For Chiropractors - Great Artery Age Verbiage

Saw this and thought of you...

It gives a great example of how to most-effectively describe, to a patient, the current "status" of their spine so they instantly understand the real value of on-going chiropractic care with you.

Ironically, it's from an article about "vascular age", of all things, in a recent Wall Street Journal article.

The article is entitled "The Age of Your Arteries".

According to author, Ron Winslow, "Several tools are available that enable doctors and patients to calculate vascular age. These suggest there can be a substantial difference between how old you are and how old your blood vessels are."

The article goes on to say, "Typically, results of these tests are expressed in percentiles and risk probabilities, which 'human beings don't understand at all,' says Dr. Lloyd-Jones, a preventive cardiologist at Northwestern University, Chicago."

"For instance, a Framingham score may indicate someone has a 7% chance, or low risk, of having a heart attack in the next 10 years.

If I say you are 45, but you have the risk of an otherwise healthy 67-year-old,' that somehow gets in our brain better' than a percentage risk, he says."

"Such a calculation 'gives a sense that your risk-factor burden is making you age faster than you think you are,' says Donald Lloyd-Jones.

'The more you can make it concrete, the better you can impart information about risk.'"

And, right there is a great tip for every chiropractor.

To repeat: "The more you can make it concrete, the better you can impart information about risk".

So, what does that mean when speaking with chiropractic patients and prospective patients?

Maybe, when reviewing x-rays and speaking of curvature... you can speak in terms of a spine of a certain age.

Or, you can speak of having a spine potentially functioning as that of someone much older.

The point is just this: percentages, statistics, numbers, data, etc., don't work nearly as well at getting patients emotional about their need for on-going care with you as giving them a clear and easily recognizable reference point they can picture in their mind.

Here's a simple example that proves this point.

Which can you picture in your mind easier?...

300 yards...

...or...

3 football fields?

The football fields. Right.

Because the mind can't process abstract things like numbers.

So, make it concrete for patients when speaking of risk.

Give them a clear picture of what that risk looks like.