This week’s post is about professional communication, and in this case, a lack thereof, on my part.

Incident 1:  I was out for a run with a friend who strained his calf muscle.  This friend did not know that I ‘treated running injuries’.

Incident 2:  A current patient, whom I was treating for low back pain, twisted his knee and was unaware that I could help.

Incident 3:  A friend at the gym hurt his shoulder, but didn’t know that chiropractors ‘did shoulders’.

Sometimes I find myself feeling pigeon-holed by the term chiropractor, as people tend to have a pre-determined opinion about what that entails.  Spines, right?  ‘Cracking’, right?  The thing is, I do much more than ‘spines’ and ‘cracking’.  Chiropractors are musculoskeletal (MSK) specialists, and MSK boils down to ‘muscle’ and ‘skeleton’, meaning muscles and joints.  That’s our forte, our talent, our strength.

So, I wanted to let you know what I do on a day-to-day basis at the clinic.  What I really do– which is perhaps different than your perception of what a chiropractor does.  I use various treatment techniques, because patients, injuries, and circumstances cannot be one-size-fits-all:

• A.R.T. (Active Release Techniques): a ‘soft-tissue/movement-based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, and nerves’.
• Graston Technique: ‘instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization’ that is used to ‘break down scar tissue and fascial restrictions’.
• Acupuncture
• Joint mobilization and/or manipulation
• Kinesiology Tape/Rock Tape
• Physical therapy modalities
• Exercise Rehabilitation

I have a special interest in sports injuries, so a large part of my patient base is made up of active people.  I’m an athlete, so I ‘speak athlete’.  Another special interest of mine lies in paediatrics, so I have many patients in my practice who are children- from squishy lil’ newborns to temperamental toddlers to Bieber-crazed pre-teens.  I’m a Mom, so I ‘speak Mom’.

It is my goal to get you out of pain.  It is my goal to speed up your body’s healing process.  It is my goal to figure out what caused your injury.  It is my goal to give you the tools and knowledge to prevent your injury from reoccurring.  I want you to feel better, faster.  That’s the name of the game.  That’s what I do.  And I love doing it.