The holiday season is in full swing. And for many of us, that means more time around family and loved ones.

If you’ve received chiropractic care and had a good experience, chances are that you’re starting to notice people in your life for whom it could be a great option. That persistent back pain they complain about, the mobility issues they’re experiencing, the stiffness in their neck.

The problem is that recommending chiropractic care isn’t always as easy as “Hey, you should see a chiropractor.” Even if you’ve seen one yourself. 

Here are a few tips you can keep in mind this holiday season (and beyond!) as you interact with folks you think could benefit from chiropractic treatment.

How do they feel about their pain

One important factor to keep in mind is not simply whether they’re feeling pain, but how they feel about their pain. More specifically, have they given up hope that it can get better?

The thing about pain is that if it sticks around long enough, many of us give up hope that healing can come at all. Especially in situations of chronic pain–and especially if other forms of treatment have been sought previously.

It’s important to keep this in mind because if someone has started to feel that way, a simple suggestion to see a chiropractor can come off as trite. And it’ll hit a brick wall of self-defense as just another “solution” that won’t actually work.

Instead, ask them how long they’ve been dealing with the pain. Get a sense of what treatments they’ve sought (more on this in a bit). And be sensitive if they seem to be a little jaded towards the possibility of getting it fixed.

Be aware of their impression of chiropractic care

It’s a sad but true reality that many folks have an impression of chiropractic care as a less-than-legitimate healthcare option. There can be a variety of reasons for this.

So it’s important to get a sense of what someone thinks about chiropractic treatment before suggesting it. Otherwise, you run the risk of letting their misconceptions win out against your suggestion.

So instead of simply suggesting it, ask whether they’ve ever considered seeing a chiropractor. This will invite them to share why they haven’t.

The good news is that if any misconceptions are at play, you aren’t totally on your own to address them. We’ve covered some of the major ones in previous blog posts that we’ll link here.

• Misconception #1: “It’s all about the pop.”
  • Addressing the misconception that all a chiropractor does is make joints pop. That may get play on social media, but true practitioners are about making strategic, non-invasive adjustments.
• Misconception #2: “They’re not real doctors.”
  • Addressing the misconception that chiropractic care is an unscientific, unregulated form of medical care.
• Misconception #3: “You’ll get stuck going for life.”
  • Addressing the misconception that starting chiropractic care locks you into needing chiropractic care for the rest of your life.

Feel free to point your friend or loved one to any of these articles if those issues come up.

Know what else they’ve tried

As mentioned earlier, before suggesting chiropractic care, ask what other treatments they’ve tried (if any). This will help you show them where chiropractic care fits into the broader spectrum of health care.

The great advantage of chiropractic is that it’s a much less invasive form of treatment than painkillers or surgery.

If they haven’t tried hardly anything, you can suggest chiropractic as a great starting point for getting pain relief. If they’ve gone through more significant treatments like physical therapy, prescription drugs or surgery, you can suggest chiropractic care as a step they may have skipped over (which many people do, unfortunately).

Either way, the principle you’re inviting them to try is to start with the least invasive forms of treatment and move towards more invasive forms. In no way does chiropractic care claim to be the solution for everyone, but it does occupy an important place on the healthcare spectrum.

Anyone you recommend?

If you haven’t received care but are looking for a trusted referral in the greater Tacoma/Seattle area, Petett Chiropractic in Renton will take great care of your friend or family member.

Just have them give us a call!