Chiropractor Ken Frederick Explains How And When Medical Doctors Work Alongside His Patients

Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Chiropractors.Media

So how about your relationship with MDs? How would they, how would you bring them in when you see something, you know, that needs to be addressed?

Ken Frederick – Chiropractor – Port Orchard, Washington

Well, they’re experts at what they do. And, you know, part of our training in chiropractic college is also to recognize what we can’t do. So, many times I’ll have a person that says, oh, I’ve got numbness and leg weakness running down my leg. And I know that well, that sounds like it could be sciatica, but many different conditions can mimic sciatica. So it’s important to try and make a determination as quickly as we can. And usually, it just takes me three or four treatments to know. No, that is not sciatica. I think this is something else. Perhaps you should contact your primary MD and see maybe, is it a blood flow problem? You know, because if you’re not getting enough blood to the muscles in your leg, your leg is not going to work right. You know, those muscles are going to scream for oxygen. So I’ll make that referral.

A person can come in with low back. You know, this is part of the differential diagnosis thing that we were taught. If it’s not just a simple musculoskeletal thing, what else could it be? I’ve had patients come in that say, I’ve got low back pain. I’ve never had low back pain in my life. Well, that could be pancreatitis. It could be an abdominal aneurysm.

So usually, I’ll know right away just because what I’m doing isn’t helping. That’s the biggest thing. I schedule extra time with my patients. I believe that most chiropractors have 5-to-7-minute appointment times. My appointment times for each patient is 15 minutes. And that’s because I will always ask them, how did you do since I saw you last? Are you better, the same, or worse? And if it’s, I’m the same, I’m the same, I’m the same, even after trying different techniques, I’ll say, this could be something else. Have you had any infections lately? Have you been having fevers? And most of the time, they are.

A lot of times a patient will come in and go, back pain, I’ve never had back pain. Have you ever had a low back x-ray? No, I have not. A lot of these conditions, like the aneurysm I mentioned, shows up on X-ray. It’s an immediate referral. So in the end, I have no problem at all keeping MDs involved in a patient’s well-being.

And I think that over the years, I think the medical profession’s attitude towards chiropractors has calmed a lot. I get many referrals from MDs in my office, and I’m happy to work with them.