Understanding the Cost of Chiropractic Treatments: Discount vs Premium

“They look like they are trying to sell me packages … like not very transparent.”

To some extend, people in Singapore may have grown used to chiropractors harassing them to sign up for a chiropractic trial at a shopping mall or MRT station. The impression some Singaporeans have is that that is what chiropractic is.

Well … I don’t do that.

I’ve written extensively about chiropractors in Singapore who hard-sells treatment plans and heavily discounted chiropractic sessions. It’s been two years since I started calling them out and I think people are starting to get it.

I don’t think we have an awareness problem anymore. Mainstream news had reported that experienced chiropractors were pushing packages over $4,000. Even CASE has a specific case study of how Mr Fong had to approach them for help to secure a refund for a chiropractic package.

If you are reading this, consider yourself warned!

I do not use discounts to entice sales.

4:12 – “You pay peanuts. You get monkeys.” What one of our neck pain clients shared when asked about our not cheap fees.

We can’t discuss if my fees is worth the dollar without considering what you want to get out of it.

Ultimately, the question comes down to what is important to you.

Let’s talk about hairdressing. Some of us (myself inclusive) would be happy with a $12 hair cut. Some of us, however, have a preferred stylist that can easily charge anything from double to quadruple that.

Are you looking for temporary pain relief? Maybe you just want to feel better for the next three to four days so you can get past a busy period at work?

If that’s the case, a chiropractic adjustment, massage or stretch therapy will likely suit you.

I charge more because I work with clients who had tried all of those things, who had spent thousands of dollars on packages, who were just simply not getting results.

I work with my clients on what I call the hard change (watch the video). We take a long-term view on how recovery should look. With an effective problem-solving process, we co-construct pain solutions that is not focused on just temporary relief.

You can see that my approach to pain management makes a big difference. At the end of the video, the client speaks of his quality of life, about not having to keep going back for “maintenance care” i.e. traditional chinese medicine acupuncture or cupping.

He also talked about a change in how he views pain and how, as part of the recovery process, he transformed from negative self-talk to positive self-talk.

Yes, my fees are expensive.

As to if they are worth the dollar, that will come down to what are you trying to achieve with treatment.

Relationship AND results focused

You can see that my clients advocate for my well-being. This is something I am absolutely grateful for.

While other chiropractic clinics choose to take a tight-lipped approach to their fees (try calling them to ask about the cost of treatment), my clients are openly supportive of not just my work but also the value I bring to the community.

I talk a lot about being community-first and relationship-centred on my website. I think these videos demonstrate the authentic relationship I have with my clients.

There are some things money can’t buy. This is probably one of them!

p.s. None of them received discounts or free sessions to doing these videos.

This is one of my earlier recordings so there are a lot of “like”! Sorry for the poor speaking skills.

In this video I spoke with Finish chiropractor Perttu Riipinen about my pricing approach to delivering high value chiropractic care (i.e. don’t have to keep coming back).

Essentially, with my clients’ support and encouragement, I did manage to find a viable financial/business model to start paying rent and to start paying myself a wage.

So, this video was really for chiropractors and physiotherapists around the world who feel like they have to offer low value care just to keep the business alive. I am not saying it’s easy to sustain what I am doing. I am saying it’s possible.

This may sound obvious but you get what you pay for. Literally.

I calculated my fees based on how much an average chiropractor would charge per session (assuming you buy a 40 or 80 session package) vs how much time they spent with their patients.

The average chiropractor in Singapore charges $75 to $120 for a 15-minute appointment if you are on a package. Without a package, per session can range from $85 to $145 per treatment.

So if you think about the patient who paid $120 for a two-minute session (which I have personally witnessed before), what I am charging is an absolute steal!

There are other chiropractors or physiotherapists who would only spend a couple of minutes with their patients. The bulk of your treatment time is spent lying on a bed receiving TENS, heat pack, or other similar passive treatments.

Why are you paying $85 for a chiropractic session when you could easily get both a TENS machine and heat pack for yourself with that money?

Some chiropractors and physiotherapists have started offering spinal decompression or spinal traction treatment as an add-on service. You’d probably pay a couple of hundred of dollars for a treatment that didn’t make any major clinical guideline recommendations.

And it sounds really cool because it’s all high tech and fancy. It pulls your spinal vertebrae apart so it gets nourished, etc, etc, etc.

In reality, spinal decompression is one of the best revenue-generating service a clinic can offer. Sure, the machine is pricey and can cost a few thousands to ten thousand dollars each. But what if you can make that money back in just a week? How does that sound?

Spinal decompression has highest return on investment in clinical practice. I wonder if this is because of its poor efficacy. While clinical guidelines have mentioned treatments from acupuncture to mindfulness to spinal manipulation to yoga and taichi, spinal decompression never made the list.

To understand my beef against spinal decompression, check out the expose on spinal decompression CBC ran back in 2010. The multi-clinic chain they exposed offer almost exclusively spinal decompression therapy. Trust me, it’s good money.

Globally we have an issue with chronic pain sufferers choosing low value pain relief (i.e. have to keep coming back) over high value ones because of junk science and marketing fluff.

Other examples of low value care include chiropractic adjustments, sports massage, stretching, and posture correction.

You spend more money to take more time to get less results.

I know. It’s mind blowing right? Pretty much everything we know to do about our aches, pains requires you to keep coming back. Ironically, they also all talk about fixing the problem at the root cause, which by the way, is a terrible approach to pain.

Research shows the “root cause” approach lead to poorer treatment outcomes, higher healthcare expenditure, and poorer quality of life. It’s a triple whammy.

I understand my style of practice (exercise + coaching) may not sound palatable to you. Perhaps it’s not the right time for you and that is totally okay.

I empathise it can be difficult to wrap our heads around how exercising and talking is enough to make your problem go away for good.

I mean, chiropractors and physiotherapists in Singapore still struggling to sell this even though research has been recommending this approach for years.

Most of them cite poor uptake of exercise as treatment plus patient’s expectations to offering low value care.

“Already so painful you still want me to exercise?”

For your own good, the short answer is, yes.

Ke yi de. Boleh wan.

Of course it’s not going to be easy. We may have to start with load management. We may also work to change how you view your body or the narratives you use during recovery.

This is where the talking and coaching comes in.

At the end of the day, Square One Active Recovery is built to make my own services redundant to you. I am heavily invested in seeing you through this recovery.

If am willing to give up potential income (e.g. sell packages*), what else could I be holding on for? The gratification of doing good chiropractic work is what keeps me going.

*The average spend at a package-pushing chiropractic clinic is easily 50% to 70% more than what my average client spends with me right? If you think that’s crazy, one of my clients paid a five-digit figure for a chiropractic package.

If you have been struggling with chronic pain for a while now and just not getting the pain relief you are after, book in an appointment with me to discover the difference the right care can make. I promise it will be a completely different chiropractic experience.