What is a "spinal hygiene class"? How does it help me in practice? How do I get started? The best part about doing a class like this is that it only takes time and preparation. Best of all, it's free.

The spinal hygiene class is your opportunity to transform your current spinal class into a class that promotes all the products you have to offer in your clinic. This is the time to show and tell all the benefits and uses of the products in your office. For example, when talking about posture at home, work, or sleep, for example, we bring out cervical and lumbar pillows. We will also demonstrate the use of orthotics and their benefits to spinal structure.

When going into exercise and fitness, the demonstration and participation continues with the use of several products. Our class promotes the use of exercise balls. We have plenty on hand for patients to take home. We also show the "power centering" DVD for home floor exercises. The DVD is also available for purchase. This is also the opportunity to introduce your nutritional product line if it applies.

All class participants receive a package of material that supports the chiropractic principles discussed as well as promotional material for our product lines. Samples of Biofreeze are given in each packet, as well as a description of all in-house products and services.

How the Class Has Evolved

I had been doing the traditional and classic health care class now for more than 20 years. The patients who attended these classes would clearly get well faster due to the fact that they are educated on the six facets of health. These patients have now become a better referral source and also tend to be more likely to participate in long-term wellness care. Now patients would participate in all office events and follow our recommendations consistently. What could be better? Unfortunately, not many patients would show up to our classes. We would do our classes every other week to try and build an audience. But at best we would get two to four patients per class with an occasional guest. We always invited guests to attend and requested that our patients bring a family member with them so that they could benefit and also help their spouse understand what they were going through. This proved to be somewhat helpful, but also weak.

We changed the name from a "class" to a "workshop," and told our patients that they needed to bring someone with them, since it was a workshop. In the event they couldn't bring anybody, someone would be assigned to them. While this helped increase our guest attendance, it was sometimes pushing people away.

It was time to change the traditional class I had been doing for years and come up with a method and wording to stimulate interest in patient education in the office for my patients, their families, their friends, and potential new patients. I changed the name of the class to a spinal hygene class, and then put the energy into the content being delivered. We advised our patients of our roles as chiropractors: Our role was not just to help them get out of pain and feel better, but to coach them on staying well for the rest of their lives.

The new name for our workshop or class has created a unique new interest, mainly because it got my interest. The more excited I am about doing something, the more excited my patients are. When I use the term "spinal hygiene," patients listen a little closer. They have heard and understand the word hygiene but never in conjunction with the spine. Putting the two together has created a buzz in the office, and there is nothing wrong with excitement in the office.

This is the opportunity to create the message that I want to deliver, promote the products that I want, and create my ideal patient, positioning myself as their most trusted wellness adviser.

I started by taking the standard six facets of health workshop I did and breaking down each facet with support material from current literature and popular press. I then coupled that with a specific product that enables patients to take the action step to create what they want in the health and wellness facet that we present. I now become the resource for each of the six facets that I present, which includes exercise and fitness, sleep, posture, mental attitude, nutrition, and a balanced spine. The resources I provide may not always be a product, but a referral source as well. This will allow me to expand the network of referral sources to my practice.

The spinal hygiene class informs your patients that chiropractic is effective for more than just back pain. It gives you the opportunity to show up as an expert and resource for many areas of health and wellness in addition to explaining how chiropractic works so patients refer family and friends.

The spinal hygiene class helps Stephen J. Levine, DC, promote products such as fitness balls, support pillows, and patient-education materials.

Patients listen to many sources on how to be healthy from what they read, see, and hear. Give them the tools from credible sources. Use health and wellness books and articles to back up the information you deliver. The book Discover Wellness, How Staying Healthy Can Make You Rich is a great resource to use and show your patients.

When posture is discussed, we support our information by showing patients proper ergonomics with the use of back supports in the car, home, and workplace. Patients all get to use these pillows and experience the difference with and without them. When discussing sleep and proper sleep postures, recommendations are made for beds with literature. The demonstration of a cervical pillow is part of the class. When exercise and fitness are discussed, appropriate stretching is demonstrated and done as a group.

The next step is to show how an exercise ball is used and its benefits for core strength, flexibility, coordination, and spinal hygiene. Get each participant on the ball to show how it can be done easily and safely to break down any fears the patient might have.

When the class is done, your patients will leave informed on the benefits of chiropractic care. They will also leave with the necessary products to help them optimize their results. This will now position you as more of an adviser on health and wellness.

Convey your message with confidence, certainty, passion, and enthusiasm. Your spinal hygiene class gives you the opportunity to change lives and become an influence and a trusted source of wellness in your community. You may be the first voice of health and wellness your patients get to hear.

Stephen J. Levine, DC, practices in South Orange, NJ. Contact him at .