Three things to consider before making a booking with Square One Active Recovery

I first wrote this seven years ago when I first started Square One Active Recovery in 2018. Back then, chiropractors offering exercise therapy as the predominant modality was unheard of in Singapore. Resistance towards exercise as a chronic pain treatment was also much higher.

Attitudes towards exercise have changed dramatically. And people in Singapore are starting to look towards long-term solution. The purpose of today’s update is to let prospective clients know what to expect, and also provide context to why we do what we do.

1. You definitely would not get adjusted

I did offer chiropractic adjustments when I first moved back to Singapore. I mean, people love it right? So it’s definitely good for business. But when you start seeing the same people coming back again for the same issue, it gets kinda annoying.

It probably wouldn’t have been the case if I could get people to start exercising. But that was ridiculously definitely because there was no perceived need. My pain hurts, I go to Jesse. I feel better after. Why do I need to exercise?

This was when young, idealistic me decided that something needs to change. Not only did I stop offering spinal manipulation, but I have stopped all passive treatments from dry needling to IASTM, active release technique, etc.

No lack of spinal manipulation options in Singapore

There is really no lack of chiropractors who perform adjustments or offering passive treatments in Singapore. There are even non-chiropractors who are offering spinal manipulation as part of their core service.

For example, we have Danny Jumari from Corrective Therapy Singapore. Danny is a National Taekwondo Gold Medalist and Black belt practitioner. From what I can see, he doesn’t have any formal clinical training. The treatment he offers vary from spinal manipulation (which he refers to as bone setting) proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF), muscle release techniques,  and trigger point therapy.

Treatments at Corrective Therapy Singapore are much what you can expect from a chiropractor. They even do one of the those y-strap chiropractic adjustments and wear scrubs when working with patients! When watching their social media videos, it’s hard to differentiate them from regular chiropractors.

Chris Leong – Tit Tar

Of course when it comes to the cracking of spine, we cannot forget the all-famous Chris Leong. It seems like he has started his own business here in Singapore. It is not clear how his business in Singapore here work cos their pricing page only shows a range of massages rather than his Tit Tar services.

While several of the pages on his website is down, it looks like his business is still active. His most recent Google review was from a month ago and their Instagram profile seems to be still active.

New osteopathic college in Singapore

The School of Osteopathy (Singapore) is not entirely new per se but only established themselves in the last couple of year. It’s a collaboration or something with European School of Osteopathy. Upon graduation, graduates will be able to work as osteopaths.

It’s a five-year part-time degree, which I found a bit shocking. Because chiropractic was five years full time for me. Physiotherapy at Singapore Institute of Technology is four years. So I thought five years seem very short for a part-time degree.

Either way, it is what it is. We definitely will start seeing people in Singapore having more options for spinal adjustment services.

One of the students of the programme is Daniel Chan, a prominent pilates instructor and trainer from Pilates BodyTree.

2. Having a health, well-being, or recovery goal is super important

I don’t really do feel good treatments or lifestyle well-being. You can definitely see that from my Google reviews that my work is very results-oriented. If you are coming to me for my help, there must be something you want to address and somewhere you want to get to. This much has not changed.

My interest in working with people is to get them to better health. This could be better physical health or even general well-being. My personal motivation is in delivering results for my clients. In order for me to deliver results, you must have a goal. When you have a goal and we start working towards it, you see results.

Of course chronic pain is the primary reason people come to me for my services. But I also do work with people to help them with weight loss as well as exercise to manage the three highs: high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high blood cholesterol.

Wellness-centred offering

I think feeling good about yourself is not the same as actually being healthier. One of the things I genuinely find curious is REKOOP. They are a private members club that seems to focus on optimising health and well-being. Yet out of the five “resident masters”, only one has some form of clinical training: Rabia Shah who is a musculoskeletal physiotherapist

When you look at the photos on their website, they looked more like a glorified spa. I have nothing against them of course. But does going for any of the treatments or services they offer actually make people happier?

I am totally on board with health is not just an absence of diseases but a complete well-being. I also get that it covers physical, mental, and social domain.

Social domain, I’ll get them that. The rest. I am not sure.

3. You will feel worse for the first two or three sessions

This is probably the biggest difference between seeing us versus our competitors. You usually will feel worse at the start. Most pain treatments in Singapore offer instant relief but the problem with such an approach is that your pain tends to come back.

For example, most people do feel instantly better after a chiropractic adjustment. However, the relief is often short-lived and they need to go back again.

If you think about it, this is pretty much the same as medication. You get relief when the treatment. But the pain still persists. The worst part about traditional chiropractic therapy is that you have to go back even when your pain has resolved. At least for medications, you can stop anytime you want.

Three prolonged pain solution at Square One Active Recovery

Exercise is the most obvious thing we do at Square One Active Recovery. But it’s not the only thing we do. We also include education and coaching as part of our treatment.

In passive treatments, you relax on a bed or plinth while a therapist do something to do to make your pain better. We don’t do that. What we do is we help our clients help themselves find freedom from pain.

It’s really about giving a hungry man a fish, you feed him for a day, but if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.

Right?

Unfortunately with our approach that offers way better long-term success, you do tend to feel worse. Of course we will be with you every step of the way. Hence, coaching. Once you are ready, we will bid farewells and you can live your life freed from pain!