Your first appointment will include a health history, and physical examination including a few orthopaedic tests to better understand your condition and presenting symptoms. This will help us with an understanding of how to treat your complaint. You will be given treatment options that will consist of either chiropractic, acupuncture, electro-acupuncture, or massage.

X-Rays emit ionizing radiation. Exposure to ionizing radiation can cause damage to living tissue, and can result in cell damage. While digital X-Ray delivers a very low dose of radiation to a patient and very rarely leads to harm, we prefer to limit the amount of ionizing radiation on our patients. Manual orthopaedic testing performed by the doctor is usually sufficient in non-traumatic circumstances to reach a diagnosis. This approach saves many patients from unnessecary radiation exposure and X-Ray costs. In cases of trauma, severe swelling, or where a fracture is suspected, an X-Ray will be taken.

Acupuncture is not painful. A "pain-free" needle insertion technique is used that minimizes pain. Initailly, it can be described as a small "pinch". Most times, the patient can't even feel the needle because they are so thin and gently inserted. Once a needle reaches its intended depth, you're likely to feel a "heavy" feeling, like a weight has been placed on the area. The heaviness is calming rather than harsh. If you feel anything that's severe or sharp pain, you should let your practitioner know.

The risks of acupuncture are low if you have a competent, certified acupuncture practitioner using sterile needles. The most common side effects are minor, which include soreness and minor bleeding or bruising where the needles were inserted. Single-use, sterile, disposable needles are now the practice standard, so the risk of infection is extremely minimal. The world-wide incidence for serious adverse events with acupuncture is roughly 5 per million treatments. (That's 0.000005% chance of experiencing an adverse event.)