Throughout my career as a Chiropractor I’ve witnessed many miracles and successes, been through struggles and bad days, but the majority of the time I can’t believe how lucky I am to be able to look forward to work on a Monday morning. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like being a Chiropractor, this is the day in the life of a Chiropractor in 5 short facts.
Typical Day in the Clinic
Monday morning is often busy after the weekend warriors have been out running, cycling, mountain biking, lifting weights. Don’t get me wrong, exercise is absolutely essential! The problem lies in doing too much, too soon. The most common phrase on a Monday morning is “I was perfectly fine until I ran that half-marathon on the weekend, now I can’t get out of bed.” My purpose is to educate people to understand that your back doesn’t just suddenly ‘go out of line’, and rarely can it be ‘put back in place’ in one adjustment.
I go and grab a coffee on my lunch break and find myself subconsciously evaluating people’s postures while standing in the queue. Once you know what you’re looking for it’s impossible not to pay attention to it. Same way as when you buy a new car – whatever make it may be – all of a sudden it seems that everyone on the road has the same car! Only when you are consciously aware of something do you start seeing it everywhere.
My afternoon is usually busy adjusting patients, and this is truly when I’m in my element. To see the change that is happening in people’s lives literally brings tears to my eyes at times. As a profession Chiropractic is pretty young, and therefore often misunderstood. Some of the common phrases I hear every day is “I googled it and I think I have this” or “I think I’m able to adjust my own neck now”. Don’t get me started on the “I seen this Chiropractor on Youtube and he did this…”.
I find myself banging my head against the wall whenever I see a new piece of research flash out on the TV or social media validating something that chiropractors have been saying for years. For example “Tech Neck is bad for your spine and can lead to early degeneration”. Don’t get me wrong, research is essential but it often lacks behind clinical experience.
Do I ever get adjusted?
Question I get asked a lot is “Do you ever get adjusted?”. Absolutely! Chiropractors need adjustments as much everyone else. We are not immune to bad postures and habits, and to keep our spines healthy we get adjusted on a regular basis, weekly to monthly depending on how many deadlifts I’ve been doing in the gym!
I hope you enjoyed the snapshot into the day in the life of a Chiropractor. I am truly blessed to call myself a Chiropractor and feel privileged to be working in a profession where I can help to improve peoples quality of life. If you want to read more about why I became a Chiropractor click here.
Yours in Health, Dr. Neil Murphy