Question 1

What should I expect on my first visit?

Accepted Answer

Prior to your first visit, we’ll ask you to fill out detailed paperwork about your current complaint and your overall health history. It’s important to us that we understand you as a whole person from the very beginning. During your first visit, Dr. Skony will go over your current concerns and complaints in great detail to fully understand what your injury might be and how it is affecting you. She’ll perform a comprehensive exam that includes orthopedic, neurologic, functional movement and sport-specific type tests and will discuss her findings with you in great detail. It’s not often necessary, but IF it is clinically indicated, she can and will refer you out for x-ray, MRI, or bloodwork.

Educating patients is a cornerstone of what we do, so we want you to walk away from the first visit feeling knowledgeable and with a plan to move forward with healing. Dr. Skony will spend significant time with you explaining your anatomy, any structural injuries that may be occuring, and any dysfunction or weaknesses that may be contributing. Together you will discuss any treatment options that might be appropriate and a timeline for getting you feeling better.

Question 2

How long are appointments?

Accepted Answer

Your first visit is 60 minutes and follow-up visits are generally 30-40 minutes.

Question 3

What happens on follow-up visits?

Accepted Answer

Dr. Skony will review with you your response to the previous treatment and how you are feeling since we saw you last. We’ll adjust our treatment approach accordingly. During our time together, you are likely to receive some manual therapies and stretching, chiropractic care if indicated, and we spend a good portion of our time together doing active care including rehab exercises, strengthening, and movement re-education. Dr. Skony will prescribe home exercises for you and you’ll be expected to work on this often or daily at home between visits.

Question 4

Do you accept my health insurance?

Accepted Answer

We are in-network providers for Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO plans and out of network with other insurance providers. If you have BCBS, we will bill your insurance company on your behalf and you will be responsible for any deductible or co-pays associated with your plan. Some insurance providers make it difficult for us to provide you with the most personalized and comprehensive care that is focused on what you really need to heal quickly and prevent recurrence of injury. So, it’s beneficial to both of us if we are out of network with some insurance plans. Being out of network means that we can offer you more services, and get you better faster than if they were dictating your care. Upon request, if you are a self-paying patient, we will happily provide you with a detailed receipt of your services so you can submit to your out of network insurance company on your own. Some patients can get reimbursed up to 50-70% from their insurance provider for their purchase.

Question 5

Do I need a referral from my doctor to come see you?

Accepted Answer

No. Chiropractors are regarded as direct access physicians, meaning you do not need a prescription from another doctor to receive care in our office. If you do have a written referral for treatment from another doctor, we will happily add that to your file for reference.

Question 6

How is a Sports Chiropractor different from a Physical Therapist?

Accepted Answer

We’re not all that different really. We both have extensive training in diagnosing and treating musculoskeletal injuries with a variety of techniques. Chiropractors historically are very specialized in joint manipulation, receiving extensive training in this area, but many physical therapists offer this service now too. Physical Therapists are historically very specialized in exercise prescription, but many Chiropractors (including us!) offer this too.

Chiropractors have extensive education and interest in holistic medicine, including complementary and alternative treatment approaches, like nutrition, and vitamins/supplements. We are often also well-versed in alternative treatment approaches in other systems of the body outside of the musculoskeletal system.

In Illinois, Chiropractors can order X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans when necessary. We refer out for these services, and only when clinically indicated. We can also order bloodwork and other specialized tests if needed for further evaluation. This sometimes cuts out the middle man when these other tests are indicated.

Question 7

I already had physical therapy and I didn’t improve, can I come to you for a second opinion?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. Because we take such a comprehensive, detailed, and personalized look at each patient, it’s common for Dr. Skony to provide second opinions for injuries that are not improving with other attempts at treatment. She will discuss with you any reasons she identifies that may explain why you are not improving and what additional options you might have, in or outside of our office, to get better results. When appropriate, we happily co-manage with other professionals to get you the best care possible.

Question 8

I thought Chiropractors only adjusted patients’ backs, how can you help me if I don’t have a back complaint?

Accepted Answer

We know it can get confusing with Chiropractic because Chiropractors have such a wide scope of practice! Dr. Skony is a Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician which means she treats athletes, dancers, and active adults with integrated and functional rehab, similar to what most people are familiar with in a physical therapy practice. Some of the most common complaints she addresses are hip impingement, hip labral tears, hip flexor tendonitis and snapping hip, patellofemoral pain, ankle sprains, posterior ankle impingement, Achilles tendinitis, bunions, plantar fasciitis, rotator cuff injury and shoulder impingement syndromes... to name a few :) Of course, we do treat common neck and back complaints too.

