So you’re interested in becoming a patient - that’s wonderful! To start the process, all you have to do is call our office at (334) 793-7992 and set up a time with Cynthia or Beverly. They’ll be happy to assist you in finding the best time to schedule your first appointment. You can even fill out your initial paperwork from our web site. Your visit to our office will begin with signing in and then our staff will provide you with paperwork that will help the doctors better understand your problem. You will be given a patient information form, confidential patient history form and an informed consent for your review. If you have been involved in an automobile accident, you will be given an automobile accident history form. You will also need to review and sign HIPAA forms, which have to do with how our office protects your healthcare privacy. You can download these forms and fill them out in the comfort of your home and then bring them into the office for your new patient visit. When your paperwork is complete, Beverly will bring you back to the doctor’s office for a consultation. You will be able to share your problem(s) with the doctor and ask questions that you want at this time. The doctor will ask you some specific questions and give you a brief review of his expectations for your initial evaluation. You will then be escorted to the exam room where the doctor will order and perform various tests which are based on your case history. These evaluations may include the following computerized technologies: postural analysis, range of motion, surface electromyography and infrared thermography. The doctor will also utilize appropriate orthopedic and neurological tests and he will palpate (feel for sore spots) your neck and back. If you are accepted as a patient, 3 specific cervical X-rays will be performed, as well as other views of your spine if necessary. Dr. Eriksen will be happy to prepare a detailed report for your medical doctor, if you so desire. Following the consultation, examination and radiographs, you will be asked to set up an appointment for the earliest date possible. It is suggested that you bring a family member or friend with you on your next visit. This does not infer that you will need personal assistance, but your doctor will like to have someone accompany you while your test results are reviewed. He will also want to have someone to show the immediate postural changes that will likely occur after your first adjustment. On your second visit, Dr. Eriksen or Dr. Keenan will review your examination and X-ray findings. The doctor will explain the subluxation and how it causes body imbalance, nerve interference and how this may be affecting your health. Any questions that you have will be addressed and the doctor’s initial expectations will be provided as well. Once all questions have been answered and all of your findings have been covered, you will then walk down the hall and into one of our adjusting rooms. Before you are adjusted, your doctor will explain how the adjustment works and what it will feel like (very delicate pressure). Because he uses the Orthospinology Procedure, your neck will never be twisted and manipulated. However, the doctors are not claiming that their procedure is better than general manipulation, but they want their patients to be informed as to the procedures they do and do not provide. The doctors will focus on reducing the atlas subluxation and body imbalance on this visit. Once your doctor determines that the adjustment was successful, you will be brought back to the X-ray room and one or two post-adjustment films will be taken. These follow-up films will be analyzed and compared to your original, pre-adjustment X-rays. This will tell your doctor if the adjustment was right on target, or if the adjustment needs to be changed in any way. While you are waiting for the doctor to study your post films, you will rest in a private room and watch a video that will help you to better understand the care that you are being provided. On subsequent visits, your doctor will determine whether or not you are subluxated and in need of a specific chiropractic adjustment. He will determine this by utilizing a specific leg check, temperature graph reading, brief postural check and palpation of your spine. If you are out of alignment, he will adjust your atlas - if you are not he may or may not provide an adjustment to another region of your spine. If lower spine procedures are utilized, they will usually include low force adjustments with an Activator, light drop table or flexion-distraction technique in rare cases. Hydrotherapy may also be utilized on future visits to massage your muscles. Your doctor will estimate your spinal stability at the end of your visit and set up a later appointment.