How to Choose a Chiropractor (From a Chiropractor Who'll Tell You What Most Won't)

I'm going to do something unusual here and tell you exactly what to look for in a chiropractor, including the things most of us in the profession would rather you didn't ask.

Not because there's anything to hide. But because the chiropractic industry is broad, and the gap between average care and excellent care is wider than most patients realise. Two chiropractors can have identical qualifications, work in the same suburb, and deliver completely different levels of care. One might change your life. The other might keep you coming back every fortnight for years without ever explaining why.

If you're reading this, you're probably in one of two positions. Either you've never been to a chiropractor and you're trying to figure out who to trust. Or you've been to one before, it didn't quite work, and you're wondering whether the problem was chiropractic itself or the particular practitioner you saw. Both are fair positions. And both deserve an honest answer.

This is that answer. Not "5 tips for choosing a chiropractor." This is what I'd want someone to tell my own family before they walked into any clinic.

The credentials are the floor, not the ceiling

Every chiropractor in Australia has completed a minimum five-year university degree and is registered with AHPRA (the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency). That's not negotiable. If someone is practising without AHPRA registration, they're not a chiropractor. Full stop.

But here's the thing most "how to choose" articles stop at: registration tells you someone is legally allowed to practise. It doesn't tell you how they practise, what they measure, what technique they use, or whether they have a structured plan to get you better.

Two chiropractors who graduated from the same university in the same year can take radically different approaches. One might adjust your spine based on feel and experience alone.

Another might take X-rays, measure your spinal curves to the degree, and build a correction plan specific to your individual anatomy. Both are qualified. The care is not the same.

So yes, check AHPRA registration. Then go deeper.

Ask them what they measure

This is the single most revealing question you can ask any chiropractor, and almost nobody thinks to ask it.

If the answer is "I assess your range of motion and palpate for restrictions," that's a basic assessment. It tells the practitioner where things are tight or stuck, but it doesn't tell them why. It's a bit like a mechanic listening to your engine but never opening the bonnet.

A thorough spinal assessment should include a detailed history, neurological screening, postural analysis, and where clinically indicated, X-rays.

X-rays matter because they show the actual structure of your spine: the alignment, the curves, and whether there's any underlying damage such as degeneration, disc narrowing, or joint wear. This isn't about ticking a box. It's what guides us toward the specific areas that need the most attention, and it gives us a realistic picture of what the recovery process looks like for your individual spine. Without imaging, your chiropractor is working with an incomplete picture.

In my clinic, we also run thermography imaging, which is something you won't find in many other practices across Melbourne. Thermography gives us an objective, colour-coded map of where nerve irritation and inflammation are present along your spine, completely independent of how you feel on a given day. It shows us what's happening beneath the surface before symptoms even become obvious, and it gives us a measurable baseline to track your progress against over time.

The reason this matters is simple. If your chiropractor doesn't know the shape of your spine, they can't know what they're correcting toward. They're adjusting based on symptoms, not structure. And symptom-based care, while it can provide relief, has a ceiling. It's the difference between patching a wall and fixing the foundation.

If you want to understand what a thorough spinal assessment looks like, our ClearSpine Pain Assessment page walks through exactly what we do and why.

Understanding what's happening in your own spine is a non-negotiable part of good chiropractic care. If your chiropractor has never shown you your imaging or explained your findings, it's worth asking why

Ask them what their plan is to get you out

This is the one that matters most, and it's the one most people never think to ask until they're already 30 visits deep.

A good chiropractor should be able to explain, clearly and early, what the plan is. Not just "come three times a week," but why three times, for how long, and what the measurable milestones are along the way. You should know what the phases of your care look like, when you'll be reassessed, and what the criteria are for reducing your visit frequency.

If the plan is open-ended, with no clear timeline and no objective markers of progress, you're not being treated. You're being maintained. And maintenance has its place, but only once the underlying problem has been addressed. If nobody has assessed the structure, nothing has been corrected, and you're still going every week "just to keep things in check," it's worth asking what exactly is being kept in check and how you'd know if it was fixed.

I'll be honest: I see people regularly who've been under chiropractic care elsewhere for years, and when I ask what their original X-rays showed or what their spinal curves measured, they look at me blankly. Nobody ever took them. Nobody ever measured anything. The care may have felt good, but there was never a structural baseline to correct against, and no follow-up to confirm whether anything had actually changed.

That's not how I practise, and I don't think it's how the profession should work.

Ask them what technique they use (and why it matters)

There are dozens of chiropractic techniques, and they are not interchangeable. Some are manual and forceful. Some are instrument-based and gentle. Some focus on symptoms. Some focus on structure. Some are evidence-based with published research behind them. Some are not.

