As a lifetime chiropractic patient, I have lived almost 57 years with the knowledge that everything I do in life is enhanced by the chiropractic care I receive on a regular basis. Every bodily function is at its optimal effectiveness.
I am not alone. Millions of regular chiropractic patients live much healthier, higher-quality lives. This is something we all know, but the science to demonstrate our reality is still progressing toward telling this story.
Pain appears to be the primary driver for most people to seek chiropractic care initially. Sadly, some people only see their DC when they are in pain. While pain is a great motivator, there is so much more to the wellness chiropractic patients enjoy. If we created an advertising slogan based on many people's perception of chiropractic, it might be: Got Back Pain? Try Chiropractic!
Again, this doesn't even begin to tell the wellness story. I would like to see a different kind of advertising message, one that talks about wellness, quality of life and is not too far removed from what most people are currently thinking (i.e., back pain). How about something like: Chiropractic Patients Enjoy a Higher Quality of Life!
To make such a claim, someone would need to conduct a well-controlled survey that passes the highest standards. I have to admit, I'm not really up to the challenge. But in an effort to get the ball rolling, I would like to suggest the following. I am looking for 20 DCs, each of whom is willing to solicit 10 of their patients who have been under consistent chiropractic care (at least monthly) for at least two years. The quality-of-life survey questions will be related to the following areas:
- Sleep
- Exercise
- Sex
- Sick days
(Please don't be offended by the inclusion of "sex" in the quality-of-life questions. I think most of your patients would agree that a healthy sex life is part of a quality life. Besides, think about the opportunity to tell your patients that "chiropractic patients enjoy more sex.")
The survey will not ask for identifying information. We require participating patients' e-mail addresses only in order to send them the survey. These surveys should take no more than a minute or two to complete. We will send them directly to the patients and receive the information via an online survey tool.
Upon completion of this survey, we will publish the results. Again, these results will be a collection of anecdotal evidence that will not necessarily be generalizable to the world. But what we will have is the ability to compare these four quality-of-life factors from 200 regular chiropractic patients against published averages for the American people. This will give us some sense of the impact regular chiropractic care has on these people's lives. It could also be the impetus for more conclusive study, and ultimately some pretty impressive marketing campaigns.
There are many claims I can make about how more than half a century of chiropractic care has impacted my life. And while the research community would correctly decry my claims as essentially being those of a single sample, they are no less the truth I have lived. It would give me great pleasure (and a certain amount of pride) to tell the people I know that chiropractic patients enjoy more sleep, fewer sick days and more sex, and exercise more, than non-chiropractic patients.
If you would like to join me in launching this initiative, please send an e-mail to
with "Quality-of-Life Survey" in the subject field, identifying 10 of your patients (e-mail addresses only) who have been adjusted at least once a month for at least the past two years, and who are willing to participate in our survey.
Read more findings on my blog: http://blog.toyourhealth.com/wrblog/. You can also visit me on Facebook.
Click here for more information about Donald M. Petersen Jr., BS, HCD(hc), FICC(h), Publisher.