Is it common practice for a chiropractor to see a new patient 9 times in the first 34 days of the doctor-patient relationship? If so, under what circumstances is this frequency of visitation considered normal?

The Mercy Guidelines for Chiropractic Quality Assurance, which is one set of guidelines for chiropractors based on the research, evidence and consensus, recommend seeing a patient up to 10 times in the first 14 days for acute injuries.  Here is a paraphrase of those guidelines: Uncomplicated Cases 18-28 treatments over 6-8 weeks An uncomplicated case is if you have injured one specific area less than 8 days ago and have only mild pain. Initial treatments from 3-5 times per week usually lead to significant decrease in pain within 2 weeks and return to pre-injury status in 6-8 weeks. Complicated Cases 18-48 treatments over 6-16 weeks A case is complicated if you have more than one area of injury, if it has been greater than 8 days since your injury, or if other factors* may complicate your recovery. After 6 weeks of initial care, treatment should be decreased in frequency. Activities of Daily Living should be the focus of treatment, with patients actively participating in behavior modification, flexibility and stabilization exercises. Chronic Episode Repeated treatments may be required Chronic cases do not fully resolve with treatment and emphasis is placed on improveing the quality of life while managing possible acute flare ups of symptoms. Patients may return to pre-injury status following treatment, but often do not. Treatment should be used to manage symptoms if repeated efforts to withdraw treatment results in deterioration of clinical status.

When your personal trainer tells you how often to work out, how often is it? When your physical therapist tells you how often to come in for treatment, how often is it? When your dietician puts you on a new diet, how often are you supposed to follow it? When your music teacher recommends you practice, how often are you told to do so?   The answer is somewhere between daily and three times a week. That is what it takes to change the human body, strengthen it, establish new habits and skills and heal it. Chiropractic care does all of that, but at first it requires frequent visits, usually between once a day and twice a week. The initial frequency will depend on the severity of symptoms, the duration of the problem and the presence of complicating factors.