What a first visit involves, how a plan gets built, what it costs, and how often you actually need to come in. Written so you can decide before you book, and so you can judge any chiropractor by it, not just us.
Book a first visitMost people walk into a chiropractor's office without knowing what is supposed to happen, what a reasonable plan looks like, or what they should be charged. That is not their fault. The profession has not been good about explaining itself, and the gap gets filled by whatever the loudest clinic in town is advertising.
So this page explains how care works here, in enough detail that you could use it to evaluate any practice, including ours. If something on this page describes a standard we fail to meet on your visit, hold us to it.
Nothing here is unique to us. It is what a thorough process looks like anywhere.
Before anyone touches your spine, we ask about your life. Where you work and how you sit. How you sleep. What changed in the months before the pain started. Previous injuries, surgeries, accidents, pregnancies.
This is not small talk and it is not padding. Most persistent problems have a cause somewhere in that history, and skipping it means treating where it hurts instead of why.
A postural assessment, movement and range-of-motion testing, palpation, and a neurological screening. The point is to find out whether this is a mechanical problem that chiropractic addresses, and if so, where it actually originates.
Imaging is ordered when the history or exam raises a specific question that imaging would answer. It is not ordered on everyone as a matter of routine.
You come back and we tell you what we found, what we think is causing it, what we recommend, and how long we expect it to take. In plain language, not jargon.
This is also where cost is presented, in writing, for the whole recommended plan rather than visit by visit. You should never be assembling the total in your head as you go.
Care begins. The plan is a hypothesis, not a promise, and it gets revised against what your body actually does. If you are progressing faster than expected, the plan shortens. If you are not progressing, that is information, and it changes what we do next.
At intervals we re-test what we measured at the start, so progress is something we can point to rather than something you are asked to feel. This is also the point where we decide together whether to taper, stop, or continue.
The most common question we get is what it costs. As of October 2026, a first visit at The Shift is $135. That covers the exam, your first adjustment and a follow-up report-of-findings visit; an adjustment at that follow-up visit is billed separately. Visits after that are $60–$80, depending on whether you're on a care plan or paying per visit. Confirm current prices when you book. For what drives chiropractic prices in general, see how much a chiropractor costs.
How much care you need depends on what the exam finds, so a plan's total comes after the exam. What you can hold any chiropractor to is the process. You should be examined first. You should then be shown the total cost of a specific recommended plan, in writing, before you agree to anything. You should not be quoted a per-visit figure and left to work out the rest yourself, and you should not be asked to commit at the moment you are least equipped to decide.
We do not bill insurance directly. What that means practically:
It depends entirely on what you came in for. Someone with an acute problem is typically seen more frequently at the start and tapered as things improve. Someone whose goal is maintaining function rather than resolving pain is usually seen much less often.
There is no universal schedule, and you should be suspicious of a plan that looks identical to everyone else's. You are also free to stop at any point. A care plan is a recommendation, not a contract on your body.
No. Some people come in, resolve what they came for, and stop. Others choose to continue at low frequency because they prefer how they function that way, in the same way someone keeps going to the gym after they are no longer injured. Both are legitimate choices and the second one is a preference, not a medical requirement.
What is not legitimate is being told you must continue indefinitely or something bad will happen to you. If a chiropractor says that, ask them to explain the reasoning, and be prepared to leave.
Not routinely. Imaging is warranted when something specific in your history or examination raises a question that imaging would answer — trauma, red flags, suspected structural pathology, or a case that is not responding the way it should.
Imaging every new patient regardless of presentation is not a defensible standard. If imaging is recommended to you anywhere, ask what question the images are meant to answer. There should be a clear one.
Sometimes, and only after the history and examination. Never before. If you walk into any practice and are put on a table before anyone has asked you a question, you are being processed rather than assessed.
Then we say so and refer you to someone who is. Not everything that hurts is a chiropractic problem, and part of a competent examination is recognising what belongs elsewhere and sending you there. The right provider matters more than keeping a patient in our schedule.
Including us. If you are choosing between practices in Oakland or anywhere else, these will tell you more in five minutes than an hour of reading reviews.
A practitioner who answers these easily is telling you something. So is one who gets uncomfortable.
Two doctors, one patient at a time. Not an open bay, not a room where several people are adjusted in sequence within earshot of each other. That format exists and it works for some practices; it is not what we built.
The Shift has been open since 2013, in the same downtown Oakland office at 8th and Broadway, a 4-minute walk from 12th Street BART and about 12 minutes from Lake Merritt BART. Dr. Ben Glass and Dr. Irina Velichko see patients here. Care is available in English, Spanish and Russian — the full visit in your own language, not translation assistance.
If you want the detail on a specific area, the Webster Technique page explains our prenatal work, and pregnancy and postpartum care covers the wider picture. For how an adjustment is chosen and delivered, read the art of the adjustment.
A first visit is a full history, examination and consultation. You will know what is going on and what we recommend before you commit to anything. 435 8th Street #203, downtown Oakland.
Book a first visitThe questions people ask most before a first appointment, answered in about a minute.
And what to expect afterwards: