Recently, we read a review posted by one of our longtime patients. She came to us over 10 years ago while pregnant. She had suffered months of pain just bending over to pull her pants on. She couldn’t get relief from any other remedy like stretching or acupuncture. She reluctantly came to us, beginning our consult by saying that she “didn’t believe in chiropractors.”
She’s not the first to say this so we took it in stride and went to work. After one visit, she felt better.
We didn’t see her again for 10 years. That’s when she began suffering from another physical ailment. After having her condition checked out by other medical professionals, she returned to our office. In five sessions, she was back to 100 percent.
We told her that we hope that she doesn’t wait another 10 years to come see us again — because fast forward 10 years and she’s not a pregnant mom-to-be. She may still be a busy mom juggling her career, her marriage, and running her child all over town. But she will not have spent 10 years doing regular chiropractic maintenance on her body.
In another 10 years, she will not be living “pain free.” That euphoric state of wellness and youth that she experienced before getting pregnant starts to disappear after age 25. By 40 — as anyone can tell you — the more work you put into trying to stay young, the less you actually feel “good.”
Now imagine being an inactive person, or one who doesn’t work out or who hasn’t had regular musckuloskeletal maintenance. Ever met someone inactive who felt “good” most of the time?
Feeling “sore” or even a little banged up is proof of sacrifice and effort. But it’s also proof of living a regular life — of aging, either actively or not. “Feeling good” at middle age is more often a mental state associated with the satisfaction of competing hard, doing your best, or accomplishing personal goals. It is rarely a physical assessment.
Take a look at yourself: you’re healthy, you exercise, your kids keep you moving at breakneck speed. But you’re also stiff, you feel a tinge in your hip or your knee or your back or your neck when you collapse on the couch at the end of the day or when you try to get situated at your desk after the kids start their school day.
As time goes by, you wonder whether you will ever feel as good as you did when you were younger. And you forgot to come in for a routine exam or you didn’t find time to come back to us for an adjustment or you doubted whether we could help anymore.
We blame ourselves for not calling you up and seeing how you’re doing.
The majority of our patients are satisfied with their experience at Capitol Rehab. But because they feel “good enough,” they don’t return until something hurts. We have conditioned you to see us not as your lifestyle but as a “one and done” experience.
You might see Capitol Rehab as a body shop. We lube the parts, rotate your tires, change the oil, and send you on your way. But you wouldn’t feel confident driving your car for 10,000 miles without an oil change or tire rotation. So why are you allowing yourself to pull a hamstring, throw out a shoulder, or experience headaches instead of developing a preventative maintenance schedule?
We’ve already proven that we’re real. We’re here in our offices every day. This is where we spend the most time of each day outside of our own homes. We’re a work family. And we want you to feel like part of our family. You’re not important to us only on the days when you feel badly. If we haven’t seen you in a while, there’s probably a reason. It could be us; it could be you, but it needs to end.
So let’s rekindle that relationship. Schedule an appointment this month and get an invite to our fall holiday party celebrating 25 years of Capitol Rehab of Arlington and our extraordinary friends and patients like you.
