What to Look for in a Chiropractor

Once my blog went live, I have received several questions about how to choose a chiropractor. Since I was in that position less than 2 months ago, I thought I would write a quick list of items that I think are important when looking for the right chiropractor for you.

1. Complete Transparency - Up front and honest about everything.
After I threw my back out and decided to go to a chiropractor, I really didn't know where to start. I initially ended up visiting a chiropractor in my area that has been around for a long time. To make a long story short, he wasn't right for me. It had nothing to do with how good of a chiropractor he was, but had everything to do with how he ran his practice. Then I visited Dr. Pagano in Pennington and I understood the difference between finding a chiropractor and finding the right chiropractor. Within 45 minutes, we covered pricing, his philosophy about frequency of visits, he reviewed my x-rays with me, and we are all set for my first adjustment. This is the way I work in my business and it felt right to have someone treating me the same way that I treat my clients and customers. The core point to take away from this bullet is to make sure you feel comfortable with the chiropractor. Are they personable? Are they up front with their pricing? Do they seem honest? How many times do they want to see you? If they cannot answer these questions, run. :-)

2. Philosophy About Frequency of Visits
I briefly mentioned this in my first bullet, but it's important enough to have its own line item. I'm sure you have heard stories about people that start receiving chiropractic treatments and then find themselves going back time and time again for years. They don't have much pain anymore, but they still keep going! I didn't want to find myself in that situation. Dr. Pagano's philosophy matched my expectations. Once my back started feeling better, he wanted to me to visit him every other week. Then if that worked well, I could visit him once per month. Then if that worked well, I could probably come every other month. That made sense to me... Make sure you understand your chiropractor's philosophy about frequency of visits. If you don't, you may find yourself at his office 3 times per week for the rest of your life!

3. Find a Chiropractor with Similar Types of Patients
I exercise a lot, from jogging to weight training to playing sports like baseball, tennis, and golf. Dr. Pagano has a background in training, so when I explained the back problems I was having after working out, he immediately could give me real world examples of how other patients in the same situation dealt with it and improved. This was important to me and it gave me confidence that my treatments would help my situation. For example, once I started feeling better, he gave me good recommendations for beginning to exercise again. He also explained how to start weight training again so it wouldn't affect my back, how to start running again, how to stretch, etc. This was extremely valuable to me, and should be to you.

4. A Chiropractic Plan of Action
After reviewing my x-rays with me and explaining what was wrong with my back, Dr. Pagano explained clearly how we were going to tackle the problem. This included explaining what a chiropractic adjustment was, which areas of my back we were going to focus on, how many visits it would take to get me on the right path, what my exercise schedule should look like, so on and so forth. If you cannot map out your plan, then your expectations may be improperly set, you cannot measure your improvement against the plan, and you may end up getting frustrated. This chiropractic plan of action is extremely important. Ask about it when you visit the chiropractor for the first time. If they don't believe in setting a plan, then I would find a chiropractor that does.

I'm sure I will add to this list later on, but it's a good starting point. Again, I was in your position 2 months ago and I would have liked to have seen a list like this. Good luck and ask a lot of questions. Find a chiropractor that matches up well with your needs and you'll be in good shape. No pun intended.

Pagano Chiropractic - Vito Pagano, My Chiropractor in Pennington New Jersey

Although people are visiting this blog from all over the country, I've received several requests for my chiropractor's contact information. Therefore, instead of responding to each request, I figured I would just post his contact information here.

As you can tell in my blog posts, I highly recommend Dr. Pagano for many reasons, including his extensive background in training, his philosophy about frequency of visits, his demeanor, and his up front and honest opinions. If you live in the Greater Princeton Area (in New Jersey), including Pennington, Hopewell and Lawrenceville, then definitely give him a call.

Pagano Chiropractic Center
Vito Pagano, Doctor of Chiropractic
53 Hopewell Pennington Road
Pennington, NJ 08534
609-333-1172

Jogging and Back Pain - The Saga Continues...

My last post about lower back pain and jogging explained how I tested the waters with running and came out feeling great! So, I pushed it and ran 3.1 miles to see how my back would respond. I feel good, but I must admit that my back is a little sore. Nothing even remotely close to the back pain I felt in early December, but it's letting me know that it's not 100% yet.

I'm actually ok with that... It would have blown me away if I felt no pain at all. I've been stretching today and it feels good. My bet is that by tomorrow the second day soreness will be gone and I'll feel fine. That said, I'm not going to jog for a few days.

I was tempted to visit Dr. Pagano, my chiropractor in Pennington, for an adjustment, but I'm sticking to my schedule, which is every other week.

Until then, I'll keep chugging along.

The Patient

1.1 Miles Through Princeton. Chiropractors Are Definitely Underrated!

In my last post about my back pain and running, I explained that my chiropractor cleared me to start jogging again so I wanted to quickly follow up with the results. I tested the waters by running 1.1 miles through Princeton yesterday (about 1/3 of what I usually run). Jogging typically doesn't hurt while I'm actually running, but it's the next day that's a killer. I've been going to my chiropractor for about 5-6 weeks now and this is the first time I tried running since I threw out my back (badly in early December).

