16 Penn Plaza #22

Bangor, ME 04401

150 Bucksport Rd

Ellsworth, ME 04605

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Bangor Clinic:

Ellsworth Clinic:

Medical Professional

Welcome to Back in Balance Wellness Center's website! As a medical professional, patients often confront you with questions about Chiropractic healthcare, at times placing you in an awkward position. This portion of the website was design specifically for you. Our goal is to serve as a credible resource for quality information and research, so you feel comfortable providing a referral, when appropriate to a chiropractic doctor. 

Numerous interviews conducted by the New England Spine Institute with medical professionals have identified reasons why there is such separation between chiropractors and medical practitioners. The most common reasons to be:

  • There is a great variation among chiropractors and no way to predict what treatments will be provided to medical professional's patients.
  • Most medical professionals are unfamiliar with the scope of chiropractic practice.
  • Most medical professionals have never spoken with a chiropractor.

Back in Balance Wellness Center is committed to building integrated relationship with area medical professionals. Dr. Robin W. Gooden meets often with these professionals to educate them on what we do and how we are a service to their patients. Our goal is to build this bridge so that patient care is heightened and healthcare cost are diminished. We accomplish this with one-on-one discussions, educational lectures, newsletters and patient referrals.

Which Patients Should I Consider for Referral to Back in Balance?

  • Outcomes for chiropractic treatment are optimal for mechanical/myofascial cervical, thoracic and lumbosacral spinal pain.
  • Patients with disc herniations commonly respond favorably to chiropractic management. Our clinic uses a combination of traction (axial, flexion-distraction), extension therapy, spinal stability rehabilitation, and posture correction aimed to unload disc stress.
  • Patients with repetitive strain conditions, carpal tunnel syndrome and thoracic outlet all respond extremely well to our treatment protocols and have positive outcomes.

With so many Variations, How Does a Medical Professional Identify a Qualified Chiropractor?

The Journal of Family Practice published the following guidelines to consider when selecting a chiropractor:

  • Willing to be clinically observed
    • We welcome observation and discussion
  • Does not radiograph every patient
    • We radiograph only AFTER a complete exam and with clinical indications to radiograph.
  • Treats mainly musculoskeletal disorders
    • We specialize in these disorders.
  • Solicits positive feedback for patients
    • We give our patients satisfaction surverys so that we can improve every day.
  • Communicates with the referring physician
    • We send narrative reports, exam findings, treatment plans and progress reports to every physician.
  • Administers reasonable treatment programs
    • Our goal is to have the patient at maximum medical improvement (MMI) as quickly as possible.

How many Chiropractic Treatments are Necessary of Patients to Improve?

  • The acute, uncomplicated spinal pain patients usually have significant relief in two to four weeks, plus they have added function and stability preventing future problems.
  • The chronic or complicated acute patients typically require four to six weeks of treatment to gain a system wide response of healing and relief of symptoms. Again, in these patients scar tissue, dysfunctional movement patterns and muscle imbalances must be addressed AND corrected which may prolong recovery times. Many of our patients notice such vast improvement in quality of life that they choose to continue chiropractic care on a maintenance or wellness plan.
  • Patients with chronic and/or permanent conditions will be treated under a different model. Once the patients have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI), we typically will provide chiropractic care and home exercise instructions on a a maintenance basis to maintain their health and functional improvement. We promote patient independence.

Is Chiropractic Manipulation a Safe Treatment for Patients?

We use the correct manipulative procedures for the various types of patients. When this occurs, manipulation is extremely safe. We do assess contraindications our patients may have prior to treatment.

  • Patients may experience soreness in the area of the manipulation and this is a welcomed response.
  • The most concerning potential complication is Vertebral Artery Dissection (VAD). Currently this is estimated to have an incidence of 1:3,000,000 to 1:10,000,000; however, the studies include manipulation performed by untrained practitioners, athletic coaches and tribal medicine men.
  • A recent systematic review done at the Penn State Department of Neurosurgery revealed no evidence for causation between strokes and chiropractic adjustments.
  • History of spinal surgery, osteoporosis, arthropathies, disc herniations without significant neurological deficits, scoliosis, degenerative changes and joint instabilities are not absolute contraindications; however, they do require treatments be altered to be as safe as possible.
  • Absolute contraindications are severe/progressive neurological deficits, infections, malignancies, acute fractures/dislocations and acute arthropathies.

Enjoy the site. If you need any additional information, please don't hesitate to contact us directly at (207) 947-8077 or by email at [email protected]. Upon request a CD clearly explaining chiropractic healthcare and our practice will be sent to your office.

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Bangor Clinic

Hours of Operation

Monday:

8:30 am-6:00 pm

Tuesday:

7:00 am-5:00 pm

Wednesday:

8:30 am-6:00 pm

Thursday:

7:00 am-6:00 pm

Friday:

8:30 am-2:30 pm

Saturday:

Closed

Sunday:

Closed

Ellsworth Clinic

Hours of Operation

Monday:

8:00 am-6:00 pm

Tuesday:

8:00 am-6:00 pm

Wednesday:

8:00 am-6:00 pm

Thursday:

12:00 pm-6:00 pm

Friday:

8:00 am-2:00 pm

Saturday:

Closed

Sunday:

Closed