Patients always leave my office feeling better than when they entered. Adjusting should feel good, and ART® should feel like a great release of pain. Sometimes with adjusting, we are repositioning joints and ligaments that have been stuck in a position for a long time, so there can be a brief moment of increased sensitivity. In those cases, the feeling lasts only for a moment.
When treating with Active Release Technique®, I’ve commonly heard people describe the feeling as “a great stretch” or sometimes being “painful in a good way” when working through a very tight spot. With ART® the goal is to work in the right places with just enough pressure, as opposed to digging-in as hard as possible. You will leave the treatment room feeling better and moving better.
The initial visit usually takes 60 minutes, which includes a review of health history and physical examination, as well as treatment that same day so that you will leave feeling better! Follow up visits usually take 15-30 minutes.
My treatment plans address the symptoms and the nature of the pain/injury. I try to avoid overprescribing the typical three-times-per-week for four to eight weeks, unless the patient’s needs require it, such as a motor vehicle accident. It is unusual for a patient to leave my office and not feel a significant improvement in their pain or movement.
In many cases, within a few treatments we can get pain under control that has plagued a person for a long period of time. Remember that results can vary depending on the patient and the severity of the injury/complaint.
Yes. It is among the safest medical procedures available. Chiropractic care is a conservative form of medical treatment.
Adjustments and other forms of treatment administered by chiropractors have been proven to be safe. Certain entities have tried to promote the idea that cervical (neck) adjustments cause vertebral artery dissection (a type of stroke), but some of the best evidence available shows that 1 in every 5.85 million adjustments might cause stroke (Haldeman S, et al. Arterial dissection following cervical manipulation: a chiropractic experience. Can Med Assoc J 2001;165(7):905-06). I have used the word “might” above because it is actually inconclusive whether it is physically possible whatsoever for an adjustment to cause this.
These statistics demonstrate a much lower risk when comparing them to the numerous medical interventions available that may statistically have a much greater risk of serious “side effects”. In fact, evidence shows that you are equally likely to suffer a catastrophic incident such as a stroke in a medical doctor’s office than you are in a chiropractor’s office. In the unlikely case that you meet much of the risk factor criteria for serious side effects with cervical adjusting, Dr. Barlas can use ART® and other low-force techniques to relieve your neck pain. Dr. Barlas will be happy to address any further concerns you may have about the safety of chiropractic treatment.
A common misconception around chiropractic is the idea that once you begin receiving adjustments, you will need to continue getting adjusted for the rest of your life. This is false. There is no physiologic reason why this would be the case.
If you initially come to us because you’re in pain—and your pain and function improves after a brief course of treatment—then your original purpose for coming would have been fulfilled. If you do not experience a recurrence of the same pain or dysfunction, then there will be no need to get adjusted again. However, through the course of performing daily activities, be it sitting at a computer or doing power cleans in a gym, you may find that your mobility gradually becomes altered. In this case you might benefit greatly from a periodic adjustment! As a fitness, soccer, and running enthusiast I have found that I, personally, perform my best when I receive regular adjustments and ART® treatment. I encourage my patients, both active and non-active alike, to take a similar approach to health, but I fully leave that choice to my patients’ discretion.
We accept and are in-network preferred-providers with most major insurance carriers. If you live in the state of Washington, there is a strong chance we take your insurance. For those without insurance, we have very competitive cash/card/check time-of-service rates that you can pay out of pocket. Costs vary slightly, so feel free to inquire in-office. We tend to be far more affordable than most medical approaches, including most physical therapy.
Receiving treatment now rather than later will likely mean fewer treatments to relieve a given problem. Consider any amount spent as an investment in your well-being and in your long-term health!
(206) 954-7479