jump to: Introduction | Frequently Asked Questions | Benefits of Chiropractic Care
Dear Prospective Patient:
How do you know that you need something if you don’t know it exists? If you’ve been told or believe the following, then we may need to talk!
- You just have to live with pain or limitation
- You are just getting older
- Health is all downhill once you turn 50
- You have to settle for not being as healthy as you would like to be
- It’s normal to feel tired or sore at the end of the day
- Stress and its effects are just part of life
The bottom line: none of these have to be true!!! Your body is designed for health and vitality and you should feel comfortable and happy while you’re in it. And that’s what chiropractic care can do for you — help you be more comfortable in your body by being in alignment, improving the life force energy through your nervous system and creating a robust wellness that radiates good health and happiness!
My intention is to create customized chiropractic care for each patient that I see, based upon their health, the condition of their spine and their own preferences. Using a wide variety of techniques, I honor and respect each patient’s right to make their own health care decisions, regardless of what I might recommend. I welcome conversations about your questions, concerns or fears about being adjusted. I use a wide variety of methods to adjust the spine, from low or no force, to higher force adjustments, so I can adapt to each patient’s needs. People often describe chiropractic care as “cracking your neck”, which is a very limited view. Honestly, it just doesn’t honor the full benefit of what chiropractic has to offer you.
Another part of my purpose as a chiropractor is to make available to you the wealth of health, nutrition and fitness information and knowledge that I have gathered over 23 years as a health teacher, sports coach and chiropractor. This is shared in the form of handouts in the office, our conversations during treatment, a quarterly newsletter and the Mayes Chiropractic website.
Many people begin chiropractic care as a result of an injury or long-term low back or neck pain and then come to realize that keeping the spine “tuned up” on a regular basis leads to greater overall health and well-being with fewer injuries and faster healing times. I tell my patients that if you have pain in your spine that takes more than 3 or 4 days to go away on its own, it probably needs a little help. People often spend months or years in pain or bad health because they do not realize that it is possible to feel better.
If you want to feel better and/or be as healthy as you can be, I invite you to explore chiropractic care with me as an option. I would like to offer you a 15-minute no-fee consultation by phone (or in person) to discuss your needs and answer any questions you may have about how chiropractic care can add to the quality of your life. Please call my office at (231) 938-1710 so that we can get started as soon as possible!
I look forward to meeting you, answering your questions and supporting you in being your healthiest self!
Sincerely,
Carrie Mayes, D.C. September 2009
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: How do I pay for chiropractic care? Do you accept insurance?
A: Insurance: We bill insurance and accept payment directly from Blue Cross Blue Shield and ASR policies as well as all Medicare policies (traditional, Medicare Advantage, Priority Health Medicare, etc.) For other types of insurance I am considered out-of-network and do not bill directly. In this case, you pay us and we give you the forms to submit to your insurance company for reimbursement, which varies depending upon your policy. If you would like to know in advance about your insurance coverage, the best thing to do is to call your insurance company and ask if you have benefits for chiropractic. Then ask what the coverage and limits are for billing code 99203 (the initial evaluation), x-rays and adjustments.
Cash: If you have no insurance coverage for chiropractic care, our cash fees are $125.00 for the initial evaluation, $100.00 maximum for x-rays taken with that evaluation and $40.00 per adjustment. Given that chiropractic care often requires more than one visit, and that people often discover the overall health benefits of regular adjustments, even when not in pain, we also have a package price of $120.00 for 4 adjustments and reasonable plans to cover an entire year of care.
Q. How long is each visit?
A. The initial evaluation takes approximately one hour and included in that fee is a separate Report of Findings appointment of 30 minutes to go over all of your results and x-rays and let you know what I think is going on regarding your health. Additionally, we explore what I, as the doctor, and you, as the owner of the body, can do about it with chiropractic care and any exercises that would be helpful for you to do at home. Adjustment appointments after that typically take between 5 and 15 minutes.
Q. Do I need an appointment?
A. We offer the convenience of walk-in appointments for adjustments. Evaluations and x-rays require a scheduled appointment. We offer a wide variety of hours throughout the week (ranging from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., depending upon the day) to accommodate the varied schedules of our patients.
Q. Can I be adjusted if I’ve had back surgery or a ruptured disk?
A. Yes. There are many low or no force techniques, although I would likely avoid any adjustments directly to the area of concern. Surgery or a disc problem creates stresses on other areas of the spine so it is actually beneficial to the entire spine as well as the area of concern to be adjusted.
Q. How old do you have to be to get a chiropractic adjustment?
A. Being born qualifies a person for having their spine checked for subluxations. Babies are ideally checked as soon after birth as possible. The trauma of the birth process, whether vaginal or caesarian section, and the potential restrictions encountered during the nine months in-utero can result in spinal subluxations being present in a newborn.
BENEFITS OF CHIROPRACTIC CARE
Besides reducing or eliminating pain, many people don’t realize that regular chiropractic care offers many outstanding benefits in improving the quality of one’s health through a healthier spine and nervous system.
IMPROVED IMMUNE SYSTEM: A number of studies show that chiropractic treatment positively influences many immune related functions in the body. One study found that chiropractic patients had a 200% greater immuno-competence than non-chiropractic patients. Who couldn’t use an immune system that is operating at full potential?
FASTER REACTION TIMES: Subjects in a study showed 14.8 percent faster reaction times after getting a chiropractic adjustment. This is obviously helpful for athletes wanting to perform optimally, but has great importance for the rest of us as well. Who couldn’t use faster reaction times when a child runs out in front of their car or their toddler is about to step into the deep end of the pool?
BETTER HEALTH IN THE ELDERLY: Senior citizens under chiropractic care reported better overall health, fewer symptomatic chronic conditions, fewer days in hospitals and nursing homes, and more mobility than the non-chiropractic patients. Who doesn’t want to grow old gracefully?
HEALTHIER CHILDHOOD: Studies showed that chiropractic care reduced ear infections by 80% in children with a history of chronic ear infections and that children receiving chiropractic care had significantly less occurrence of infectious diseases. Who doesn’t want their children to be as healthy as they can be?
MORE COMFORTABLE PREGNANCY: The list is long regarding the chiropractic benefits during pregnancy. Reducing labor and delivery times, relieving back and neck pain, increasing the likelihood of a full term delivery and preventing a cesarean or breech delivery are all potential benefits of chiropractic care during pregnancy. Who doesn’t want the smoothest pregnancy possible?
The benefits of chiropractic care are greatly enhanced when combined with other components of a healthy lifestyle, including: a good night’s sleep (at least seven hours a night), a healthy diet (minimizing processed foods and artificial ingredients), regular exercise (a good guide is 30 minutes five days per week), drinking plenty of water (half of your body weight in ounces daily), and managing stress. Also important to overall health is eliminating or minimizing the use of drugs, both prescription (all prescription drugs have side effects) and over the counter, as well as “legal” drugs like caffeine, nicotine and alcohol.
Let regular chiropractic care benefit you and your family…even after you no longer have the pain you came in with!