Also, Chiropractic manipulation is just one tool she can use, if needed, but only when it is needed. Being a Chiropractor just means that she looks at the body as a whole that functions together, instead of separated parts. She uses conservative, non-invasive treatment methods to help you recover from your injuries. In our office, we do a lot of exercise and rehab, and Dr. Skony prescribes comprehensive and personalized home exercise programs. She also makes recommendations about healthy lifestyles, ergonomics, nutrition, vitamins, strength and conditioning, and of course healthy return to activity/sport.

Question 9

My daughter is a dancer and is 11 years old and in pain, is she too young to receive treatment?

Accepted Answer

Not at all. It’s common to start seeing dancers when they are 9 or 10 years old, especially if they have a busy training schedule. Dr. Skony works with dancers as young as 7 years old. It can be quite beneficial to work with dancers prior to their major growth spurts, when the risk of injury increases significantly.  85% of dancers experience at least one injury in any given year. And approximately 80% of dance injuries can be prevented. Dr. Skony prefers to evaluate dancers at the onset of any new symptoms so we can get to the root of the problem and correct it before it turns into a bigger issue that will keep you from dance or take longer to heal!

Question 10

I’m a dance teacher and I’d like my students to learn more about their health and preventing injuries. Do you offer workshops in-studio?

Accepted Answer

We do! Dr. Skony has been educating dance students and dance instructors across the midwest for many years in the form of in-person and virtual workshops under a variety of topics. She’d love to connect with you! Please reach out so we can learn more about your studio needs and we tell you more about what we offer or design something customized for you.

Question 11

My dancer is not in pain now, but we’d like to learn more about preventing dance injuries. Can you help us?

Accepted Answer

Definitely. Dr. Skony offers a comprehensive Dancer Wellness Exam that is a detailed evaluation of a dancer’s structural anatomy, strengths, weakness, technique, movement patterns, as well as a review of his/her current training regimen, recovery process, and his/her specific goals moving forward. It’s designed to be highly informative for both the dancer and parent and she often has dancers travel from afar for this highly specific evaluation.

Question 12

I’m not a dancer or an athlete, can I still receive care in your office?

Accepted Answer

You sure can. Our treatment approach is designed for any adolescent or adult who has an active lifestyle or is wishing to become more active but needs some assistance to feel better and move better. We have high expectations in our office that the patient and doctor work together as a team. Our ideal patient is eager to participate in exercise and learn how to take care of themselves better.

Question 13

My schedule is very busy, how often will I have to come in for treatment?

Accepted Answer

While it depends on your specific injury, patients who have active complaints commonly come for treatment 1x/week. If you are in significant acute pain, we may see you 2x/week initially. It’s important to us to teach you how to care for your injury on your own too. So once you start feeling improved, we reduce the treatment frequency and equip you with the skills to continue to make progress on your own between visits.

Question 14

Once you start Chiropractic care, don’t you have to continue going forever?

Accepted Answer

Nope. Chiropractic manipulation, or adjustments, are a great tool to improve mobility in the spine and other joints. Many patients get significant relief with joint manipulation, and it is widely accepted within the medical community as an effective treatment for pain and dysfunction. But, it is ultimately a means to an end. We generally do not offer manipulation as a stand alone treatment. It is just ONE way we can help you reach bigger goals like feeling better, moving better, and moving more efficiently with less pain. In addition, we always combine joint manipulation with postural re-training, muscle strengthening, joint stabilization, motor control learning, stretching and home exercises so that long term your joints move better and with less stress, without our help. ALSO, joint manipulation is not always appropriate or needed for every single patient. So there are plenty of patients who do not get adjusted while under our care and we work more on stability than mobility. We know your life is busy and our goal is to teach you many ways to get better and then empower you to continue improving without needing our help forever.

Some patients do choose to come in infrequently for continued active care and to be held accountable and moving forward, and we’re happy to support you this way.

Question 15

What if I don’t want to be “adjusted?”

Accepted Answer

That’s just fine! Dr. Skony will always discuss in detail with you any and all treatment options that may help your complaint, along with their potential benefits, and it’s your decision which options you would like to use. We have a lot to offer you outside of joint manipulation.

Question 16

Does your office offer Massage Therapy?

Accepted Answer

Dr. Skony often provides localized muscle therapies to affected areas as needed, including myofascial release, active and passive stretching, Graston Technique, dry needling, and cupping. At this time, we do not have a massage therapist on staff to provide prolonged therapeutic or relaxation massages.

Question 17

How long will my treatment plan be?

Accepted Answer

We treat each patient as a unique individual and develop a personalized treatment plan that is specific to you. Unlike some physical therapy locations where you must attend 2x/week for 6 weeks as a standard, we come up with a unique plan based on your presentation and your lifestyle and schedule. On every visit Dr. Skony will be re-evaluating your progress and add/subtract from your plan as needed. With that said, generally most patients feel significant relief or resolution from their complaint in 6-10 visits. Some patients choose to stay with us longer term for elective Performance Optimization services or for maintenance and accountability. We're happy to discuss those options with you if interested.

Frequently asked questions