There is no single answer that fits everyone, but you will not leave your first visit without a realistic estimate. At Full Swing Healthcare, Dr. Cody Muren and Dr. Eric Hall assess what is actually going on before they give you a number. They do not hand out 12-month plans before they know how your body responds.
Acute vs. Chronic: The Biggest Factor
How long the problem has been there matters more than almost anything else.
- Acute problems (within the last 2-3 weeks): Tissue is still in an active healing phase and responds quickly to mechanical correction. Most acute cases resolve in 4 to 8 visits.
- Chronic problems (months or years): The nervous system has adapted to the pain pattern, muscle guarding has become habitual, and posture has shifted to compensate. Realistic timelines are usually 8 to 16 visits over 2 to 3 months, with visit frequency dropping as you improve and stabilize.
What Good Progress Looks Like
You should notice meaningful improvement within 4 to 6 visits. Not complete resolution, but clear directional movement: pain lower in frequency or intensity, range of motion improving, good days outweighing bad ones.
If that trajectory is not showing up by visit five or six, that is a conversation worth having. Either the plan needs an adjustment, or there is an underlying cause that has not been fully addressed. Our doctors will tell you this directly. We do not keep people coming in when they are not getting better. The goal is to get you to a point where you do not need us regularly, then be here when something flares up.
The Maintenance Question
After the acute phase resolves, some patients choose monthly or periodic maintenance care. That decision is yours. There is real value in it for people with physically demanding jobs or high training loads. It is not pushed as a default recommendation, just an option that makes sense for certain lifestyles.