From Dr John in response to Natalie's testimonial of chiropractic care helping her through many injuries and her chronic pain:
Natalie thank you for writing your perspective of receiving chiropractic care at Archetype Health. Your experience is very telling of 80% of the people that enter our clinic through a referral or finding use through other mediums like social media, blog posts etc. So many people are apprehensive on their first few visits to the chiropractor but after receiving a simple and effective experience from talented and caring staff it makes this fear dissipate and eventually go away. Thank You for sharing your experience and we look forward to continuing to serve you and your family.
Why did I wait so long? Oh, yea! I am a scaredy cat.
I had a car accident almost 9 years ago and for a couple for years, I was in a lot of pain. My back pain was debilitating at times. I had several hospital trips and multiple epidural style shots injected in my back. This procedure required me to be put to sleep for something that lasted less than a minute to perform. Being put under multiple times in less than a year is not good for the brain or quality of a healthy life. AND the shots only lasted a limited time before the pain was back. I then tried to manage my pain with over-the-counter meds and stretches and tons of laying around. People kept telling me to try a chiropractor, but I was insistent that it was not going to happen. I WAS TERRIFIED of the idea. The cracking and popping and whipping my neck around was just not something that I could do. The sound alone was petrifying to me.
Well, fast forward to about 6 years ago, I was looking around my on my insurance’s website and found chiropractor recommendations that were covered, and I made the call. I was still terrified, but I talked to the person at the desk and agreed to a consultation. Nothing would be pulled or popped that 1st visit. I would talk to someone named Dr. John, take some x-rays, and then decide if I wanted to proceed.
I walked into the old office in Homewood, which was in an old house that had been converted. I immediately felt comfortable. It was my style. It was not stuffy. There was character in the house. I sat in what I imagined was the dining room at some point but had been converted into a waiting room. I talked to John, took the x-rays, and left. They called me to come back that next week on the day that he discussed treatments with new patients. Just one look at the x-rays was astounding. My neck was protruding one way, my pelvis was twisted to the side and up, AND there were vertebrae that were simply wrong. My fear was still very much evident. John calmly told me what he would do to fix A, B and C. It all sounded easy enough, but I was yet to be on the scary table that jumped and banged around when other people were being adjusted. With his experience, John knew just how to handle someone with my fear and anxiety. He always told me what he was going to do and how loud it was going to be. I can only imagine that everyone in the office saw me jump every time a table made a loud noise while I was waiting for my adjustment (honestly, if you catch me off guard today, I still jump). As I visited more and more, the adjustments became more intense and less scary. He explained what was happening and never made any sudden moves on me. Sometimes, even after he told me what he was about to do, I still tightened up so tight that it was not going to happen. He was very patient with me and finally I relaxed enough for the adjustment. It took some getting used to, for sure, but I am so glad that I made that call.
Now, I am still going in once a week. I am not going in because I am in pain all the time. I am going to maintain what good things have changed and learn more about my body and physiology. I highly recommend John and the team to anyone that will listen to me and when they say that they are scared, I explain what it was like for me when I started and how it is now.
-Natalie Blankenship
Former scaredy cat (most of the time)
