Tangelo Chiropractor + Rehab FAQ

If you get your insurance information to us 48 hours prior to your appointment, we’ll be able to review your benefit details and your estimated out of pocket cost at your first appointment before you see your Doctor. If you would like to know your benefits before coming into the clinic, you can call your insurance plan and ask for your Chiropractic and Physical Therapy benefits. Most insurance companies also have online patient portals where you can locate your plan benefits.

Visit cost is entirely dependent on your insurance coverage. Part of our intake process is verifying your applicable benefits so that we can review them in detail with you at your initial visit.

In most cases, a referral is not required, and we’ll always be sure to double-check for you! We welcome new patients who want to find pain relief, and live healthier and more fulfilled lives, so if you were referred to us, be sure to let us know who we should thank!

Still have questions? Check out our Insurance 101 page for more information.

Definitely not! We see all kinds of injuries such as overuse injuries, post-surgical cases, and accident related injuries. We also see patients for general maintenance and well-being.

Absolutely! We see difficult cases all the time and create individualized treatment plans to make sure your needs are met.

Nope! While your Chiropractor is a certified Doctor of Chiropractic, chiropractic care is just one of the tools in our toolkit. Your care program will blend multiple methods and techniques, and you’ll always be in control of the treatment you receive.

All of our doctors are Chiropractors specializing in mobility and functional movement. Your rehab specialists work under the direction of your Chiropractor and have a variety of corrective exercise certifications and are well versed in rehabilitative movement.

Manual therapy and soft tissue work is performed by your Chiropractor as a portion of your standard appointments. If you are looking for a traditional massage appointment, we have a licensed massage therapist who works out of our West Seattle location, or we can refer you out to another specialist in the area closest to you!

Feel free to book a massage appointment directly at our West Seattle location; you’ll be in great hands!

Graston and Cupping are both treatment techniques which our providers can implement during your appointment based on your injury and treatment needs. All Tangelo Chiropractors have training and experience in Graston and Cupping. These techniques are most effective when paired with manual therapy and rehabilitative exercises and are provided in conjunction with full appointments.

A consultation is a 15-20 minute complimentary appointment where you can meet your Doctor and discuss your injury, history and the various methods we would use to treat your injury. No treatment would be done at the consultation, these appointments are meant to help you decide if we are the right fit for you and your treatment goals. New Patient Appointments are an hour long and include a comprehensive evaluation, treatment, and rehab.

To make a schedule change, call, text or email the clinic by noon the business day prior to your reserved appointment time to reschedule or cancel. Changes made after 12:00pm the business day prior will incur a late cancellation fee of $100.

New Patient Appointments are about an hour long and follow up appointments will be about 45-55 minutes.

Yes! Each appointment will continue to build off of previous treatments.

Your Doctor will determine a customized treatment plan for you at your first appointment. Every person is unique and comes to us with different goals and treatment needs, so each treatment plan is individually crafted for each patient.

If imaging is required for your specific injury we will refer you to a local imaging company to obtain quick results.

We recommend wearing comfortable athletic clothing. Wear shorts for back-related and lower extremity complaints and a tank top or t-shirt for neck-related and upper extremity complaints. Bring your Health Insurance Card, Photo ID, and calendar/schedule in order to reserve future appointments. Intake paperwork is to be completed online prior to check-in.

Please have your Doctor fax medical documents to your Tangelo Clinic. Greenlake Fax: 206.926.7899 / West Seattle Fax: 206.926.7908 / Portland Fax: 971.277.4435

Spinal decompression treatment is performed on a specialized table. While you’re on the table, spinal decompression creates a pumping motion at the specific disc level that’s injured or damaged, creating a vacuum effect that allows it to absorb water from the body and heal.

No, it’s different. Spinal decompression is more advanced and specific. Traction is static and non-specific. In other words, it will stretch the whole lumbar spine or the whole cervical spine. Then it just holds, there is no pumping motion. Spinal decompression is highly specific to the disc level that’s injured, and it’s dynamic in that it pulls and releases many times over a treatment period, creating the vacuum effect and hydrating the disc.

Treatment sessions are anywhere from 15 – 25 minutes, depending on the table utilized.

Not at all, in fact many patients fall asleep because this is the first time they’ve been out of pain.

Yes. We have research supporting spinal decompression from institutions around the country. We routinely see patient success rates in the 80- 90% range.

This will be determined by the doctor based on your condition and severity; but typically, it’s anywhere from 20-30 visits over approximately 90 days.

Unfortunately, no. Insurance companies consider it an elective procedure, similar to Lasik eye surgery.

The total investment in your protocol will vary based on the severity of the condition and which if any, additional therapies may be needed. But to give you a ballpark number, it’s usually somewhere between $150-225 per visit.

Yes. Once the disc is healed, you can typically go back to doing your normal activities. We do recommend physical therapy to strengthen your core muscles, but this can be done either in the office, with a PT or at home.

There’s always a possibility in healthcare that things won’t turn out the way we planned. We are selective about who we treat with spinal decompression therapy. Your doctor will perform an evaluation to make sure that he feels you’re a good candidate for care.

Most patients start to feel changes within the first two weeks.