Do you swear BY or AT chiropractors?

My lower back has been bothering me a little for the past few weeks. Last week it came to a head (so to speak) and I could barely walk. I’ve been taking IB, icing it, stretching, etc., and it’s a little better, but I’m still experiencing twinges. A couple of people have told me I should go to a chiropractor.

I’ve only been to two chiropractors. The first time, the 15-minute $45 treatment not only scared the crap out of me, it didn’t fix my (at the time) stiff neck. She did this “grab-your-head-and-twist-it” thing that I was NOT prepared for. I screamed out “J-S-S F-CK-NG CHR-ST!!” in shock and pain, and she shouted out to her associate, “She’s in here calling on heaven for grace!”

The second guy I went to would press and pull things on me and make “aha!” sounds as though he were really DOING something. He was feelin’ it but I wasn’t. I went to him for a few weeks and didn’t notice any difference in anything.

But I know some people absolutely swear by chiropractors. I got a referral to one from a close friend who says this chiropractor has a lot on the ball and has helped my friend many times with neck, back, and even foot pain.

I dunno. Any opinions?

Chiros that restrict their practice to short-term manipulation of the back and neck and limbs for musculo-skeletal complaints are pretty much okay in my book. It’s very similar to what physical therapists do, gives about as good temporary relief as most prescription drugs, and is unlikely to do harm. But it doesn’t make much long-term difference in outcomes. (Of course neither do drugs.)

Beyond that, it’s best to avoid it.

I could expound further, but I’ve already done so before.

Can you refer me to where you’ve expounded before?

Okay, found earlier threads on chiropractic. New comments still welcome.

I have a chiropractor that I visit on a regular basis and I can give more than a couple of anecdotes on entering his office in pain and leaving with distinctly less pain and more mobility. I think a big part of the problem about chiropractors is there are plenty out there who will try to force adjustments, which can often make matters worse. In other situations, they will think that they can treat pain that isn’t treatable that way, like trying to fix a strain.

In the case of my chiropractor, he’s also trained in sports medicine, which is helpful since most of the time my pains will trace back to something in my training and he will also give additional advice on stretches, exercises, or form to help it heal and lessen additional risk.

That said, I do go regularly because I regularly stress my body with my weight training and all. When I didn’t go for an extended period, I definitely had some persistent aches and pains that went away after a few weeks of returning to my visits. For those who live relatively low-impact lifestyles, going regularly probably will show a lot less return and may be better to use for those immediate injuries and taper off as they recover.

I was having a very specific nerve problem - not pain but deadening of sensation in my pinkie finger and half my ring finger on my right hand. When I brought this up to my doctor he arranged a consult with a neurologist.

The neurologist and I talked about my symptoms, and did what he could to diagnose the situation. The best he could figure was that it was a very mild case of ulnar capture. When he made that diagnosis he offered a couple of treatment plans, beginning with the ‘traditional medicine’ route: a more definitive diagnosis via nerve conduction tests followed by probably surgery to move the nerve so it’s no longer being pinched/trapped. He also mentioned that the ulnar surgery is not currently as successful as the carpal tunnel surgeries, something I’d already known because my father had gone through the same procedure. He then offered the alternative medicine treatment: going to a chiropractor, and seeing if they can finesse the nerve out of its entrapment.

For a number of reasons I wasn’t eager to go the traditional medicine route. Not least of my thinking was that if I tried the chiropracty and it didn’t work, I could always go that route afterwards. Seeing the chiropracty as the less invasive treatment helped, too.

I had a number of treatment sessions, and started seeing improvement almost immediately. After the end of the last treatment the numbness in my fingers was essentially gone.

In addition to this I got a pad to reduce the stress on my elbow that was suspected to have contributed to the situation, and some PT and some exercises both from the PT and from the chiropractor.

That was about three years ago. My symptoms have not recurred, and I haven’t had any cause to regret my decision.

I don’t buy into all of the claims made for chiropracty, but I do believe there are situations and conditions where it can be helpful. If it were suggested to me again as an alternative treatment, I’d consider it again.

In my line of work I see a lot of highly-priced chiropracters who work closely with plaintiff attorneys (as in, they share an office). Those guys I swear at because their sole purpose in life is to inflate the medical costs of their clients’ claims and revictimize their own clients. Note: legal representation and the cost of meds do not affect the nature of an injury, nor its impact on the injured person. So a $5,000 cervical strain is worth $5,000 whether or not the person has an attorney, and whether the treatment costs $50 or $250/session. The difference is, that attorney and Chiro end up getting paid while their client sometimes gets enough of a settlement to cover their fees.

I’m sure chiropractic has a use, even if it’s only temporary pain management, but in many cases it’s not the appropriate treatment. After all, simple manipulation can’t repair dessicated, herniated or ruptured vertebral discs, it can’t permanently lift a vertibrae off a spinal nerve root, and it can’t “unsprain” ligaments.

what **Qadgop **said. because of degenerative disc disease in the lower back, i use mine strictly for neck and shoulder issues, which do provide short-term relief when things get really bad. i would use mine a lot more than i do, but my current insurance program does not cover it.

Back-rubs don’t cure cancer.

At.

But I’ve tried to believe in them, until I lost faith 15+ years ago. A fairly physical life, coupled with very physical work, had given me a fair share of tweaks and pains and muscle pulls (and now, two herniated discs.) I went to supposedly highly rated chiros and at best: no relief, nothing, at worst I gimped out feeling more ouchy than I gimped in.

My last chiro visit was sometime in the mid-1990s, when I finally decided I’d wasted enough money on it.

