Chiropractic care has long been the natural choice to address neck and back pain. Through careful and qualified care, most patients find relief. However, sound chiropractic care is a powerful tool for restoring your whole body to its optional level of health. Effective for the whole family, children and seniors alike can benefit considerably from chiropractic care.

Q: How do I know if I need chiropractic care?

A: If you have a spine, you need to get it checked. Don't wait until you have back or neck pain. By then, the damage may be more difficult to reverse. Remember, your tooth decays for a long time before it hurts. Likewise, you can have early degeneration and related problems before your "pain" signal goes off! (Only 10% of the nerves in your body can even communicate pain!) It's a lot easier to correct a small problem than a big one. This is why it is so important to get children on a regular "check up" schedule when they're young!

Q: How Does A Chiropractor Work?

A: If you have been in more than one chiropractor's office; or, if your friend or family member goes to a different chiropractor, you will notice right away that every chiropractor works differently. For example, some chiropractors use instruments to analyze the spine while others use only their hands. Some emphasize sports-related issues; others focus on children; and some even adjust the spines of animals.

Dr. Hartley sees a wide variety of patients, ranging in age, activity levels, and level of complexity in their spinal health. Many patients express concern about being "popped" or "cracked". Good for them, we're not fond of it either! Dr. Hartley is different than about 90% of all chiropractors in that his technique involves minimal "popping" or "cracking" of a patient's spine. He is extremely specific in identifying which bones to adjust and very gentle in his adjustments. His methods are so gentle that his patients have ranged from a 1 day old baby (who slept through the whole process) to an 84 year old lady with osteoporosis. (They're both doing great!)

Q: What insurance does Dr. Hartley accept?

A: Dr. Hartley participates in many insurance programs, including: Blue Cross Blue Shield-SC State Group and other Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, Medicare and Medicaid, Many Aetna and United Health Care Partners plans and plans using the American Chiropractic Network (ACN), plans using PCHS American Wholehealth Network. However, there are many instances where it is actually less expensive for the patient for Dr. Hartley not to be in the network. Why? Because in-network patients are usually required to pay a set copay that ranges from $10-50 per visit. However, out-of- network visits are usually covered by insurance from 70-90%. If so, since our fees are so reasonable, the patient often ends up paying only $4-10 per visit, based on the percentage they are responsible for. Even people without insurance coverage find Dr. Hartley's fees surprisingly affordable. No one is ever denied care based on their financial situation.

Q: What does it take to become a chiropractor?

A: Chiropractors must attend about 4 years of full-time postgraduate education, complete a demanding internship process, pass 4 separate rigorous national board exams, achieve individual licenses in each state in which they practice and maintain the required amount of continuing education credits per year to maintain their license. The number of credit hours required are very similiar to the training it takes to get an MD degree. In addition to that, Dr. Hartley also has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, a B.Sc. in Microbiology and 4 years experience as a Cancer Research Scientist at Duke Medical Center in Durham, NC. His background and credentials set him among the highest qualified chiropractors in the country. Remember those National Board Exams that all chiropractic physicians in the country are required to take? Dr. Hartley was twice appointed to the NBCE (National Board of Chiropractic Examiners) to write sections of the test. As to the portions he didn't write, he is one of the few in the country to score a perfect or near-perfect score.

Q: Who Should See A Chiropractor?

A: Anyone was has a spine! Age, occupation, culture, activity level, geographic location ... none of these things guarantee your spine's health. Therefore, to be your best, incorporate chiropractic care as part of a healthier lifestyle for yourself and for those you love. Then you have a better chance of becoming everything you were intended to be!

Q: Will Chiropractic Improve My Health?

A: Chiropractic care is one of the soundest, safest things you can do for your health! Dr. Hartley can help insure that your mobility, flexibility, nerve function and overall structure work well for you for your whole lifetime. We always recommend people view chiropractic care as one of their first steps to correct a back or neck problem, only resorting to drugs or surgery as a last resort. We have been pleased to see many patients spared from surgery because they chose to come to us first. One of the most disappointing things we see in our clinic is a patient who has known for a while that their back or neck wasn't right but they put off doing anything about it. Most of the time there is still something we can do to help them. However, there are times when we have to tell someone that their degeneration is irreversible and the best we can hope for at this point is to keep it from progressing and to try and make them comfortable with their current condition. Bottom line, it's best to get on a regular check-up schedule (once every 1-3 months) so you can catch and correct small problems before they become big ones.

Q: Is Chiropractic for the entire family?

A: Yes! While not all chiropractor's techniques are recommended for infants and seniors, Dr. Hartley's methods are so scientific, specific and gentle that this type of care can benefit patients of all ages. At Lake Wylie Family Chiropractic we strongly encourage all members of the family to get their spine checked. It is especially beneficial to correct a child's spine, if needed, when they are young so they can head off further damage, instability and degeneration as they get older. Typical falls, bicycle spills and other childhood bump-ups are very good reasons to get their spines checked once every 3 months or so. Our young patients are usually a bit hesitant the first visit (recalling memories of other 'doctor's office' visits) but come in happily and eagerly from then on! Dr. Hartley makes sure each child has a fun and positive experience. Parents bring their children to our clinic because they are concerned about their child's allergies, ear infections, complaints of pain in their neck or back, frequent colds and chronic constipation, often with very positive results.

There was even one patient who brought in her 3 year old son because he'd been chronically constipated since he was an infant. Dr. Hartley adjusted the boy very gently using only his fingertips. The next day the mother called, saying his problem began resolving that evening (multiple times) and asked if she needed to bring him back in to turn it off! It regulated on its own after that and his problem has not returned.