This is a good question that comes up now and then.
Does your dentist say "Ok, just come back again when you have another toothache."? Or, does your eye doctor say, "Ok, just come back when you can't see."? Or, does your auto mechanic say, "Ok, just come back when you see blue smoke coming out the back."?
I hope not!! If so, you need to find a new dentist and a new eye doctor and a new mechanic! And, if you have heard that message (either implicitly or explicitly) from your chiropractor, you need to find a new one!
It would be highly profitable, but also highly unethical for your dentist or eye doctor or chiropractor to suggest such poor care. Why profitable? Because you'd need much more care, and it would therefore cost more money. Why unethical? Because encouraging patients to neglect themselves until they can't stand it sets them up for needless suffering and degeneration that could have been prevented with more appropriate care recommendations.
So, while it would be much more profitable for me to suggest that patients just come in when they are in pain, that would be unethical because I know they'll end up suffering, and that is not consistent with the care I give to my family. It takes much more time and energy to educate people about how to properly care for their spinal and neurological health, but since my pledge is to treat people like family, that's what I do. That is the kind of care you deserve.
It is sometimes tempting to not say anything or even nod in agreement when a patient says he or she just wants to come in "when I need it". It means they would need more care in the future, and I would make more money, but it also means they'd suffer needless pain and spinal decay....which is why you'll hear me informing patients of the hazards of only getting care when it hurts. Sometimes they insist on waiting until they're in agony, and insist on giving me more money, but it is not because they weren't warned!
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Sincerely,