Assessment
On your first visit, a medical assessment of your chief complaint will help determine a treatment plan.
This can include questions from the onset of your chief complaint, location, duration, the characteristic, alleviates, aggravates, and any related factors. Also, it is during this examination that initial range of motion is evaluated or pain scale can be measured. Other examinations can include a family history and range of systems.
From a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) perspective, the examination of the tongue and pulse gives a good confirmation of the channels and organs involved. Also, palpating the skin along certain channels gives an indication of the channels involved.
Follow up treatments will measure progress of improvement and re-assess any changes to the course of a treatment plan.