r/Chiropractic

As the title says, I’m attending school in Iowa soon and I’m very excited! For those of you who have gone or are still going to school there, what can you tell me about the chiropractic school experience? My undergrad was in exercise science with emphasis on clinical studies and I will be attending next semester, so what should I do to prepare? What is something you wish you would’ve known sooner when you first started the program? Any information would be helpful, I’m very excited/nervous to begin! Thank you!

TLDR: I have been recently seeing a new chiropractor for lower back/hip pain on my right side. It got increasingly worse and she ordered X-Rays. It showed I have structural differences at L5. Now I am wondering if it’s common practice not to take x-rays prior to starting treatment.

I am in my late 20s and I started seeing a chiropractor for the first time earlier this year for neck/shoulder discomfort. My doctor went on leave and I was doing better so I stopped going.

Fast forward a couple of months we are on vacation and I start experiencing some pain in my lower back/ right hip area (new issue) I called and they’re able to get me in with a new doctor.

She’s really nice but she has consistently had a hard time getting me to pop. I have had 4 appointments with her. She did some tests prior to my first adjustment to try to determine the issue.

Last Monday, I had an adjustment and I felt pretty good about it. I could be remembering incorrectly, but I think she said something about my tailbone/sacrum being out of alignment.

I felt some pain on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I thought that was normal. On Wednesday night it was excruciating. The pain was running down my leg and I couldn’t sleep. I called and got in first thing on Thursday morning.

My chiropractor did more tests to try to figure out exactly what was going on and then she gave me a written order for x-rays.

I immediately went to the hospital’s radiology department and had x-rays done and dropped the disc off at the chiropractor’s office. My next appointment is tomorrow (Monday).

The x-ray report has already been put into the hospital portal and it said there is spina bifida occulta noted at L5 and there appears to be partial
sacralization of L5 on the right.

Now I’m left wondering if I should’ve insisted on x-rays before beginning treatment and if her trying to adjust me has made things worse.

Now I’m having trouble driving, walking and resting comfortably. I honestly don’t know if I should even keep my appointment tomorrow. I am going to call my regular doctor and try to get seen as soon as possible.

I guess my questions are is it common practice not to order x-rays until the patient is getting worse? Also, am I crazy for not wanting to go back?

Edit: I’ve also been getting Tens Unit Treatment and soft tissue massage on that area while I’m there

How are all the chiropractors earning $30k + months? Is this normal. I’d be over the moon with a $20k month. What is the secret to making good income as a chiropractor. I sell shockwave packages, wellness plans, physical therapy modalities, digital Xray and am in network with the bigger insurances. I pay $2500 / month for ad agency including meta ad spend ($1k), my website and SEO are good. I do wellness fairs. I have a great visible location and signage and parking and I get great organic reviews in a medium sized city. But I have a hard time getting patients through the doors. Who are these $200k profit Chiros and what do they do different that makes them so successful.

Mods, please don't remove this. I'm not advertising. I'm just looking for commiseration and possibly any tips other practice owners have. Please.

Before anyone says my offer probably sucks - it doesn't. I would gladly list it here if I didn't think it would get my post removed.

I'm truly at my wit's end.

I've been a chiropractor 15 years, I've hated 13 of them. I'm not going to bash the profession, as jaded and spiteful as I am, just no for me. Had a wife and 2 kids to support and leaving wasn't an option, but now it is. It's been about to 9 months since I have been up-skilling and applying to roles, with nothing but an inbox full of rejections. Hopelessness is starting to set in.

Are there any leaving the profession success stories anyone would like to share to give me, and I'm sure some other DCs on their journey, hope?

In my mid 60s, recently retired from tech world and interested in opening a strength and mobility gym to use my experience in powerlifting. Thinking a DC degree would be a great compliment to expand my services but would take advice from experienced DCs. Would having a gym pair well with chiro services? Is 60s to late to get proficient at diagnostics and treatment? BTW, School cost is not a problem for me.

Cheers

I’ve started building up my own home based practice and wanted to know what people’s experiences are with niching down their care for a specific demographic. What is your specific niche and did you see an improvement in your practice after you decided to niche down? Does niching down stop you from getting new patients who are outside of the niche?

For context I’m a Muslim and would like to niche specifically to the Muslim community around me as I know what issues are more prominent in this community. I would then tailor my content creation, education and advertisement to specifically a Muslim audience too. I would love to still care for those outside of this demographic as well if anyone wants to work with me specifically.

I (23) have been going to my chiropractor (late 40s) weekly for almost a year now, so we’ve built up a friendly relationship. Both of us have adhd and are libras, so I just assumed us yapping was because of that. Sometimes it seems like he’s a little flirty and he’ll ask about my dating life as a 23 yr old and such but I’ll just kinda brush it off. But I’ll basically complain about how dating is horrid and the options are rough and I think I need to commit to just dating women (I’m bi) and he’ll say things like I need to date an older guy if I want a man who matches my emotional maturity. Which like not necessarily wrong but are you implying yourself?? I even started to post on like my close friends story omg my chiro is my bestie and then it turned into omg I think my chiro is actually flirting.

