Blog 1: Endurance Therapeutics FAQ
Part 1: What Our Chiropractic Care Actually Is: and What It Is Not
Welcome to Your Questions Answered!
In this 6 part series, I Dr. Keirstyn , will be addressing the questions heared most often from athletes and active people who are curious about chiropractic care at Endurance Therapeutics but are not quite sure what it actually involves or whether it is right for them. This series was created because the gap between what most people think chiropractic is and what it actually is at Endurance is significant. And that gap is probably stopping some people from getting the help they genuinely need.
Let us start with the most common misconceptions.
Is chiropractic care just about cracking backs?
This is the question I get most often and the answer is a clear NO. The adjustment, which is the technical term for what people call cracking, is one tool in a much larger toolkit. It is not the main part of the appointment and it is certainly not the definition of what chiropractic care is.
In my practice, an appointment involves a thorough assessment of how you move, your mechanics, where you are compensating, what structures are restricted or irritated, and what the underlying drivers of your pain or limitation actually are. The hands on treatment that follows might include soft tissue work, joint mobilization, movement retraining, and yes sometimes an adjustment if it is the right tool for what I am finding (and more importantly, if your are comfortable with it). But the adjustment is never the whole story.
The sound that comes with an adjustment, by the way, is not bone cracking. It is the release of gas from the synovial fluid in the joint. It is safe and in many cases it does not even happen. An effective treatment does not require that sound.
Do you see 70 patients a day and spend five minutes with each one?
No. And this model is something I feel strongly about pushing back against.
The high volume assembly line model of chiropractic care, where patients are moved through quickly, treated similar to the person who came before them, is not something I have ever been interested in. It produces temporary results and a revolving door of the same patients coming back with the same problems absolutely not the reason I got into this career.
I work with a smaller number of patients and I spend meaningful time with each one. My appointments involve a proper history, a clinical assessment, hands on treatment, and education about what is driving the problem and what the patient needs to do outside the clinic to support their recovery. That model takes longer. It also produces results that actually last because the patient gains the proper understanding and autonomy for their body.
Is chiropractic only for people with back pain?
Absolutely not. I work with athletes across every sport dealing with knee pain, hip pain, shoulder issues, ankle instability, neck problems, headaches, and the full range of musculoskeletal presentations. I also work with people who are not injured at all and want to maintain the movement quality and tissue health that keeps them training consistently.
Chiropractic care is also not just for adults. I work with youth athletes navigating the injury patterns that come with growth and high training loads, and with masters athletes managing the changes that come with age.
If it involves how the body moves, loads, and recovers, it falls within what I do.
Do I need a referral to see a chiropractor?
No. In Ontario you can book directly with a chiropractor without a referral from a doctor. You can simply reach out and book an assessment. If imaging or specialist involvement is warranted based on what I find in the assessment, I will let you know and help facilitate that referral.
How is your approach different from a traditional chiropractic clinic?
A few things distinguish what I do at Endurance Therapeutics from a more traditional model. I am a chiropractor, an endurance coach, and a competitive athlete myself. I have qualified for the Age Group World Championship in triathlon twice. I built this practice specifically for athletes because I understand what the training life actually demands of a body, and I approach every patient with that context.
My treatment is evidence based, movement focused, and heavily oriented toward education. I am not interested in creating dependency on the clinic. I am interested in getting you to understand your body well enough that you need me less over time, not more. The patients who see the best long term results are the ones who leave each appointment with a clearer understanding of their body and a specific plan for what to do between visits.
Up Next: How the Body Actually Heals
Part 2 of Your Questions Answered covers the part of chiropractic care that surprises most people most — the role of the nervous system in pain, movement, and recovery, and why treating the site of pain almost always misses the actual driver. See you there.
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If you have been on the fence about whether chiropractic care is right for you, a free 15 minute phone consultation is a great place to start. Reach out at Endurance Therapeutics and let us figure out whether what I do is the right fit for what you need.
📍 Endurance Therapeutics | Oakville, Ontario
📞 905-288-7161
Optimizing The Endurance Athlete’s Mind, Body & Performance.