Real Change Takes Time

Welcome—Dr. Ryan Alter here, your Delray Beach chiropractor.

I just had an interesting experience with a patient—a patient who’s never been to a chiropractor. I sat down and did a consultation and found out this person has a five- to six-year history of lower back pain and neck pain. He’s a 51-year-old bodybuilder who’s really beat himself up over the years, and finally, it seemed like he came in here to get things figured out.

I did a consult and explained to him that these are signs and symptoms that something is going wrong—and my job is to figure out what that “something wrong” is. The next step would be a careful evaluation, and then we’d take a set of X-rays to see the underlying condition of the spine, what we’re up against, and whether there’s any permanent damage.

Then I took a break—had him empty his pockets—saw another patient or two, and when I came back, the girls told me the patient left. He left and said, “I’ve got a lot to think about,” and shuffled out. I had no idea he was going to leave.

My thought is—he came in expecting his problem to be fixed right away. And when he heard I was going to take some X-rays and go over a plan with him tomorrow—that it was going to take some time—he needed to “think about it.”

But here’s the real question: how do people come up with this concept?

You’ve had a back problem for five years. You’re 51 years old. How long do you think it’s going to take to change, correct, and fix a back problem at 51? This is a bodybuilder—we’re talking about someone who understands how long it takes to change the body. How long does it take to lose weight? What does it entail?

Changing the body takes consistency over time. If you’ve had a problem for five years, what’s it going to take to get a lot better? It’s probably going to take a lot of work. If you’ve had it a long time, it’s going to take time to get better. It’s almost common sense—and I’m still startled that people don’t understand that.

So the lesson here is this: if you want to make real change to your body—whether it’s your health, your spine, or your teeth—it’s going to take some time.

Be prepared. That’s the reality, whether you like it or not.

We’re here in Delray, and we’re here to help you—and everyone you know—feel your best.