Here at Water's Edge Spine and Sport we know deciding on a new doctor can be a little intimidating. Part of what makes starting care with a new doctor so intimidating can be the unknown of what to expect when you see the doctor for the first time. That is why we wanted to make sure our prospective patients have some idea of what to expect the first time they come in to see us.
We will start your appointment by discussing insurance coverages and the expected costs to the patient to ensure there are no surprise bills at the end of the visit or in the mail later on.
Once you know what you are getting into financially, we will begin by talking about what brings you into our office and how it happened. After getting a detailed picture of your current injury, we will move on to discuss any other current medical diagnosis or past medical history you may have. This step is incredibly important so that we can be confident that we fully understand how this injury is affecting your daily life, understand what your goals of seeing us are, and that we can safely treat and work with you to accomplish those goals.
Once we have discussed your medical history we will move into a physical exam. The physical exam includes taking vitals and doing a thorough neurological exam. We will then check your motion, functional limitations, and focus more specifically on the area of complaint.
The combination of the history and physical exam will tell us 1) What is likely the cause of your injury and 2) If we can safely treat you that day in the office or if we will need further testing or imaging for us to be sure it is safe to treat you.
Once we have completed the medical history and physical exam, we will discuss the findings and give our recommendations for the best plan moving forward. We will work together to establish a treatment plan that will best fit your lifestyle while achieving the fastest recovery possible. Now that we are on the same page we will move forward with the treatment for that day. At Water's Edge we do not set up long term pre-paid treatment plans. We cater each treatment plan to the individual need and are constantly re-working it based on how the patient is responding.
Once we have a treatment plan created we will move into the treatment for that day. We treat most patients the day of their initial visit as long as there are no "red flags" detected during the history or physical examination.
The first visit typically takes between 30 and 45 minutes. Treatments following this initial visit are most often closer to 10 to 15 minutes. We will not always be taking 45 minutes out of your day! This first visit takes a little longer simply so that we can ensure you are receiving the safest and highest quality care possible.
Book you initial visit today by clicking the “book an appointment” button in the top right corner or calling us at 231-366-6035
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