Feedback is critical to making progress in any discipline. In order to improve, we require feedback to know how we’re currently performing. In school, our grades indicate where we’re performing well, and where we need to improve. In business, feedback from customers helps the business make necessary changes to reach the business goals and deliver customer satisfaction. In chiropractic / physical therapy, we use bio-feedback to help the patient learn to move, relax, strengthen, etc.
In my December, 2016 newsletter, I explain that recent feedback from a few patients have provided me valuable information to help make my “business” better. Of course, in my “business”, I have to balance the healthcare needs of my patient in my office with the needs of the patient waiting to get into my office. Sometimes, delays are impossible to avoid. I will always apologize if I’m delayed. But, I will still try to be a healthcare provider first, and a “businessman” a distant second. With that said, the feedback was very valuable and I am making some minor changes. These changes are for healthcare and business reasons.
I am phasing out my 15-minute appointments. This change is for healthcare reasons. When I first started practicing, I created a tiered system for appointments: 15, 30, 45, 60 minute visits. By far, the most common appointment scheduled is my 30-minute treatment visit. The 15-minute appointment was only created to mimic the “old-school” chiropractic style that provided spinal manipulation only. While I routinely use spinal manipulation (aka: “adjustment”) because of its healthcare value, I prefer to use a multi-modal form of care for my patients. This is not just my “preference”, but also the scientific evolution of chiropractic and physical therapy. If you’ve never come in to see me “just for a crack”, then this does not apply to you. If you have been coming in for the 15-minute appointment, you’ve probably noticed that I still don’t only use spinal manipulation. So, essentially, the “adjustment-only” visit is long gone; I have been trying to “squeeze” the necessary treatment into the 15-minute window. By giving me the additional time, the care you receive in my office will improve.
I will also be making a concerted effort to stay on time. The main way I’m going to do this is by honouring the original intent of my appointment times. Thirty-minute visits were always intended to be 25 minutes with a few minutes to get changed, collect your things, etc. I am going to do my best to stay on schedule, yet still provide the comprehensive healthcare approach you’ve come to expect from me.
So, that’s the role feedback has had on my business. Now, on to a more fun feedback topic: The role of feedback in maintaining and improving your physical health. Let’s start with a few questions:
- Why do our joints lose range of motion (ROM) over time?
- Why do we develop osteoarthritis over time without suffering any obvious trauma?
- Why do our muscles cramp sometimes when we’re doing things we don’t normally do?
The answer to all of the above is that we’re not routinely using our muscles and joints properly. We’re living in a box! Sitting at the kitchen table, couch, desk, and then going to sleep. Rinse & repeat. If we don’t use our muscles to move our joints through their entire ROM then we are going to lose ROM, muscle strength and joint ability over time. And, moreover, if we’re not using our joints properly everyday, then we don’t get bio-feedback to know how we’re performing. This is why the “aging changes” seem to creep up on us. They creep up on us because we’re not tapping into our physicality on a routine basis to know how we’re doing. I am a certified Functional Range Conditioning mobility specialist (FRCms). This means I’m trained to teach you how to move and train your muscles and joints to perform optimally throughout your entire life. You’ve heard or read from me many times about doing your Controlled Articular Rotations (CARs) everyday. Why? For all the reasons I’m writing about right now. Moving all your joints throughout their ROM maintains (and improves) your muscles and joint capacity. And, there’s another reason. Doing your CARs everyday also gives you vital feedback. How does today’s hip CAR feel compared to yesterday? Is it bigger, smoother, easier? Or, is it smaller, painful, more difficult to perform? Do you cramp in certain positions? This feedback gives you vital information about whether you’re on the right track or whether you might need to come in for treatment to “make the stuff work right” again.
Feedback is critical.
Thanks for reading. Hopefully, thanks for understanding. And, thanks for the feedback!