My First Visit.
The goal for my first visit was for Dr. Mruz to evaluate my current situation. After filling out the standard insurance and medical forms for my file (You can see the forms that Eastside Chiropractic PA uses here.) I met with Dr. Mruz in one of the examination rooms where we spent about 15 or 20 minutes, during which time he got to know me and evaluated my situation.
He went through a standard questionnaire that covers any health or pain issues that an individual might have.
These are the main body areas that he asked about.
- Cervical
- Spine, Ribs, Pelvis
- Upper Extremity
- Lower Extremity
The main types of pain that he asked about where:
- New
- Recurring
- Exacerbation
- Chronic
He asked what circumstances might be causing my pain. For me it was my runner’s knees, frequent backaches, and constant tension in my shoulders.
He then inquired about the quality of the pain. His list included, Burning, Diffuse, Dull/Aching, Localized, Sharp, Shooting, Stabbing, Throbbing, Tightness, Tingling, Radiating, or other. Mine was mainly Dull/Aching pain.
He then asked how severe the pain was when I was resting. On a zero-to-ten scale, zero being nothing, and ten being hooked up to a morphine drip in the hospital, mine was a 0-1 resting pain.
We then covered how long the pain lasted, if there was a certain time of the day when the pain would be worse, and if being hot or cold affected it. For me my pain was mostly in the evenings or when I had been stressed. Temperature didn’t seem to effect me.
The intriguing part
The most intriguing part for me was when he covered headaches. Now to be honest, I always figured that headaches where just a normal part of life. I always thought that besides ibuprofen there wasn’t really much you could do about them. I told Dr. Mruz that at most I would have one or two headaches a week and that normally if I got some food or took some ibuprofen they would go away. I was wrong. Apparently getting that many headaches isn’t normal and that I shouldn’t really have that many. To my relief Dr. Mruz said that most headache situations are easily fixed.
The last part of the visit involved taking x-rays and digital photographs. The x-rays were of my neck and the digital photographs were of my front and side posture. Dr. Mruz uses the x-rays to determine the overall health of my spine. He said that it’s possible to be thirty-one years old on the outside but have a much older appearing spine. I’ll be sure to post the pictures of the x-rays when I get them. The digital photographs where taken to help determine the condition of my posture and how my body alignment was doing. Again I’ll post those pictures as I can.
Dr. Mruz also uses these x-rays and digital photographs as before and after reference pictures. We’ll be able to track my progress over the next several weeks and document how I’m doing.
All this took about an hour. The next appointment will be an evaluation of the digital photographs and the x-rays to determine what may need to be done and what the best course of action will be.
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Dr. David H. Mruz Eastside Chiropractic PA 3014 Wade Hampton Blvd. Taylors, SC 29687 E-mail Dr. Mruz www.eastsidechiro.com |
