December 2004

Custom tailoring

by Dr. Chris Akey

I was getting ready for work the other day, and while I was thinking of which dress shoe to wear, I was also thinking of which custom orthotic to wear. We have different clothes for different weather, different shoes for different activities, and different ways to adjust ‑‑ depending on the person. I have different custom orthotics for different shoes and activities that I do.

Custom tailoring to me means designing the things we do for our patients to their lifestyle. I am sure most of us do this for ourselves, family, and staff. So maybe a "one size fits all" mentality needs to expand. I know it has for me in the past couple of years.

We have a preferred technique, yet we all know more than one technique, for that rare occasion when the patient is not responding, or the results are not what we expected. Or if we are steadfast in one technique, we could refer to another chiropractor who may adjust differently.

If you do rehab in your practice and have a certain regime set up, you do this depending on the patient and what he or she presented you with. A 1, 20, 40, and 60 year‑old all have different needs, right? Of course, you're saying, that's simple. Is it?

Look at your practice and see what you do on a broad spectrum. Then look at any products you may offer ‑‑ vitamins, custom orthotics, rehab, etc. ‑‑ and how they're recommended. Let's take a multi‑vitamin for example: Is it "You need one," and "Take as the label says"? Probably not.

There are several companies out there that make orthotics, and there's one, that I know of, that has a variety of custom‑made stabilizing orthotics, depending on the person and his or her lifestyle. I feel this is a huge benefit, not only for our patients but our offices as well. It's totally congruent if you run a wellness lifestyle practice or are thinking of starting one. There's nothing better than custom tailoring patients' chiropractic experience to their needs and lifestyle.

Many of my patients have had orthotics before, from other sources, and they tell me stories of how much better their casting experience was at my office. Then, when they get the custom‑made stabilizing orthotics I recommend, wow, what a difference! They love the options of orthotics that can be taken out of one shoe and placed into another, as well as the option of an all‑in‑one custom‑made orthotic‑and‑shoe combination. My staff and I love these options, too.

The bottom line is that the wellness lifestyle and custom tailoring is the trend ‑‑ it's what patients are looking for. I want our profession to get ready, because it's here.

I have a patient visiting from a state out west, who told me that DCs in her town don't talk about wellness or have wellness products. She asked me to send her chiropractor a package of wellness lifestyle products to offer. A cry would be to GET READY. Get information on the products mentioned above, and if you need specifics, e‑mail me.

(Dr. Chris L. Akey has been in practice for five years and currently runs Life Family Chiropractic in Farmington, Arkansas. His focus is on educating his community to be subluxation free. He can be contacted at kidschirodoc@msn.com)