The Results:
I feel fantastic this morning! There are no after effects from my jog (none at all actually). I felt great during the run, after the run, and this morning when I woke up. Typically, I go to get up and my back lets me know it didn't appreciate the run from the day before... Not today. I'm going to keep increasing the distance over the next 2 weeks and monitor how my back responds. Needless to say, I'm thrilled with the results.

Stay tuned...

Run Forrest Run!... But Did Forrest Have to Run Through Princeton New Jersey With a Bad Back??

Today I received some exciting news from my chiropractor... I can I can start running again! My back has progressed so well that I can test the waters with jogging again. I'm going to start with just a mile or so to see how my back holds up. If all goes well, I can probably start including running in my workouts. Not to beat a dead horse here... but I could barely get out of bed 5-6 weeks ago. I really threw my back out, which had been happening for the past 4+ years!

So hold on to your hat! I'm throwing my running sneakers on and going for a jog...

--If you are in Princeton, NJ and see a jogger laying in the middle of the road holding his back, please help him. ;-)

What is a Chiropractic Adjustment?

I've received a lot of questions about the name of my blog and what an actual chiropractic adjustment is, so I decided to address it formally in a post. First, I will explain my non-expert description and then I will give you a formal definition and some links to more reading.

A Chiropractic Adjustment from a Patient's Perspective:
When I went in to see my chiropractor for the first time, I was experiencing extreme pain in my lower back. I learned that your spine moves in three dimensions and that there are bundles of nerves that travel down and out the spine at various points. It doesn't take much pressure to cause pain, actually Dr. Pagano placed two quarters on the top of my hand and explained the slight weight I was feeling would cause the pain I had at that time... Any more pressure and I'd be in the emergency room!

So, when your spine is out of alignment, which can be caused by a number of factors, like trauma, stress, etc., you can feel pain. My trouble is in my lower back (my sacrum to be exact). In my x-ray, it looked slightly tilted. I need it to be straight, not tilted...so how do you accomplish this? Enter the adjustment. Through a series of manual procedures, my chiropractor aligns my spine with the hope that over time, the alignment will take hold. My muscles essentially are prohibiting my spine from staying properly aligned, since my back has been out of whack for over 4 years...

The adjustment doesn't take long, typically under 10-15 minutes and you will be amazed how you feel after it. Like I have said in previous posts, I get up and the pain is typically gone... It's not until some time later that it starts to creep back in, but again, it's going to take time for my spine to stay properly aligned. Yes, you here cracks and pops, and it's scary to hear that, but it's not painful at all. You definitely start to wonder what's going on, but after a few visits, you don't even think about it. I have seen incredible results so far and there is no way it could have happened without these manual procedures being performed.

Chiropractic Adjustment from a Professional's Perspective:
Here's a good definition I found on About.com:
An adjustment is a procedure performed by a chiropractor that "influences joint and neurophysiological function"1. An adjustment uses leveraged force, combined with direction, amplitude and velocity to effect a therapeutic change in specific anatomical regions, particularly spinal joints.

More links:
ChiroWeb Definition of the Adjustment:
http://www.chiroweb.net/chiropractic/adjustment.html

Wikipedia Entry for Spinal Adjustment:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_adjustment

Answers.com:
http://www.answers.com/topic/spinal-adjustment

Taking on the Driving Range - Back Pain vs. The Golf Swing

As I mentioned in my last post about lower back pain, my New Jersey based chiropractor (Dr. Vito Pagano) said that based on my improvement, I could even try out the golf range. For anyone who has golfed before, you know that the golf swing is a pretty intense motion, especially for someone with lower back pain. Over the 4 years my back has given me trouble, the day after golfing has been painful. So, how did my back do, now that I've been going to a chiropractor for a month? EXTREMELY WELL! Read on.

I hit a bucket of balls at Pennington Golf Center with almost no back pain at all. I hit my wedges, long irons, and even my driver, which is a longer, more powerful swing that would typically give me back trouble. I streteched my back out prior to going to the range and then after. The next morning would be the big test...that's typically when I would really feel the pain. I woke up and had no lower back pain! I was amazed. My sides were sore, but that had nothing to do with my back, that's just the typical "I haven't hit golf balls in a few months" soreness that goes away pretty quickly.

A few days later, and I still have no after effects from the range. You better believe I'm going to keep up my visits to Dr. Pagano.

More to come.

The Patient

Move Over Back Pain! -- Finally a Painless Night...

I've been going to Dr. Pagano for about a month now and I couldn't be happier. I finally had a night without back pain. Typically I would turn over and it felt like someone was driving a dagger into my lower back (which would wake me up to say the least!) Ever since I threw my back out, I've been experiencing acute back pain in the middle of the night, only to wake up to a stiff back. The stiff back would take a while to warm up and then I would be ok. That is until recently!

I've been going to my chiropractor (Vito Pagano) twice per week and I just learned today that I can cut that down to once per week! My back is doing extremely well and I couldn't be happier. Heck, Dr. Pagano even told me that I can go to the driving range this weekend! How's that for a person who could barely get out of bed a month ago!!

This is the best my back has felt in 4 years. I'm eager to see how much more it can improve during the upcoming months.

I'll keep you posted.

The Patient