Story: I have chronic back pain. I mentioned this to my GP when seeing him for something totally unrelated. He poked at my back and proclaimed it to be fucked up. (Those may not have been his exact words.) Thus, I was sentenced to a chiropractor.
I wrote up a whole thing, but it was boring so I deleted it. Basically, it’s nothing new that my spine is fucked up. I was diagnosed with scoliosis when I was thirteen, although the chiropractor says the curvature doesn’t meet the medical definition of scoliosis so technically I have a “congenital spinal anomaly”. A couple of my vertabrae are misshapen, which cause my spine to curve interestingly. What IS new is that the chiropractor says the curve will get worse and I need treatment. (I’ve never been treated for this because the diagnosing doctor assured me it wasn’t that big a deal.) I’ve got to see him three times next week. Now, I have insurance but copays add up, you know? I’m a little skeptical that this guy - who seems really nice, btw - can actually change the shape of my spine (note: he doesn’t claim to be able to change the shape of the misshapen vertabrae. I get to live with those). He assures me I’ll feel like a new person in a month.
On the other hand, if it works and the back pain goes away, it’d be worth it times a million. And if the curve really does get worse and I become a humpback, that would suck. (As it stands, left shoulder is barely perceptibly higher than my right. And my shoulderblades stick out at different angles.)
So if you all would be so kind, please share with me your experiences with chiropractors. Especially if you had a really super great experience so I can make out those $15 copay checks with confidence.
I have a touch of scoliosis too, plus carpal tunnel and neck ouchies in general. My left shoulder is also higher than my right. Maybe you are my spinal twin…
Chriopractic has always been an enormous help. You’ll have to go a bunch of times in the beginning (2-3x/week for a few weeks), but I swear you will feel better after the first time. Then you can go less, and then prolly stop going for like 6 months at a time.
When I drag my lazy butt there, my shoulders will get aligned after a few treatments. of course, I always screw it all up a few months later by slouching and sitting funny and what have you, but it does work.
Go. Try it 2 or 3 times. See how you feel.
Also, don’t be embarassed if you fart sometimes. I have, and my chiro says I’m not the only one. He may be lying about that though…
Years ago, I let a friend talk me into going to a chiro who supposedly worked with the national baseball team in the area. Wound up getting someone else in the office who screwed up my back!
Went in for lower back pain. He put me on the rack and gave me a push in my middle back that made me holler in pain. I told him never to do that again. He made some excuse which indicated he would do it again and I repeated in no uncertain terms that he would not do it again. I had sharp pain there for years afterward and still get pain there sometimes.
For two years I had pains in my forearms, wrists, and hands, plus an occaisional lower back pain. I also have kyphosis and mild scoliosis.
I had always thought of Chiros as quacks until I visited one out of curiosity.
After 3 or 4 visits, all my pain was gone. It has been almost a year since my first visit, and I just now see him about once a month. I do a lot of travelling, and I actually look forward to seeing him when I return from one of my trips to work out any small aches or pains I might be having.
So, two years of constant pain before, and now, almost one year of no pain.
I’ve had several chiropractors, but the best one was a gal in this tiny little town I was living in years ago.
She was the first chiropractor to use electric stim on my muscles to relax them first, before the “popping.” As a result, she was able to pop my back and neck in several places where no chiropractor has ever had success.
It was awesome. I felt like a different person when I left the office.