Your Individualized Treatment Plan

After your initial visit, you and Dr. Fuller will discuss your individualized written treatment plan. This will serve as your "roadmap" along your "road to recovery." This discussion will include short and long-term goal planning and answer the following three questions:

    • What's going on?

    • How can it be treated?

    • How long will it take?

Various treatment options will be explained, as well as a recommended course of care. Dr. Fuller will also explain the "Four Types of Care" and help guide you in choosing which is best for you:

1. Intensive Phase of Treatment. Most patients begin with this phase. Visits tend to be more frequent (2-3 times per week), so that you feel better as soon as possible. In addition to your adjustments and exercises, the doctor may recommend other therapies like acupuncture, massage therapy, and nutritional therapies to help speed recovery and relieve unwanted pain. Several factors like age, condition, and lifestyle will affect how many repeated visits may be needed over the next several weeks.

2. Rehabilitative Phase of Treatment. With the majority of obvious symptoms gone, the goal of this phase is long-term correction of your condition. The frequency in which you are scheduled to visit will decrease and there will be greater emphasis on self-management tools. Even though you are feeling better, joints, muscles, and other soft tissues can take weeks, or even longer to heal. Continuing treatment during this phase will ensure proper healing to help prevent a relapse.

3. Wellness Phase of Treatment. After you've recovered, you may wish to choose regular chiropractic "checkups" to help maintain the improvement you have made. Like periodic visits to the optometrist or the dentist, wellness care can help in prevention, promote the progress already made, and help to catch something small before it becomes a major concern. Wellness care is a wonderful option for those who would like to focus on prevention and maintenance, especially for those under stress or who are physically active. This Wellness Phase can help you feel better, improve athletic performance, prevent injury, and save time and money in the long run. Recommended visit frequency is usually every 4-6 weeks, but entirely depends on your individualized needs.

4. Performing Artists Care. This treatment is designed specially for performing artist's who use their bodies as their instruments for work. Because this work is so physically demanding, it is important that the treatment plan recognizes the tremendous stress a dancer puts on their bodies. Dr. Fuller specializes in Dance Medicine and works with some of the best dance companies in Chicago including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, River North Dance Company, and Melissa Thodos to help their dancers deal with the physical and emotional stress of performing artists.

Go back to Your First Visit.