Now here is where the problem comes in: at my last appointment he says to me “did you get my text?” And obviously I’m like ??!?!??!? And he says he sent me a link to a political commentator he thinks I would like (we also talk politics sometimes which is how we started being buddy buddy with each other). He then goes and grabs my file so he can read my number outloud to me to confirm it’s the right number. I say it is cause idk wtf to do honestly and that I just get a lot of spam texts so I probably just didn’t see it. After my appointment he texts me “hola” (both of us are white btw). Now I don’t know what to do because I am so creeped out by that. Do chiropractors have a similar ethical code/hippa type situation as doctors? Where even if it is purely friendly, is that allowed? But now I’m uncomfortable having him do work on me, especially cause he will do tmj/jaw exercises on me, so literally both of his hands in my mouth. And I feel like I just can’t do that now. But am I over reacting about that? I have my own sexual trauma (was raped a year ago) so I know that’s probably coming into play for why I’m so uncomfortable with it, but is it worth telling the office about? I don’t want to ruin this guys career over a possibly friendly text, especially when I could’ve kinda brought it on myself by being too friendly.

Hello all, hope your summers are going great.

Our website host is taking longer and longer to respond to our requests. Who are you all using these days?

Thanks in advance!

Over the years I’ve had several calls from insurance company reps asking if a patient has been seen in our office. Every time they aren’t our patients. All they do is give the patient name, and I look at our scheduling for their name. Never actually been a patient. Since there’s no other information given it doesn’t seem to be a HIPAA violation, but I feel some type of way about it.

Google search said since it relates to payments/scheduling it’s not a violation.

What do you do if/when this happens?

This chiropractor insisted i neededt he 6K plan or I would be disabled.

very scary and fear based, now causing me to question my regular

doctors. He smiled entire time he discussed my devistating issue.

what is this?

If you've used more than one table, or get a lot of feedback from patients, which table gets the most "wow, this is comfortable" comments?

I would love to hear your opinions regardless of price. Only thing that really matters for me is a good crisp lumbar / pelvic drop, elevation (ADA) and a good upholstery, but comfort being the priority.

So far I have hill lab ha90c and maybe omni on my radar. I also heard Leanders are super comfy but they dont look comfy in the pictures? Never laid on one so idk.

Would love to hear your input!

Not looking for a marketing pitch here. More interested in what other clinic owners are seeing in the real world.

We’ve tried the usual mix: local events, referral asks, Google posts, some paid search, and cleaning up old pages on the site. The thing that surprised me is how much gets lost before someone even becomes a “lead.” People ask a question after hours, don’t leave a voicemail, or check reviews and bounce.

I’ve been comparing tools like CallRail, Jane, and DearDoc mostly to see what actually helps with missed calls, review flow, and appointment requests. Some of it feels useful, some of it feels like another dashboard to babysit.

For those running smaller chiro offices, what has actually changed patient flow without turning the office into a sales floor?

There is an opportunity to purchase a Joint Chiropractic. The clinic itself has been around for 5 years. Currently 470 active members, open 7 days a week, monthly revenue $40-50k.

I haven't talked to the owner yet, but I caught the wind that they are trying to sell.

I'd appreciate it if any Joint owners can tell me if this is a good clinic to buy, what are the profit margins, and what to watch out for.

Thanks!

What are some coaching groups that you all have used or are currently using and why?

I’ve been seeing many ads for CloseforChiro that I’m started to be interested in, anyone a part of this group? I’d love to hear your input.

TIA!

I’ve worked as a Rehab CA for a CBP clinic for 3 years in addition to doing all their videography and marketing. Obtained a certification from Life West for ‘Spinal Hygiene’ early on.
I think the whole thing is a sham. I can explain to you in great detail the philosophy behind Innate Intelligence, Subluxation, Spinal Alignment, the fact that the nervous system flows through the spine and how inference causes dysfunction .
But the reason I can so convincingly explain these concepts is that they are extremely nebulous and vague, they are just non-specific enough to sound scientific when they arent.
I am very good at this job but feel constantly ethically icky for taking part in it. Almost ashamed of participating. I have lost so much respect for the otherwise nice DCs that work here because I feel they are taking advantage of people.
I don’t know how to proceed. Do you disagree with my assessment?

Opening a New Clinic – Advice on Electric Chiropractic Treatment Tables

Hello,

I'm opening a new multidisciplinary wellness clinic and am looking for some advice on chiropractic treatment tables.

I've noticed there are electric tables available with 2, 3, and even 4 motors. For those of you who use them in practice every day:

• What is the most common configuration you see?
• What would you consider the minimum number of motors needed for everyday chiropractic practice?
• Which adjustments do you actually use most often?
• If you were buying a new table today, would you choose a 2-, 3-, or 4-motor model, and why?

I'd really appreciate hearing about your real-world experience before making a purchase.

Thanks in advance!