Laying the foundation

Chiropractic Functional Neuroscience care is like building a house or putting a puzzle together - certain things have to happen in a particular order for everything to work correctly. When building a house, if you tried to put up your walls before you had a solid foundation, your walls would be weak and would eventually collapse. If you tried to put on your roof before the walls were ready, you would run into the same problem. The same is true for your Central Nervous System (CNS) also known as your brain and spinal cord. Your CNS has to go through a particular plan of care in order to repair itself as correctly and fully as possible.

The basic goal of and type of repair of the CNS is through “Neuroplasticity”. Neuro=“Neuron,” which is the nerve cells inner brain and nervous system. Plasticity = “Plastic,” which means “changeable, malleable, modifiable.” Basically, the brain and nervous system CAN CHANGE and the research proves that it can. It is a simple as learning a new language, learning to ride a bike, learning how to play a card game and learning how respond emotionally.

Unfortunately, there is good and bad “neuroplasticity.” Simple examples of bad neuroplasticity are chronic pain, anxiety, depression and PTSD. Most TBI/concussions resolve on their own, but some don’t, and that injured brain has now become plastic to its injured and compensated function.

There are three general phases of Functional Neural Science Care:

Phase 1: Initial visit

Try to find the localized level of your lesion (LOL)…where the root of the problem is coming from. This could be in many places from receptors in the muscles, ligaments, skin or joints. It could be in the sensory pathways from any of these receptors to the spinal cord or the motor pathways from the spinal cord to the muscles. It could be in the spinal cord. It could be in your brainstem or in the cortex of the brain itself. This is found by a thorough history that you will give us.   Our office uses evidence based diagnostic equipment on the first visit. A physical examination is then performed by one of the doctors at SWBPC (this is usually Dr. Pendleton). They may order more testing at that time in the form of blood, saliva or urine testing. You will be given an assessment of what they believe is your problem at that time. The root problem will hopefully be found on your first or second visit to the office.

Phase 2: Weeklong Neurological intensive treatment/therapy

During this phase, a typical patient is seen 3 times per day for 5 days in order to create Neuroplasticity. The first day of treatment is when the doctors will determine what therapies they will be implementing for the week. While we do have patients that return for additional care, 80% of our patients only need to be seen for 5 days. At the end of your treatment, the doctor will give you a specific home exercise program that must be followed to promote long term potentiation (hard wiring your neuroplastic changes). The doctor will make a recommendation for continued care with your primary doctor or therapist, and whether returning to the SWBPC in the future will be beneficial.

Phase 3: Long term potentiation

Once your injuries have fully healed, it is important to come in for periodic re-evaluations and adjustments to your home exercise program or simple chiropractic adjustments to avoid problems in the future. Usually, this only requires a quick visit every 4-12 weeks (depending on the patient).

Your First Visit

Patient Forms

Upon entering our office, our receptionist will welcome you as a member of our family.  Your new patient paperwork will have been previously FULLY completed on our website and downloaded to your secure patient file, so additional paperwork should be minimal. This paperwork provides us with your health history and information on your condition, so the more information you give us, the more comprehensive and beneficial your examination will be.

Consultation

Next, you will have a consultation with Dr. Michael Pendleton to discuss your health-related problems, concerns, and potential treatment options. This initial visit is designed for Dr. Pendleton to learn more about you, your condition, and your expectations to determine how chiropractic care can meet your goals.

Examination

After your consultation, Dr. Pendleton will perform a neurological and orthopedic examination testing your balance, eye movements, reflexes, sensation, gait and strength. However, nothing will be done in our office without your consent.

X-Ray Studies

Depending on your specific condition, we may send you to an outside provider for x-rays. X-rays help us develop the most effective treatment plan for you, and alert us of any serious spinal conditions. Most people are amazed once they see their X-rays up close. In some cases, they can even identify their misalignments and degeneration themselves.

Report of Findings

Once the information is collected and examinations are performed, Dr. Pendleton will give you a detailed summary of all findings and answer any questions including:

How can you help me?

How often do I need to come in?

What will my treatment cost?

After reviewing your health history, diagnostic findings, and examining you, Dr. Pendleton will discuss recommendations and notify you if your condition requires care with other providers.   Dr. Pendleton will provide the best treatment program for your needs.

Treatment

At the conclusion of this initial appointment, you will be given an idea of what is needed to address your problem(s).  This will include one or numerous treatments to include eye movement exercises, certain passive movements with your arms or legs, microcurrent electrical stimulation, laser therapy and/or chiropractic manipulative therapy. It may also include being given referrals for laboratory studies, imaging studies or to see other providers. This will not be performed without your consent.