Chiropractor in Aurora, CO

Two Aurora chiropractic clinics, both inside medical pain practices, both taking walk-ins. Which one you want depends on which side of the city you are on.

Southlands or Briarwood — How to Choose

Southlands (East Aurora) — 6155 S Main St, #220, Aurora, CO 80016, off South Main Street in the Southlands centre. Michael Villegas, DC treats here. This is the one for Southlands, Tallyn's Reach, Blackstone and anyone coming in off E-470 from the east.

Briarwood (South Aurora) — 15901 E Briarwood Cir, Suite 150, Aurora, CO 80016, off South Arapahoe Road. Kevin Ryan, DC treats here. Better for Saddle Rock, Piney Creek, Smoky Hill and the Arapahoe Road corridor.

They are about fifteen minutes apart and share a chart system, so if one has an opening today and the other does not, taking the earlier appointment costs you nothing.

Walk In — Colorado Does Not Require a Referral

Colorado is a direct access state, which means you can be examined and treated by a chiropractor without a referral from a physician, an insurer or anyone else.

Both clinics are open Monday to Thursday 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM and Friday 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Call (720) 749-5599, tell us which location suits you, and the intake will be done before you arrive.

Examined Before You Are Adjusted

This is the part that separates a chiropractic visit that works from one that does not.

Before anyone applies force to your spine, you get an examination: range of motion, orthopaedic testing, and neurological screening whenever symptoms travel into an arm or a leg. What that examination is establishing is which of four quite different things you have — a joint restriction that manual work resolves, a disc under load that needs a different approach, a nerve root with genuine neurological findings, or something that should not be adjusted at all.

Where the findings point to imaging first, we order it. Both Aurora clinics can do that in-house rather than sending you across town to wait a week for a report.

Techniques Used

Diversified manual adjustment. Instrument-assisted adjustment for anyone who would rather not have a manual thrust — a common preference and a perfectly reasonable one. Drop-table technique. Flexion-distraction for disc-related low back pain. Soft-tissue and myofascial work. Therapeutic exercise between visits, kept short enough that it might actually get done.

Which you get is decided by your examination, not by a protocol applied to everyone.

What Aurora Brings Through the Door

Car accident injuries. Aurora sits on I-225, E-470 and Parker Road, and whiplash is a steady share of this caseload. These cases need documenting as well as treating — both clinics handle auto and lien cases and write the notes your claim will need.

Commuter necks. Long drives into the Tech Center and downtown produce a recognisable pattern: neck and upper back pain that builds through the afternoon, often with a headache starting at the base of the skull. That headache is frequently treated as migraine for years. It is reproducible on examination of the upper cervical joints, and it responds to something completely different.

Low back pain and sciatica, the largest single category, and the one where the diagnosis matters most — disc, facet joint, sacroiliac and piriformis problems all produce leg pain and all need different treatment.

Work and lifting injuries, including workers' compensation cases.

When Chiropractic Is Not the Right Answer

Sometimes it is not, and finding that out in week one rather than week nine is the point of examining first.

Both Aurora clinics sit inside medical pain practices. Joseph Burgess, DPT covers physical therapy at Southlands and Lauren Parish, DPT at Briarwood; pain management providers are on site at both. So when the examination finds a confirmed radiculopathy or a joint that needs a diagnostic block, the next appointment is in the same building, with someone reading the same chart.

That is a materially different experience from being handed a referral and left to chase it.

Insurance and Cost

Both Aurora clinics accept Aetna, ASH (American Specialty Health), Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield (Pathway), Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, OptumCare, Optum Physical Health, Humana, Medicare, Colorado Medicaid, Devoted Health, First Health, Columbine, Tricare, ATA Holista, workers' compensation and auto/lien cases.

Benefits are verified before your first visit, so you know the cost before you sit down. Call (720) 749-5599.

Also in Aurora

For medical pain care — injections, nerve blocks, diagnostic workup — see pain management in Aurora. Not sure whether you need a chiropractor or a physical therapist? The plain-English comparison is the quickest way to decide.

Aurora Chiropractor FAQs

Which Aurora clinic should I go to? Southlands if you are east of E-470; Briarwood if you are nearer Arapahoe Road. If you are unsure, call and we will tell you which is closer and which can see you sooner.

Do I need a referral to see a chiropractor in Aurora? No. Colorado is a direct access state. Some insurance plans require a referral for coverage rather than for access — we check that when we verify benefits.

Can I walk in? Yes, at both locations.

Will I be adjusted on the first visit? Usually, once you have been examined. If the findings call for imaging first, we will tell you rather than adjust and hope.

Can I be treated without manual thrusting? Yes. Instrument-assisted and drop-table techniques are available at both clinics — say so at the examination.

Do you take Colorado Medicaid? Yes, along with Medicare, Tricare, workers' compensation and auto/lien cases.

Can you treat me after a car accident? Yes. Both clinics handle auto and lien cases and document injuries for your claim. See chiropractic care after a car accident.