Chiropractors are called upon by their patient base for care frequently throughout the day. Each time we interact with a patient, we touch them multiple times on the neck, back, and of course, when we shake their hands. Therefore, our immune system has to be in top working order all year, not just during flu season, for us to stay healthy and keep our doors open. 

Chiropractors have to practice what we preach. We have to be proactive about neck pain, back pain, and overall health, including all the systems of our body.

3. Family time/Personal time

It is essential to define work and personal time and make time to be disconnected from our work. However, not fully disconnecting is incredibly exhausting on the body, physically and emotionally. Never shutting our Facebook off or forwarding calls to our cell phone keeps us engaged and geared up all hours of the day. This state of being constantly on is not a healthy situation long-term. We all know the power the central nervous system has over the whole body. We need to make sure that we take just as good care of our mental health as our physical health. They are both equally important.

4. Divide the work and focus on your patients

Running a chiropractic clinic is no simple task. First and foremost, you are treating patients all morning and afternoon. Your primary focus should be patient-centered care. We as providers need to be assessing each patient visit and figuring out what we need to do for that patient based on their complaints. We should not be concerned about minor daily issues that arise. Insurance-related problems need to be addressed by your billing staff. I do not have a full-time billing staff. My billing staff remote accesses a few hours a week and handles all my insurance-related inquiries. My reception staff is always trained to be busy, even when we are not seeing patients. During a quiet day, they clean or file paperwork. You need to be focused on healing patients and keep it simple!

5. Sleep and regular chiropractic care

How much sleep would you say you are getting every night? Chances are it is not a full eight hours. I am just as guilty as anyone else. When it is a beautiful summer evening, and the sun doesn’t set until 9:45, I have difficulty getting to bed by 9:30 to get my full eight hours of sleep. I can also say when I do not get my full eight hours of sleep. I am not as responsive and much more sluggish. Getting eight hours of sleep each night is just as important as regular exercise. Rest is when our body rebuilds damaged tissue and heals. If we do not allow our bodies to sleep, we do not heal. When we do not heal, we cannot serve our patients as well as we should be.

6. Use of chiropractic tools and instruments

Chiropractors say, “With hands only,” myself included. However, if we use this quote verbatim, we never excel in our career, and we never become progressive in the field. If farmers used the same saying, “with hands only,” we would be planting our seeds one at a time by hand. 

I agree that using our hands as chiropractors is essential, and the use of our hands only is adequate for many patients. However, we need tools and instruments to adjust the spines that don’t respond to traditional techniques. Anterior Assist is a great example. Anterior Assist helps chiropractors adjust a patient’s thoracic spines with ease. It offers a comfortable thoracic adjustment while offering 100% protection of the chiropractor’s hand as well. Anterior Assist was designed by chiropractors to aid chiropractors. This tool allows chiropractors to continue with long successful practices pain-free. The following link will enable you to learn more about Anterior Assist and what it has to offer. https://anteriorassist.com/how-to-use/

In addition to all of this, we need to practice what we preach and get regular adjustments. Seeing a chiropractor regularly for spinal adjustments allows our body to heal and allows our systems to work at optimal levels, including the immune system. Getting regular spinal manipulations regularly improves our likelihood of living a more healthy life offering a quality of life that is second to none.

Chiropractic colleges typically have a great array of tools and equipment they allow students to try out while treating different patients. However, many times what schools offer is only a drop in the bucket of the potential tools on the market. Anymore, chiropractic schools do not accept donated tools/equipment from manufacturers. Because of this, students are not getting exposed to all of the possibilities out there.  I strongly encourage new chiropractors to scour the web and look for different tools outside of what is offered within the walls of chiropractic school. 

Here is a list of just a few common tools new chiropractors should seek out: 

Soft Tissue Tools:

What is Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM)? IASTM in short is a method of scraping the skin to break up scar tissue in the soft tissues of concern. This process increases blood flow and then re-aggravates the area to stimulate the healing process again. This method can be used for scar tissue, muscle contractures, contusions, herniated discs, tendonitis, ligament sprains, increased range of motion (ROM) and also, of course, help with improved function and pain relief. 

Graston owned the patent the soft tissue tools that were used to “scrape” the patients soft tissue. It’s a great product, but far overpriced for what it is. Now, a quick search shows many other brand names now that the Graston patent has expired. Examples are “Myofacial Releaser, FAKTR, Hawk Grips, Rocktape has its own line now, too. In short, they are a dime a dozen. I would recommend one tool that allows you to mobilize the majority of the body areas. Purchasing one tool instead of a kit keeps costs down and allows you time to really decide what other tools you may need in the future.

