Young woman at physical therapy program
Walking into a chiropractor’s office for the first time can feel like a leap of faith. You’re not sure what the exam involves, whether anything will hurt, or how long before you know if this will help. At Cadence Chiropractic in American Fork, Utah, we’ve designed the first visit to answer those questions before you have to ask. But our process looks different than what you’d find at a typical clinic, because we don’t start with your pain. We start with your nervous system.
Why We Focus on the Nervous System First
Most chiropractors will ask where it hurts, feel around that area, and adjust what seems out of place. That can provide temporary relief, but it often misses the bigger picture. Pain is a signal, not a diagnosis. Two patients can walk in with identical lower back pain, but the cause in one might be a lumbar misalignment while the other’s problem originates in the pelvis or the thoracic spine.
At Cadence Chiropractic, we’re a neurologically-based practice. Your brain and spinal cord control every function in your body, from muscle movement to immune response to sleep quality. When vertebrae shift out of alignment, they create interference in that communication. Sometimes that interference causes pain. Sometimes it causes problems you’d never connect to your spine.
Our job is to find where that interference lives and correct it at the source.
Before You Arrive: The Health Application
We’ll ask you to fill out a detailed health application before your visit. It covers your full health history, current concerns, lifestyle factors, and care goals. We use this to begin building a picture of your overall health before you sit down with Dr. Nelson.
You can complete the paperwork online through our website, which saves about 15 minutes in the office. It’s worth taking your time on it. The more context we have, the more targeted your evaluation will be.
The Consultation: A Real Conversation
Your visit starts with a one-on-one consultation where Dr. Nelson reviews your health application and asks follow-up questions. This isn’t rushed. It’s a real conversation about what brought you in, what you’ve tried before, and what you’re hoping to get out of care.
Some patients come in with a specific complaint like chronic headaches or lower back pain after a car accident. Others have a vaguer sense that something is off. Both are valid starting points. The consultation captures your experience in your own words before we bring in the objective data.
The Neurological and Chiropractic Evaluation
This is where things get interesting, and where Cadence Chiropractic differs from a lot of other offices. After the consultation, we perform a comprehensive chiropractic and neurological evaluation using diagnostic technology that goes beyond what you can see or feel on any given day.
Thermal Scanning
We measure heat differences on both sides of your spine using infrared technology. Asymmetries in surface temperature indicate areas where the nervous system is under stress. Healthy spinal segments show balanced thermal readings; areas of dysfunction don’t. This scan gives us an objective baseline that doesn’t depend on how you’re feeling that morning.
Postural and Gait Analysis
We look at how you stand and how you walk. Small shifts in your feet, knees, and pelvis create chain reactions up the spine. A slight pelvic tilt might explain recurring neck pain you’ve had for years, but you’d never know without this analysis. Structure drives function.
Range of Motion Testing
Bending forward, backward, and side to side tells us which segments of your spine are moving well and which are restricted. Restricted motion often points to areas of misalignment or joint dysfunction, even if those areas aren’t currently painful.
Orthopedic Testing
Depending on your case, Dr. Nelson may also use specific orthopedic tests to isolate particular components of your condition. These are targeted physical tests designed to narrow down the exact structures involved.
X-Rays (When Necessary)
If the clinical picture warrants it, we’ll take X-rays. These reveal the alignment of your spine, the health of your discs, and how long underlying issues may have been developing. Not every patient needs X-rays, but when indicated, they prevent guesswork.
The Report of Findings: Your Most Important Visit
You won’t receive an adjustment on your first day. Instead, we schedule a Report of Findings, which is arguably the most important visit in your care plan.
Dr. Nelson walks through everything the evaluation uncovered. You’ll see your scans, understand what they mean, and learn exactly where your nervous system is compromised. From there, we build a corrective care plan based on your diagnostics, your health goals, and your life circumstances, including insurance and discount programs.
Because we gathered real data instead of reacting to symptoms, your care plan is specific to you. It’s not a generic 12-visit package. It’s a roadmap built on evidence.
Your First Adjustment at Cadence Chiropractic
Once your care plan is in place, we begin corrective adjustments using the Activator Method. This gentle, instrument-based technique delivers precise, low-force impulses to the exact vertebrae that need correction. No twisting, no popping, no cracking. Patients consistently describe it as comfortable, and many feel a difference after the first adjustment.
Each visit builds on the last. We re-scan periodically to track progress objectively, so both you and Dr. Nelson can see measurable changes in nervous system function over time.
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