Arkfeld Chiropractic is a chiropractic office in Michigan, focusing on enhancing neurological performance of the brain and spine. They offer a variety of therapies, including those found in professional sports medicine departments, to relieve pain, empower movement, and balance the nervous system. In addition to patients with chronic pain, musculoskeletal injuries, and stress and anxiety, Arkfeld Chiropractic treats a broad range of student athletes.

Dr. Arkfeld’s background as a college athlete lead him to expand his practice to the local high school, functioning as the sports medicine provider for the football, basketball, and baseball teams. He purchased a NormaTec PULSE on the advice of an athletic trainer after first seeing it on the HBO series Hard Knocks about the Los Angeles Rams.

His student athlete patients responded very well to NormaTec compression massages, and the service is in high demand. Using revenue from NormaTec sessions, Dr. Arkfeld paid off his NormaTec within six weeks and purchased a second unit to expand the service. The second system allowed him to double his NormaTec related income, and he has since added 4 more systems.

“You can’t get a massage that does the same thing as NormaTec. It has been one of the best practice builders I have ever had in over 30 years.”

For insurance billing compliance in Michigan, a massage therapist would have to be an employee of the clinic, earning either an hourly salary or a percentage of massage revenues. From a purely financial standpoint, the ROI with NormaTec is much higher than hiring a massage therapist. Multiple units can be booked simultaneously at $25 per session, for up to $100 per hour in revenue and without any additional overhead.

Because the NormaTec was so successful at helping his athletic patients with faster recovery, increased circulation, and injury rehab, Dr. Arkfeld decided to extend the service to treat other patients. The clinic started using NormaTec on patients withsciatica, diabetic neuropathy, ankle and knee sprains, spinal stenosis, and degenerative disc conditions.

“I started using it on more of our patients, and we had really good clinical results. The patients absolutely loved it, and they were getting better in faster time.”

During this time, the practice grew rapidly and had to relocate from a 1,200 square foot clinic to a 2,600 square foot facility, which was designed to include a NormaTec recovery room. The recovery room is utilized by most of the clinic’s patients, including Medicare patients, workers comp cases, and local athletes. After moving into the larger building with the dedicated NormaTec Recovery Room, the clinic consistently posts NormaTec revenues of $1,000 to $1,500 per week.

“I typically see 25–30 patients per day. And I would say that there are only about 5 patients per day who do not get NormaTec. And our patients do not miss appointments when they know they are getting NormaTec. It really solidifies our treatment plans.”

The clinic does not do any advertising and instead relies on word of mouth and patient referrals to grow their volume. Local athletes looking for a competitive advantage and access to the same tools that they see the pros using come into Arkfeld Chiropractic to use NormaTec with their teammates. Other patients who find NormaTec beneficial for treating soreness in their joints and muscles, diabetic neuropathy pain, balance issues, and other spinal conditions refer their friends and family to come in and achieve similar relief.

“And what these patients do is they go back and they tell their families and friends, and they just show up, and because I am the only one in the area who has NormaTec, it has separated me from all the other chiropractors. You don’t have to be involved in sports medicine even. If you want something that is going to get your patients better and be a practice builder that separates you from the competition, consider NormaTec.”

Arkfeld chiropractic charges for NormaTec sessions as a cash service. They have different programs that they run including membership to a discount medical network group, and a six-week athletic performance program, both of which include NormaTec as one of the therapies. Patients can also book NormaTec sessions independently of other services at $1 per minute for an average of $20 per visit, or buy a package of five 20 minute sessions that comes with two additional free sessions for $125.

“Patients find value in the service and have no reluctance to pay cash for it. You can buy one unit, and I’ll tell you, you’ll need a second unit pretty quick because there is going to be the demand.

It is one of the best, if not the best, investments

I ever made in the practice.”

Clinical Example:

Patient X presented to the clinic with severe lower back pain with radiation down the posterior right thigh to the calf muscle. The pain was increased with lumbar spine extension, right lateral, and right rotation active range of motion. The pain was also increased with coughing and sneezing. Orthopedic tests consisting of Bechterew’s and Straight Leg Raise were positive on the right for both lumbar spine and radiating pain. Dermatome testing elicited hypoesthesia in the L5 and S1 dermatomes on the right, left were normal. The posterior tibialis and dorsalis pedis arteries on the right were diminished, the left side was normal.

The diagnosis was a lumbar disc herniation posterior lateral compressing the L5-S1 nerve roots causing radiculopathy. The patient stated they had been under a lot of stress recently, and his right foot was always cold. We place the patient on a treatment program of conservative chiropractic manipulations consisting of Cox Flexion-Distraction technique, with 30-minutes of BioWave stimulation to his lumbar spine, and 20-minutes of bilateral NormaTec Leg sessions. This was the first patient that the clinic had implemented NormaTec into the treatment plan due to his subjective and objective findings. The treatment goal was to have 50% symptom and objective findings reduction within four weeks.

At the two-week mark, the sciatica was gone; the pulses in the right foot were back to normal. After four weeks of treatment, the patient’s symptoms were completely resolved with respect to the lower back pain and right leg sciatica. In the past, patients with this presentation were anticipated to require 3 months of care. To have this patient asymptomatic within 4-weeks was evidence that NormaTec should be part of the treatment plan for anyone presenting with these symptoms.

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