1. What do chiropractic physicians treat?
Chiropractic physicians focus primarily on musculoskeletal complaints or problems that arise from muscles and joints. Therefore, chiropractic care is helpful for joint pain, muscle pain or spasm, disc injuries, headaches, numbness or tingling in arms or legs, arthritis, and many other musculoskeletal conditions. Chiropractors do not prescribe drugs and do not perform surgery, but can refer patients to medical doctors when necessary. Chiropractic physicians strive to locate and correct the cause of the symptoms, as opposed to covering up symptoms with medication. This is done with spinal manipulation, various therapies, and lifestyle modifications.
2. Does insurance cover chiropractic care?
All PPOs and most HMOs cover chiropractic care. Our staff is happy to check your insurance benefits for you to determine your co-pay. Dr. Miller and Dr. Keefe are providers on many insurance panels including, but not limited to: Medicare, Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Optima/ASHN, United Health Care, MAMSI/MDIPA, Cigna, Aetna, Private Health Care Systems, Principal, and many others. If you are interested in having your benefits checked, please either call our office or go to the Contact Us section of this website and enter your name, date of birth, insurance company name and phone number, as well as your patient ID or account number located on the card. We will contact you with your benefit information on the next business day.
4. Do I need a referral to see a chiropractic physician?
Most insurances do not require a referral to see a chiropractic physician. However, our staff will ask this question when they call your insurance company to determine your benefits.
5. What can I expect at my first visit?
After you complete some new patient paperwork, the doctor will ask you several questions to get more information about your symptoms. Then a thorough examination will be performed in order to diagnose what is causing your symptoms. At this time, the doctor will determine if any additional testing, such as x-rays, will be necessary. All of these results will be thoroughly discussed with you as well as the recommended treatment.
6. How many treatments will I need?
This will depend upon several factors including the severity of symptoms, cause of symptoms, compliance with treatment program and other recommendations made by the chiropractor. Dr. Miller and Dr. Keefe can provide more detailed information about how many visits might be necessary to treat your condition once you have been properly evaluated. If, at any point during your treatment program, you fail to respond to treatment as expected, we will consider ordering any additional tests that may be necessary or will refer you to a different specialist for additional evaluation and management.
7. Do I have to have x-rays before chiropractic treatment?
Dr. Miller and Dr. Keefe only request x-rays when it is medically necessary to diagnose your condition or affect your treatment program. If you have had recent x-rays, an MRI, or other tests we will request these reports to obtain the test results.
8. What type of training does a chiropractic physician have?
The educational background of a chiropractor involves a Bachelor’s degree with special emphasis on the same science courses that a medical doctor or dentist would need. After obtaining an undergraduate degree, one must graduate from an accredited chiropractic college that has been approved by the United States Department of Health , Education and Welfare. This is a 10 semester program with extensive coursework in anatomy, physiology, endocrinology, nutrition, radiology, biochemistry, neurology, orthopedics, diagnosis, and other relevant subject matters.
9. What kind of licensing do Dr. Miller and Dr. Keefe have?
In order to become licensed as a Doctor of Chiropractic, one must then pass several National Board Examinations and then apply to the local state licensing board. Dr. Miller and Dr. Keefe are licensed Doctors of Chiropractic by the Virginia Board of Medicine (VA BOM). The VA BOM requires each licensee to obtain 60 hours of continuing education in order to maintain the license. In addition, Dr. Miller and Dr. Keefe are also “Qualified by the VA BOM to Practice Acupuncture.”
10. What is spinal manipulation?
Spinal manipulation is a form of treatment that involves identifying faulty movement patterns in a joint that could lead to reduced range of motion, tension, and/or pain. This is also known as joint mobilization or an “adjustment.” Chiropractors and some osteopaths perform spinal manipulation by moving a joint slightly beyond its normal range of motion in order to improve its mobility and therefore decrease pain, stiffness and inflammation.
11. Does spinal manipulation hurt?
Spinal manipulation is typically not a painful procedure. By using proper technique, a chiropractic physician does not need to use much force in order to perform this technique and most patients report that it “feels good.”
12. My doctor says she cannot do anything to help with my pain. Can chiropractic still help me?
Just because your doctor says she cannot do anything to help with your pain, it does not mean that nothing can be done. Many of our new patients come to us because they have tried other therapies without success in alleviating the pain. The best way to determine what we can do to help is to evaluate you as a new patient so we have all of the important information to consider what type of treatment is best for you.
13. Has any research been performed to validate chiropractic care?
There have been numerous research studies performed over the years to validate chiropractic care. Please see the “News” section of our website to see some recent research outcomes.
If you have any other questions, please contact our office by phone or use the “Contact Us” portion of this website.
