What to Expect

First Visit

One of the most common things we hear at the Sandoz Chiropractic is about how warm and inviting the clinic is. We help our patients feel at home and go out of our way to avoid the cold and hostile feel that is so common in health care offices.

We suggest that you also check the FAQ page for answers to some common questions.

Please come 15 minutes early to your first scheduled appointment to fill out the required paperwork or go here and fill out your paperwork ahead of time.

If you have any insurance information or past medical records (medications taken, copies of X-rays or MRIs, etc.), please bring those with you as well so the doctor and our insurance department can have a chance to look them over.

When you arrive at our office on the first visit, we will walk you through your health insurance coverage and answer any questions you may have.

New Patients

Please read before your first visit. We ask that you, please view this video explaining what Advanced Orthogonal is and how the treatment process works

Patient Consultation Based on the information gathered in the consultation, you may choose to receive a comprehensive physical examination. Orthopedic, neurological, and chiropractic examination procedures will be used to determine whether or not you are a candidate for treatment at Sandoz Chiropractic. If it is found that there is a chiropractic cause to your condition, highly specific x-rays will be taken to determine the exact magnitude of any structural abnormalities.

Taking precise Digital X-Rays Be assured that radiological exams are performed only when clinically necessary to ensure proper patient care. The pictures of your spine are taken using our digital high-frequency x-ray unit, which requires drastically less radiation exposure compared to traditional x-ray machines.

Analyzing Digital X-Rays The films will then be analyzed by the doctor, who will perform various measurements. These measurements will take into account the individual’s degree of misalignment of the vertebra, as well as any unique genetic variation in the upper cervical region. This personalized measurement allows the doctor to effectively realign the entire spinal column.

Sound Wave Treatment After analyzing your x-rays, the doctor will use the Atlas Orthogonal procedure for your correction. You will spend the next 5-10 minutes resting to allow the body to adapt to its new position. The doctor will then take post-adjustment x-rays to determine exactly how your body responded to the correction. This is typically done only after the initial adjustment and helps the doctors know if any “fine-tuning” of your correction will need to take place in the future.

This will be the end of your first visit, and you will set up a follow-up visit within 48 hours of your initial appointment, as well as set up two more close together. Your initial four visits here are crucial in assessing a treatment plan that will best fit your needs.

Timeframe

Please allow up to 90 minutes for this first visit.

When you return on the second visit, the doctor will take adequate time to explain all of your examination and x-ray findings to you in the “Report of Findings.” After the doctor’s review, one of our highly trained staff will go over any other office policies and procedures that were not covered at the first visit.

Timeframe

Please allow up to 60 minutes for this 2nd appointment.

At Sandoz Chiropractic, we will closely monitor your body’s ability to maintain spinal alignment over your first month of care. Keep in mind that these appointments aren’t necessarily to ‘adjust’ you, but rather to monitor how well your correction is holding in place. One of the major differences here at Sandoz Chiropractic is that you will only receive a correction if it is found that your body has slipped out of proper alignment. Our goal is to get your body stable enough to dramatically decrease your visit frequency, eventually reaching the point of only needing a few “spinal check-ups” per year.

Timeframe

Aside from the first two visits, most appointments at Sandoz Chiropractic will be 30-45 minutes or less depending on additional therapies needed.

With traditional chiropractic, it is expected that patients will need to get spinal manipulations as frequently as three times a week for up to six months! After that, it is expected that you will need maintenance “adjustments” every 2-4 weeks for the rest of your life. With Atlas Orthogonal, the goal is to get patients to HOLD their correction and not need repetitious adjustments. The average Atlas Orthogonal patient needs fewer than three corrections over the first month of treatment, and some patients will maintain their initial correction for over a year!

With traditional chiropractic, multiple segments in the spine are routinely adjusted every visit. Most manual chiropractors will give, on average, five manipulations per treatment, and with some techniques, that number is over 20! Atlas Orthogonal Chiropractors are able to do more with less. Given the fact that most of the spinal muscles are controlled and coordinated from the brainstem area, patients often obtain lasting changes throughout their entire spine after precision correction of Upper Cervical misalignments.

Traditional chiropractors decide where to adjust based on where they ‘feel’ the bones are not moving right, and take x-rays only to rule out medical disease processes. Many do not even take x-rays at all. Atlas Orthogonal specialists will take highly specific three-dimensional x-rays of the upper cervical spine complex, and measure misalignments down to the 1/100th of a degree to determine precisely how to correct the misaligned vertebra optimally.

Twisting, popping, or cracking of the spine has come to be an accepted part of chiropractic care. This reality scares off many patients, especially when it comes to manipulation of the neck. Through the use of a non-invasive percussive sound wave, Atlas Orthogonal doctors are able to deliver painless spinal corrections, without taking the joints outside their normal range of motion.