Your Progress Assessment
Your Progress Assessment appointment is an important stage of your care. It is an opportunity for you and your chiropractor to discuss and assess improvements in the condition and function of your nervous system as well as the symptoms (and their severity) that you were experiencing prior to starting care. Your chiropractor will re-assess all the functional tests that you had tested positive for at your first visit to give an objective view of improvements in things such as range of motion, flexibility, muscle strength and pain levels.
Your chiropractor will also redo the muscle tension scan (sEMG) that they did at your initial visit with us. This will provide a clear comparison of changes to the balance of the muscles which support your spine – a direct indication of how optimally your nervous system is now functioning.
What does the SEMG scan measure?
The SEMG (surface electromyography) scanner evaluates the function of the muscles that support and move your spine.
It is a device which measures the amount of electrical activity your muscles release when they are contracting (muscle tension). It is similar in function to an EKG which measures heart muscle activity.
The scanner measures the electrical activity on both sides of your spine simultaneously, at several vertebral levels. We use it to measure and map areas of muscular imbalance due to misalignments in your spine, and to monitor your progress as you continue your chiropractic care.
Following your Progress Assessment, your chiropractor will evaluate the results of the tests and scan. At your next appointment they will share the results with you as well as an updated recommendation for care going forward. This recommendation is based on the results of your reassessment and how quickly your body is making the necessary changes to allow the body to heal and function at it’s best.
What’s the next step?
As symptoms reduce and resolve, the next stages of care have two goals:
1. Corrective Care – To continue to stabilise the underlying injured or weakened areas in your spine to create balance and improve neuromusculoskeletal function.
2. Wellness Care – Designed to ‘Maintain the Gains’, this phase of care is a reduced intensity of appointments, addressing small problems in the spine caused by day-to-day tasks (desk work, sport etc) before they become serious, helping avoid a relapse and the need for more intensive care again. This helps people keep feeling their best. Most people prefer to have appointments once every four to six weeks.