It’s tempting to think that those who lack health merely lack knowledge, spawning the popular maxim, “If patients knew what you knew, they would do what you do.”

This prompts many chiropractors to pepper patients with needlessly detailed explanations in the hopes they will get and embrace the chiropractic paradigm—whether it’s framed as pain relief, spinal dysfunction, or subluxation.

Yet, there is a fierce headwind that is often overlooked:

Values – How much patients value their health is hardwired long before meeting them at the consultation.

Self-esteem – Do patients feel worthy of spending their time and money on organic food, gym memberships, or chiropractic?

Media – Co-opted by big pharma and advertising for ultra-processed foods, the message of convenience and instant gratification can be compelling.

There’s a considerable gap between knowing and doing. Yes, tell the story! Just be mindful that their acceptance (or rejection) reveals more about them than you.

Does that mean you shouldn’t even bother trying to educate patients?

Of course not.

However, it might mean you’d want to:

• Take a lighter touch and have modest expectations
• Don’t be fooled by the “patient head fake”
• Show up curious, demonstrating interest in their beliefs
• Think long term by setting the stage for the reactivation
• Stop blaming yourself when patients say one thing but do another

Patient education is important, especially if you want to present chiropractic to patients steeped in an allopathic mindset, who seek instant gratification, and have a general mistrust of their own body.

But temper your expectations of what your educational efforts will produce. There are at least five reasons to educate patients:

1. Supply a new meaning for their symptoms
2. Provide a context for your intervention
3. Set appropriate expectations
4. Build trust and enroll patients in a partnership
5. Remind you of your mission

Any one of these is reason enough to design and administer an effective patient education curriculum. And all five produce a compelling argument that educating patients is as important as adjusting them.

In fact, chiropractic old timers are familiar with a thought experiment that goes something like this: You can either 1) Explain chiropractic principles, or 2) Deliver a single adjustment. You can only do one, which one?

Most see this as an example of the “give a man a fish or teach him to fish” principle, leaning toward the explaining chiropractic choice.

Here’s a deeper dive into the five reasons above.

Supply a New Meaning for Their Symptoms

Some things to consider:

1. Symptoms may be annoying, but they aren’t “bad”
2. Most patients think pain is their problem
3. Pain is a language, albeit a crude one
4. Pain is how their body communicates with its owner
5. They’ve reached a limit of adaptability
6. A change needs to be made
7. It’s the last thing to appear and the first to resolve

Provide a Context for Your Intervention

Some things to consider:

1. Adjustments don’t treat pain or their symptom
2. Adjustments reduce nervous system interference
3. A series of properly spaced visits will be necessary
4. Missing visits can impede the momentum necessary to make change
5. Healing occurs between visits, not on the adjusting table
6. Post-symptomatic care can help avoid their problem from returning

Set Appropriate Expectations

Some things to consider:

1. Chiropractic relies on reviving the body’s healing capacity
2. Each patient controls the speed of their recovery
3. At its best, chiropractic care is a partnership
4. Chiropractic care is rarely a permanent fix for adults with long-standing spinal issues

Build Trust and Enroll Patients in a Partnership

Some things to consider:

1. Patients seek an outcome, you deliver a process
2. Their ability to self-heal is the hero, not you
4. Explain your job and what their job is
5. Preframe a likely relapse if they end their care prematurely

Remind You of Your Mission

This is the most overlooked benefit of patient education—it affirms the decision you made to choose the more difficult path of being a chiropractor. It’s why you give your full patient lecture, even if only one patient shows up.

By all means, create an organized, systematic way of educating patients. But realize few will embrace chiropractic care as a long-term lifestyle adjunct because of the rational, self-evident arguments you make. Especially on their first exposure to it. Instead, they may need to stop and start care several times before they get the big idea. And maybe not even then.

Love them anyway.

Bill Esteb has been a chiropractic patient and advocate since 1981. He is the creative director of Patient Media and the co-founder of Perfect Patients. He’s been a regular speaker at chiropractic gatherings since 1985. His 12 books explore the doctor/patient relationship from a patient's point of view. His chiropractic blog, coaching program, patient focus groups and consulting calls have helped hundreds of chiropractors around the world. Since 1999 Monday Morning Motivation has been emailed to over 10,000 subscribers each week.