In the past year we have seen many clients from Poole who had previously been to a town centre clinic offering consultation, “x-rays if clinically necessary” and treatment for a bargain bucket price with the strap line that it would save them over a £100.
In all of these cases, the patients were then given a sales patter, after being x-rayed for an additional fee that stated they needed treatment 3x a week for a minimum of 6 weeks then less frequently. Obviously this level of care would not come cheap but if they signed up for the bargain price of at least £800 one of them was £1349 evidence attached here, they would get a discount rate but with no guarantee of success.
The town centre clinic in question is undoubtedly good at marketing, chances are you’ve seen it pop up in your feed. They have even taken to impersonating our clinic on google search terms to mislead people who have been recommended to us here at Back In Form Chiropractic Clinic. This is unprofessional and in breach of the Advertising Standards Agency and General Chiropractic Council code of practice. Unfortunately I can only complain against an individual and not a business so am unable to voice my concerns.
Today we look at the the efficacy and ethics of such an approach to care.
The first case is a young gentleman who had neck and upper back stiffness and an ache of only 3 weeks duration; he had no previous trauma and was only 30 years old. Therefore extremely unlikely in the absence of trauma to have any degenerative change of significance. He had a consultation at the town centre clinic, was told he needed x-rays (ionizing radiation), which found he had a “straight neck,” ie, loss of the normal curve. This is common if you have pain, it is a temporary phenomenon.
He was then told he would need many treatments to correct this, and when he paid £800 up front, his “care” could begin. Luckily for his bank “balance” , he saw through the hard sales technique and declined, deciding to attend Back In Form Chiropractic clinic in Ashley Cross Poole instead.
We gave him a consultation at no discount and after a chat about his problem we started his treatment there and then as we feel if you come for treatment we should give it. This other clinic stated that he wouldn’t get any treatment unless he paid a large sum up front therefore tying him into a package that suited the clinic and not the patient. At the next visit he was already feeling a lot better and after just 2 visits he was completely pain free. His cost to get pain free was £120 with no unnecessary exposure to radiation. He reported this at his 3rd visit and will see us again in a month to check there has been no reversal of this rapid but expected improvement. His total cost £220 not the £800 the other clinic wanted to charge him.
Our second case is a lady in her early fifties who consulted the town centre clinic with neck pain again. In this case she had pain for 4-5 years with some minor strain but not traumatic. As is the case with the clinic she attended initially she was x-rayed and some minor degenerative changes were found at levels of the neck consistent with being a 50+ year old ie normal for age. This in itself is not a reason to expose someone to ionising radiation. She was given the usual hard sales patter and told she needed to have extensive treatment for at least a year to solve her problem. This was to be paid for as she went, for a cost of £1560, or in one go for £1397, or in 3 installments of £494 for £1482. Quite staggering really, as I don’t know any clinician in the world dealing with musculo-skeletal problems who can accurately predict the number of treatments needed to improve a condition. She sensibly declined the service suggested and came to see Back In Form Chiropractic Clinic.
After a thorough exam encompassing assessment of musculo-skeletal and functional neurological assessment of the central nervous system (brain and cord), we found some deeper reasons why she may have a persistent problem. We started treatment and gave her some tools to both rehab the body AND the Central nervous system.
So far, after just 3 visits her headaches have improved dramatically and her neck pain is significantly less, however due to the length of time she has had her problem she will probably require around 6 more visits over the 12 month period suggested by her first consultation at the other clinic. Therefore her total cost of care at Back In Form will be around £470 a saving of £1000 compared to her previous recommendation at the clinic that is more concerned with it’s bank balance.
Would you trust a clinic that prices things like this?
So the upshot is this. Don’t fall for the hard sales patter and “benefit of x-rays” at your discounted consultation. That deal you are looking for is likely to cost you a whole lot more as they try to put the fear of god into you.
At Back In Form Chiropractic Clinic treatments are 20 minutes long and you are the only person we pay attention to at that time. You won’t feel like you are in a production line here. You get treated in the same way as I would treat myself, we look at you as someone we care about, we care about your health and spend the time focusing just on you.
I have spent ages deliberating whether to put this post out but feel compelled to as I hate to see people being exploited when they are more vulnerable.