The few people I’ve met who swear by chiropractors only get temporary relief at best - heck a good therapeutic massage by a properly trained person does that too, for a lot less money plus feels wonderful. I swear by good massage for pinched nerves and tight muscles. But nobody gets to manipulate, twist, massage or do anything else “therapeutic” to my lower back!

PS - ThelmaLou, as someone who’s been dealing with chronic lower back issues with the occasional flare-up where the pain and sciatica makes it impossible to walk - if it’s a “simple” back pull, it can take several weeks to resolve and apart from anti-inflammatories and what you’re doing right now, it’s really just tincture of time.

Back exercises, core exercises and good “back hygeine” will really help minimize reoccurences; I used to get awful nuclear flare-ups about twice a year until I started regular back exercises, now Sept 2010 was my last really bad one. I think this site is quite useful:

I Am Not A Doctor, etc.

I basically agree.

Caveats: as a passage in the OP indicates, DO NOT allow a chiropractor to “adjust” your neck. Rare but devastating injuries have resulted from neck cracking (i.e. permanent paralysis or death, from tearing of neck arteries). There is no demonstrable value of neck cracking that justifies even a minimal risk of permanent injury. Do not get sucked into paying for diagnosis or treatment on expensive but non-evidence based machines/devices. Avoid chiros who claim to provide nutrition advice and sell useless supplements. Ditto for those who disparage valuable mainstream medical care (i.e. vaccinations).

Also - something that finally weisenheimered me into believing that chiropractors, at least some of them, can be fraudulent: I stupidly allowed a chiropractor (the last one I saw) to take a neck x-ray. I’d gone in because I had an unrelenting “tweaked” neck. He solemnly showed me the x-ray and pointed out fuzzy bits that indicated misalignment or some such. Which, of course, he could “correct.”

I asked for a copy of the film, and showed it to the guy I was dating at the time, who was a radiologist. He said it was a very poor-quality x-ray and that whatever the chiropractor was showing me was a: fuzzy because it was a crap x-ray taken with cheap equipment, and b: didn’t show anything at all out of the ordinary for a 40-year-old person.

And what Jackmannii said. I know there are many chiropractors who are ethical and well-trained and all that, but there does seem to be a significant percentage of them who are quacks and prey on fear & mistrust of ther medical establishment.

They are all quacks or they would have gone to medial school like DO’s. Find a good DO they can help your problem and not have 1 billion visits. If you condition needs visits they will send to a physical therapist rather then scamming you.

What QtM said.

I’ve dealt with sciatica on and off for about twenty years, with flare-ups every 3-4 years. I’ve done standard PT and chiro; the chiro tends to give the most relief. Of course, not every chiropracter has been equally effective.

One was one of the woo ones who claimed that she could cure just about anything from the common cold on with an adjustment. I GTFO of that office PDQ. She’s one I would swear at. Most have been pretty professional though. Their treatment tended to incorporate some standard PT methods as well as manipulation. The one that I go to occasionally now specializes in sports medicine. He’s one I swear by,

Avoid any chiro claiming to be able to solve all the worlds problems. I have a couple for customers who claim to fix allergies, diabetes, heart problems, asthma, etc, etc with a combination of adjustments and nutritional supplements.

I’ve posted on this before, but I can again. I have used two chiros in my life. They each told me that most chiros are quacks. The first one was my step-FIL. When my MIL divorced my wife’s father and married the chiro, she had significant curvature of the spine (scoliosis). Yes, it might have resolved itself, but in any case he gave her regular treatments and it was cured. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc and all that. When she married and moved away, he said he couldn’t recommend a chiro because they were mostly quacks. I had had back problems for a few years and he gave me a few treatments.

When I moved to Montreal, I was still having back episodes. One day, my family doctor asked me, very diffidently (because he knew I was into science) if I would consider a chiro. So I told him about my FIL and he sent me to the one he went to. I still go to him. I have had only back episode since I started 19 years ago. He makes no claims about treating anything but backs, necks, and maybe shoulders. So it works, right? Not so fast. The other thing he did was give me a series of flexibility exercises that I do religiously every morning for a bit over 30 minutes. Maybe it is only those exercises that have kept my back healthy. I am not willing to try to find out. The other interesting thing his receptionist told me is that he has looked all over the city for someone to treat him and he cannot find anyone he trusts. Meantime, anything medical, he recommends you see a doctor. I cannot help you find one, but when you do it seems to work.

Neither at or by. I’ve been to one, once. My doctor sent me to him because she insisted that there was nothing wrong with my back that a few adjustments couldn’t fix.

I was in the chiro’s office for about 10 minutes. He adjusted my neck (it was very stiff from babying my lower back) and then told me to get myself an MRI because he’d put money on me having a herniated disk.

I got an MRI and then cortisone shots for my hernia. Finally, it took surgery to fix it.
I’m glad he didn’t try to do anything to my lower back after hearing my symptoms and I’m glad he told my doctor off for treating me like a hypochondriac. I hated having my neck adjusted though and I will never get it done again. It didn’t help, in addition to feeling horrible.

My opinion on chiros (and my mom’s, which may carry more weight since she’s a RN) is that they’re massages insurance will pay for. Massage feels great, though, and can be therapeutic (especially if you suffer from a lack of physical contact, which many adults do–I can’t think of the last time I was hugged other than by family at a family function, for example).

We don’t buy into the adjustment-woo, though. And while I wouldn’t mind having some joints popped slowly and carefully, having my neck twisted as painfully and suddenly as you describe would be crossing the line.

There’s little difference between a chiro and a masseuse. With a masseuse, there’s a chance of a happy ending but with a chiro, you’re probably going to get screwed.