The technique I use is called Chiropractic BioPhysics (CBP). It's a structured, research-backed approach to spinal correction that uses specific adjustments, corrective exercises, and spinal traction to restore the spine's natural curves over time. What makes it different from most chiropractic techniques is that it's built around objective, measurable outcomes: we measure your spinal curves on X-ray, design a correction program specific to your measurements, and track progress over time with follow-up imaging.

I use CBP because it aligns with how I believe healthcare should work: assess, measure, treat, and prove it changed. Not every chiropractor uses it, and not every patient needs it. But if you're dealing with a structural problem in your spine, a technique that measures structure matters.

You don't need to become an expert in chiropractic techniques. But asking your chiropractor "what technique do you use and why did you choose it?" will tell you a lot about how thoughtfully they approach their work.

Watch for these patterns

I'm not here to criticise other practitioners. But I am here to give you the tools to recognise care that isn't serving you. Here are four patterns worth paying attention to:

If you were adjusted on your first visit without a proper examination. A thorough assessment takes time. If someone adjusted your spine within minutes of meeting you, without taking a history, performing neurological testing, or reviewing any imaging, they treated you without understanding what they were treating. That should concern you.

If you've never been shown your own imaging or had your findings explained. You deserve to understand what's happening in your own spine. If your chiropractor has never shown you an X-ray, explained what your posture looks like objectively, or walked you through the reasoning behind your care plan, you're being asked to trust without being informed. Good care is transparent.

If you don't know who you're actually seeing before you walk in. Some larger chiropractic chains advertise heavily under a brand name, but when you arrive, you're seen by whoever happens to be rostered on that day. You may never see the same practitioner twice, and you often have no way of researching their background, experience, or approach before your appointment.

This is one of the reasons I'd always lean toward a family-owned or independent clinic where the principal chiropractor is the person treating you. You know who you're seeing, they know your history, and they're personally accountable for your results.

If you've been going for months and nobody has reassessed. Progress should be tracked. If you've been under care for an extended period and nobody has re-examined you, repeated your scans, or measured whether anything has structurally changed, there's no evidence that the care is working. The absence of worsening is not the same as improvement.

If you haven't checked their Google reviews. This sounds obvious, but don't just look at the star rating. Read the reviews themselves. Look for patterns: do patients mention being listened to, having things explained clearly, and seeing real improvement? Or do the reviews mention feeling rushed, being sold packages on the first visit, or never understanding what was actually wrong? The detail in the reviews tells you far more than the number beside them.

If you'd like to see what our practice members say about their experience at Cherrett Chiropractic, you can read our Google reviews here

What good chiropractic care actually looks like

I can only speak for how I practise, but I believe good care has a few non-negotiable elements.

It starts with a genuine assessment. Not a five-minute once-over, but a real diagnostic process that identifies what's driving the problem, not just where it hurts. At Cherrett Chiropractic, that means a full history, neurological and musculoskeletal examination, thermography scanning, postural analysis, and X-ray where clinically indicated.

It has a plan with a timeline. You should know from early on what the phases of your care look like, what the milestones are, and when you'll be reassessed.

It's built around your spine, not a template. Your care plan should reflect your specific anatomy, your specific findings, and your specific goals.

And most importantly, it tracks progress objectively. You should be able to see, in black and white, that something has changed. Not just feel it. See it.

If you've been dealing with back pain, neck pain, or any issues that haven't resolved, and you want to understand what's actually going on before committing to any treatment, that's exactly what our assessment is built for.

How to choose a chiropractor in Clyde North

If you're in Melbourne's southeast, choosing the right chiropractor starts with asking the right questions. Not "are they qualified?" (that's the floor), but "what do they measure, what's their plan, and how will I know it's working?"

That's the standard of care I hold myself to, and it's the standard I think every patient deserves.

I see people from across Melbourne's southeast, including Berwick, Cranbourne, Narre Warren, Officer and Beaconsfield, here at the clinic in Clyde North.

If you're ready to find out what's actually going on in your spine, book your ClearSpine Pain Assessment or call us on (03) 5915 9895.

The right chiropractor won't just make you feel better for a day. They'll show you why you felt bad in the first place, and prove to you that it's changing.

Dr. Ashley Cherrett (BAppSc(Chiro), BHlthSc) is the principal chiropractor and owner of Cherrett Chiropractic in Clyde North, Melbourne. He practises using the Chiropractic BioPhysics (CBP) technique, a structured, evidence-based approach to spinal correction. This article is educational and does not constitute medical advice. Individual results vary, and all care is based on individual assessment.