Vibrational/Percussive Soft Tissue Mobilization:

In the past few years a large number of different battery operated vibrational soft tissue tools hit the market. These tools look very similar to a jigsaw with a tennis ball instead of a blade. I joke about this and think I could have made one myself. However, on a serious note this has been a great addition to my personal chiropractic office. It is much faster and efficient to use a percussive instrument for 30-45 seconds on my chiropractic table before I perform a spinal alignment, rather than 15 minutes on electric stimulation. Efficiency is key in a busy practice. The following link is to the Theragun I personally use in my own practice. https://www.theragun.com/us/en-us/pro-us.html

Traction Devices:

There are a few options for traction of the lumbar spine, and I utilize both of them. One method, the decompression table as the picture shows, is great for the low back. It can be used for the cervical spine decompression as well, however, patients tend to get claustrophobic. They don’t like the tightness of the machine around their necks for 20 minutes. However, I use the decompression table on the low back a great deal. Many times, a long axis slow pull and relaxed motion works well on patients. I describe it like an accordion going back and forth. This motion opens the lumbar facets and offers great relief to the nervous system with a limited amount of force needed.

Anterior Assist Alpha:

Anterior Assist Alpha is the best chiropractic tool on the market for thoracic spinal adjustments and manipulation. I’m not just saying this because I designed the tool. I’m saying it because I felt a need to design the tool. There are other anterior thoracic manipulation tools on the market. The Guardian, Anteater, and Thoracic Manipulation Tool (TMT) for short. However, none of these tools fit the void I was having in my own practice. In school they teach students to use their own fist or hand as a fulcrum for an anterior thoracic adjustment. However, after only a few weeks of using my hand as a fulcrum , I noticed my hand was always aching. I knew immediately I did not want to use my hand as a fulcrum for the next 40 years!

I tried different tools. I started with Anteater. I saw that it protected my whole hand. However, It was very large, intimidating to all my patients, and very expensive. I then looked up the Guardian anterior adjusting tool. However, as their website shows, it doesn’t protect the hand from repetitive trauma of the adjustment. Thoracic manipulation tool is very similar to the Guardian in the way that the tool does not help protect the provider's hand.

After reviewing the other options on the market for thoracic spine manipulation equipment and tools I knew I had to design a superior product. A tool that is appealing to the patient. A tool that is effective in offering a smooth comfortable adjustment at the same time of offering adequate protection to the provider. In short, it is functional and affordable. If you are interested in purchasing a tool yourself, or if you want to learn more about Anterior Assist Alpha, check out our website at https://anteriorassist.com/.

Cheers,
Dr. Redenius

No matter the technique a chiropractor utilizes, they all need chiropractic tables. There are a few chiropractic tools and techniques that do not require a table, however, when it comes to the scalability and performance of a provider. A table is crucial to have a successful practice treating subluxations and reducing patient pain during their chiropractic treatment.

There are over 200 chiropractic adjusting techniques in circulation. No one, single chiropractor can master them all. However, a great chiropractor will find their strengths and weaknesses and then choose a handful of techniques based on their own strengths to reduce pain to a patient's area of concern.

Chiropractic adjusting tables:

There are many different options for chiropractic tables. Some are just a bench roughly knee height. Others have more options. The more options you have (pneumatics, hydraulics, electronics), the more chiropractic techniques you can utilize and the more age groups of patients you can treat. You also have less wear and tear on your body with a table that can do more of the work for you. The following link is the site to the table I currently use, the Lloyd Galaxy Ultimate. https://www.lloydtable.com/index.php?p=210393

Electric Stimulation:

Electric stimulation is a great passive modality used by chiropractors and physical therapists on a daily basis. Electric stimulation allows a provider to relax the muscles around the area of concern to be able to effectively help the patient with their issues. 

Electric stimulation is a great addition to a practice because it is passive. I recommend a separate room for this treatment. This allows you to leave the patient unattended and treat another patient at the same time. Electric stimulation times run usually 15-20 minutes. It is crucial to have your adjusting room available to adjust during this time.

Cold Laser:

Cold laser is another hand held device to add to your chiropractic clinic. It is quite expensive, but it is an effective treatment for sprains, soft tissue injuries, nerve pain, and any kind of pain relief. An effective cold laser treatment only lasts two minutes. I personally like cold lasers more than ultrasound because it takes less time to treat, and I do not have to keep the modality moving all the time,  as I would with ultrasound.

Activator Adjusting Tool, Activator Method:

Activator is a hand held device that allows a provider to treat patients with many complaints such as neck pain, thoracic pain, or low back pain. The picture beside is an example of the activator adjusting instrument. Activator technique is a handheld, spring loaded spinal adjustment tool to offer precise, minimal impact adjustments. This technique is a great benefit to all age groups, but primarily to the elderly population who are more arthritic and fragile seeking relief from chronic issues.

Anterior Assist Alpha

Anterior Assist Alpha is a great way to adjust the thoracic spine without hurting your own hands. This instrument assisted approach to adjusting the thoracic spine offers the protection chiropractors need on a day to day basis. 

Anterior thoracic spinal adjustments are taught in school to use our fist under the patient’s body as a fulcrum. However, using this approach only causes damage to the chiropractors own body. 

A chiropractor should never hurt their own body caring for a patient. 

When you visit https://anteriorassist.com/ you will find more information pertaining to the use of this tool. I have found this tool to be very helpful for my patients that are very large, obese, overly stiff, or muscle bound.  

There you have it; a quick overview of a few must-have chiropractic tools in every chiropractors office. Each one of these tools has their own advantages. 

Using these tools throughout your day will make you a better clinician. You will be able to offer patients what they truly need based on ages, fragility, and musculoskeletal structure.