The word chiropractic comes from the Greek word meaning “done by hand” and this hands-on approach to healing makes chiropractic care a true artform… Now pause for a moment, have you ever really thought about the cracking of backs as an artform?! Hear me out - each chiropractor will practice the art of their adjusting skills and even put their own unique twist on it, at times. And this is why if you visit 6 different chiropractors, you can have 6 very different and unique experiences because each individual chiropractor presents their artform in a slightly different way. In the realm of chiropractic care there are many techniques, beliefs, philosophies and ways of adjusting out there. So let’s simplify this vast realm by breaking chiropractic care into 2 main categories, pain-based and wellness-based, and then explain the philosophy at Flourish Wellness Practice so that you can decide what’s best for you!
Pain-Based Chiropractic Practice
Now let's be honest, most people initially seek out chiropractic care because they’re experiencing pain of some sort. Whether that pain is in the lower back, neck, knee or elbow, most patients are brought to chiropractic care due to discomfort of some kind! So it only makes sense that a majority of chiropractic practices are pain-based.
Pain-based chiropractic care focuses on your current painful symptoms, evaluates your current pain-level at each treatment and helps to support you through the phases of healing until your pain is gone. Then once your pain is gone - Mission Accomplished! You’re good to go until the next painful episode or injury arises.
To summarize, pain-based chiropractic care is like having a hole in the roof of your house; each time there’s a rain storm, or stressful episode in your life, you’ll gather a puddle of pain on the floor and your pain-based chiropractor will mop up that puddle and get you feeling better again until the next rain storm… and it could be a few weeks or a few months but the rain will usually come again.
Wellness-Based Chiropractic Practice
Wellness-based chiropractic care takes a preventative, proactive approach to keeping you healthy and well. With a wellness mindset, this group of chiropractors encourages patients to come in for regular chiropractic adjustments, even when you’re not in pain, to reduce stress within the body and avoid future injuries.
Wellness-based chiropractic care will still address any aches, pains or hiccups that arise along the way but this style of care will take a full-body approach and perspective to your symptoms. Oftentimes wellness-based chiropractors will consider other aspects of your health such as diet, rest, exercise, stress reduction, detoxification or even natural supplements to further support your holistic healing efforts and long-term wellness.
To summarize, wellness-based chiropractic care is like climbing up on the roof of your house to do maintenance on a regular basis; with each rain storm, or stressful episode in your life, you can rest assured knowing that your roof won’t leak and you won’t have to fear a puddle of pain because your wellness-based chiropractor has helped to keep your framework sturdy and sound.
Flourish Wellness Practice
Flourish Wellness Practice is a boutique practice in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, offering patient-centered chiropractic care and individualized functional medicine programs. So where do we fit into the mix? I’m glad you asked! Flourish is proud to be predominately a wellness-based chiropractic practice with a little bit of pain-based care mixed in… Let me explain!
Many of our new chiropractic patients initially find us and come to us on their first visit with aches, pains or injuries. Because again, this is usually where the holistic healing journey begins for most of us! And these patients are welcomed into the practice with open arms and goldendoodle greetings from the Flourish office dogs. So it’s accurate to say that most of our new patients start out with pain-based chiropractic care.
As care continues, patients quickly learn that I discuss “stress”, in all of its many forms, within my practice on a daily basis! We discuss the fact that stress is never ending and we discuss how it can burden the body and one of the best ways to alleviate that burden is with chiropractic wellness care. To live a normal life is to endure regular stress - there’s no way around it! And the best way to balance that paradigm is with continued regular efforts to reduce that stress. With each chiropractic adjustment we are able to help your body to cope with stress more effectively and that right there is one of the most powerful benefits of continued wellness-based chiropractic care.
I should also mention that we don’t stray away from talking about stress in other aspects of your health either - gut health, bowel movements, hormones, mood swings and burn-out are all fair game when you’re on the adjusting table… because it’s all connected and we truly take a full-body approach to your health and wellness.
But because of this, a majority of our chiropractic community keeps coming back to us long after the the aches and pains are gone, not because they have to, but because they want to when they realize that chiropractic wellness care can keep them feeling GREAT! (As well as providing ancillary benefits such as better sleep, a stronger immune system and even less severe seasonal allergies.) A resounding majority of the Flourish Family makes the active choice to continue with wellness-based chiropractic care to support their long-term health and wellness.
Many of our patients have been seeing us for years now and this is why I call this community the Flourish Family, because they are exactly that, they are like family to me. I love this community that I serve and personally invite you to join the Flourish Family by scheduling an appointment with us, especially if this wellness state of mind that I described is your vibe!
In health, wellness & happiness,
Dr. Kate
