Hi i was wandering how everyone decides how many treatments it will take before they should get results, For example do you have a set rule that for sciatica treatments itll take 5 treatments or what do you tell your patients, I usually state theylll need 3 treatments then review the complaint. They are also advised that i will usually adhere to the use of a herbal supplement to treatment as well.Thank you for your help.
Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.
That's a little hard to generalize about because it depends greatly on the nature of the case. For example, when we see patients with cancer or MS I will tell them weekly for 3-6 months or a year or more in some cases depending on a variety of factors.
For most pain cases and most generalized cases, however, I will stick with the 3-5 treatments once/week and then see how things progress. I'm a big fan of treating as little as humanely possible, so I like to get them off of weekly appointments as soon as I can. Many acute pain cases are resolved in 1-3 treatments and many chronic ones are at doing well enough within that 3-5 range to know what they will need in the future.