doe s not equal health. Most often, nothing could be further from the truth!

It is well known in medical and scientific circles that most cancers develop undetected over many years. We’ve also all known people who were ‘in their prime,” drop dead of a heart attack. So...lack of symptoms is not synonymous with health.

Symptoms are merely an indication that the body is so out of balance that it can no longer adapt or compensate.

Medicine today is focused on treating symptoms because they are operating under the false premise that lack of symptoms equals health. This is not to say that medicine does not have its place in the health care continuum, medicine saves lives every day.

The key is to understand that symptoms are an indication that the systems of the body have somehow fallen out of communication with each other.

The body is an intricate network of systems continuously communicating via the nervous system and the hormones in order to maintain optimal balance of the entire body. This ensures survival.

If, for some reason, it is not able to adapt to a certain set of stressors, it will compensate. It’s the process of compensation upon compensation that ultimately leads to some symptom.

A symptom is usually, (unless trauma induced) an indication that the body has lost the ability to compensate. Many of you have experienced the phenomena that your symptoms are not where the problem is as I adjusted one part of your body and a pain somewhere else disappeared.

At Hilgartner Chiropractic we pride ourselves on being “Systems Doctors” rather than “Symptoms Doctors.” This means we are looking for the subtle postural, neurobiological, energetic and biochemical changes that are the result of compensation. Once identified, we work to bring the body back into balance. When this is done, the symptoms are usually long gone.

With this understanding, let’s talk about the question, “Doc, how long should I be seen?”

Again, this depends on what you want to accomplish. If you had a burning house, what would be the order of priority? First, put out the fire. Second, repair and rebuild the damage. Third, maintain the house and prevent future fires. The same order of priority exists for your body.

When you present with pain or symptoms, this is the burning house stage. The objective is to simply put out the fire. This takes immediate, intense and focused effort. This is known as the Acute Phase of Care. It can typically last from 3-8 weeks of frequent visits.

Next we have to repair the house. This is obviously known as the Repair Phase; the emergency is over, but there is still a sense of urgency. The Repair Phase can last 3-12 months and the frequency is less. Consistency now becomes the key. Remember the Tortoise and the Hare story? This is the phase where steady, determined consistency wins the day. The tissues that were stressed take time to rebuild and heal. Repair and rebuilding take time.

The final phase of care is aptly called the Maintenance and Prevention Phase. The idea here is to maintain the gains made during the first two phases and prevent the occurrence of another problem. How long does this phase last? How long do you want to keep yourself in peak form?

Think of it this way. How would you maintain your car or your house if I told you that (1) it has to last your entire life, (2) there are no spare parts, and (3) you can’t move out or trade it in? How would you take care of them? Probably a lot better than you do your body. Isn’t that little backward?

It’s human nature. We put more value on our man-made possessions than on our God-given gift, our body. This is the vehicle He gave us to go through life with. How well it works is up to us. Symptoms and disease are usually an indication of neglect. Disease doesn’t ‘just happen.’ We simply don’t take the steps to prevent it.

Remember, whether we are talking about posture or biochemistry, we can correct most bodies in 18-24 months, unless you have a really involved history. Some will take longer. There is no such thing as an unrealistic health goal, only unrealistic timelines!

At Hilgartner Chiropractic our goal is to coach and educate you on what you need to do to ensure continuous improvement and preventive maintenance of your body.

We know that because we are all human, you will always need us if your goal is optimal health. We just want you to need us less and less.

The ideal scenario for you would be: to eat properly to maintain your unique optimal physiology; exercise 5 days a week; meditate or pray 10 minutes a day to center the mind and keep optimistic; get enough sleep to rebuild your body; be in a fulfilling job with fulfilling relationships; and get adjusted a minimum of once a month for life.

I get adjusted a minimum of 3 times a month. Remember, the central nervous system runs every other system in the body. The less tension and interference there is on the nerve pathways, the more optimally the vital life force is able to flow and the better the whole body works. Of course, supplements, food, exercise, meditation, rest, joy and an optimistic outlook are also part of the equation!

I hope I’ve clarified this topic for some who still had some confusion about it.

Be well and live well!

In Health,

Dr. Pete