As a chiropractor in Freehold, New Jersey, I see patients from many parts of Monmouth County, especially nearby towns of Marlboro, Howell, Jackson, Colts Neck, Morganville, Millstone and Manalapan, NJ.

Many people come in for neck pain, back pain, sciatica, headaches or migraines, and Fibromyalgia.  After reading one of the many articles about health (Thank you 33 Principles for your article) one of the first questions is, “How long do I have to come in?”

The question to you is, how long do you want to be healthy?  How long do you want to enjoy your normal daily activities?  How long would you like to enjoy playing with your children?

In our society so many people think there is a quick fix.  They think popping a pill is going to fix their pain, fix their weight, fix their blood pressure, fix their cholesterol, etc.  I think you get the point.  Well all these medications do is cover up the symptoms with many side effects.  These meds do not get to the cause of the problem.

Patients understand with physical therapy, you have to follow a consistent treatment plan to relieve their pain.  Chiropractic is going deeper than even physical therapy to actually get down to the cause of the pain, but yet people think one or 2 treatments is going to fix it.  Chiropractors adjust the underlying cause, the subluxation.  Meanwhile, all the muscles, tendons and ligaments that support the vertebra are used to holding it out of place.  It takes a while to retrain the supporting structures so not to misalign the vertebra again, putting more pressure on the nerves.

At the same time, people are very active.  You might be walking and miss a curb or step, might carry a pocket book on one shoulder, sit at a desk all day slouching at a computer, lifting your kids all day, and so much more… these activities put stress on the body and can have a adverse affect on the spine.

Think of it this way:  If you want to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight, how many healthy meals do you need?  How many days in the gym or running outside to stay fit and in shape?  Obviously it takes more than just one.  You have got to stick with a program to maintain results.

The same is true for chiropractic.  To achieve lasting results, it’s all about repetition and consistency.  One adjustment might provide temporary relief of pain.  It takes more than one adjustment to correct the underlying cause and change your overall health.

Now you can answer:  How long should you stay on your nutritional program, workout routine or spinal health maintenance program?  I would think you would want to continue as long as you want to remain healthy.  You have to stick with a program to reap the true rewards.  There is no such thing as once and done.