New Patients

History

At your first consultation, you will meet with Chiropractor Toby Colliver, who will begin by taking a full medical history. This will include details about your presenting complaint and associated symptoms as well as relevant facts about other current health issues.

As chiropractors we are also interested in past events such as traumas or accidents, surgeries and illnesses. Together with aspects of your lifestyle, including type of job and other physical and mental stresses, these can help us build a picture of the state of your body and spine. After all, it is the cause that we aim to determine and treat, not just the symptoms.

Examination

Once we have all the information we need from you, the next stage is a thorough physical examination. This includes orthopaedic, neurologic and chiropractic tests. We will examine every part of your body, not just the area of pain. This is because the location of the pain is not always the location of the problem. Also, it is part of our approach to view the body as a whole, with each element interacting constantly to allow the body to function fully.

The results of the history and examination will enable us to form a working diagnosis of your problem and formulate a treatment plan.

Further tests

The results may also indicate that further investigation is necessary before treatment can commence. This may take the form of imaging such as X-rays or MRI scans, which we refer for locally to our partners who have state-of-the-art equipment. Or it could be that laboratory tests need to be ordered.

These do not necessarily mean that your condition is more serious, it could be that a more accurate diagnosis is required so that treatment will be more effective.

Report of Findings

After we study your health history and correlate our examination findings, we’ll make recommendations designed to help you regain and retain your health. We call this the Report of Findings.

This is usually attended to on your second visit, which may be later the same day or the following day. In certain situations, and in the professional judgement of the chiropractor, we sometimes make exceptions. It just depends on your situation.

This is where we discuss with you all the findings from your consultation and explain your X-ray results if they were taken. We will then outline our treatment recommendations which can commence there and then.

Depending on the results of the history, exam and tests, we may need to refer you to the appropriate medical specialist or your GP, or we may suggest that a multidisciplinary approach will better help your case and so we would work together with another practitioner.