Question
Hi Dr. Gillman,

I have had seven visits with a chiropractor to treat my knee, inner thigh, and lower back pain.  In every visit, which typically last about 25 minutes, the chiropractor would use a combination of warming pads, muscle stimulation pads, and ultrasound therapy for about 20 minutes, then 5 minutes for hand-message adjustment. She told me that I have a lot of misalignments, but I wasn't sure why she only spends 5 minutes, or less when she has three other patients in the other rooms, to do the adjustments. I have asked her about how long it would take for the nerves to be aligned.  She didn't give me an answer and just said she can only do little adjustment at a time because overwork will bring negative results.  I feel that my recovery is too slow and would greatly appreciate your opinion on this. Thank you so much.

Answer
Salina,

As for "adjustments," I don't know exactly what you are receiving.  Standard "adjustment" implies manual joint manipulation to the spine and pelvis.  The time it takes for joint manipulation to the lower spine and pelvis can be a minute or two.  Really, that's all it takes.  As for working out other soft tissues around the knee, e.g. the patellar tendon or surrounding ligaments or area muscles, this takes a bit of time to do properly by hand.  First off, ask your chiropractor to describe exactly what the diagnosis or problem is with your knee, inner thigh, or lower back.   Ask to avoid electric stimulation because it is well established that e-stim does not fix anything.   Heat you can do on your own at home, and heat, too, does not fix stuff.   The style of treatment you are receiving is typical of the style used about 20 years ago.  All sorts of things were done to the patient by the staff, like e-stim (it doesn't take up the doctor's time), and the doctor would fly in and quickly do a joint manipulation or some other chiropractic procedure.  This doesn't really work well when there is a problem with soft tissues like muscles or tendons.   Also, just in regards to back pain, if you are no different after a hand-full of treatment sessions, then odds are something is not right or the treatment methods are not effective.   If your chiropractor is not familiar with active myofascial release techniques such as A.R.T. and/or mechanically assisted soft tissue mobilization, e.g. Graston Technique, then you are getting inferior care.   As a chiropractor, when I see the type of treatment you are receiving, I already know that the DC is not top-notch.   You need to ask some questions (maybe even print-out my comments) and get treatment that makes you feel better.  

'Hope this was helpful.

Dr. G