So, I have enormous knots in my back and I can barely relax… almost painful. I was given the advice to see a chiropractor. Okay, I’m willing to try almost anything.
Well some questions arise… I have often heard chiropractors are “Fake doctors” as an insult.
First: What education are chiropractors required to have?
Second: Do they accept most major health care
Third: Are they allowed to write prescriptions?
Fourth: (Kind of broad) I understand the basic concept of how a chiropractor practices… how would they help opposed to an MD?
And if you would like to tell me if you think it’s worth going to a chiropractor, feel free to share.
Thanks!
Enormous knots in your back sounds like a problem with your muscles - not the alignment of your spine. If I were you, I’d find a good massage therapist who does deep tissue work.
In New York, you must have an associate’s degree and a diploma from an accredited chiropractic school to obtain a chiropractic license. Chiropractic school accreditation is not particularly rigorous.
As far as I know most basic health insurance plans do not cover chiropractic, but I’ve never looked into it so I may be wrong.
No. They are not doctors. They are not even close to doctors.
They will cure you of a fat wallet in no time.
I think chiropractic is a load of superstitios psuedoscientifc quacktastic bullshit. About the only beneficial thing they do can be achieved by hiring a masseuse for a lot less money.
A number of healthcare plans do cover chiropractic care.
Apparently, a number of them make claims that they cannot fulfill.
However, for the right things, they can be very helpful.
As to whether or not a chiro could help you depends on a lot of things I don’t know about.
There’s various types of chiropractors. If you get one that talks about “subluxations”, claims to able to cure cancer or stomach ulcers, or are pushing dietary supplements or dubious adjunct therapies, get out of there, fast. Others are basically covering the same ground as physical therapists, and your doctor will probably refer you to one of them instead. Some MD’s will admit the possible value of chiropractic, with a lot of warnings attached:
Years ago, I took a sore back to a chiropractor, and it seemed to do a lot of good. I got a sore back again recently, and went to the physical therapist referred by my doctor. There was an awful lot of overlap in what they actually did - both used electrostim, for instance. Both had similar advice on how to avoid back strain by choosing the correct office furniture, picking up things correctly, etc. The PT didn’t stick their knee in your back, and the chiropractor didn’t come up with a bunch of exercises to do with an overgrown rubber band.
addendum - both also told me I had one leg shorter than the other and should wear a lift in one shoe (I had for a while after the chiropractor told me to, and had fallen out of the habit).
And can you get one of those electrostim machines to use at home?
I had the very same opinion as friedo even though I knew several inteligent people who claimed that chiropractic helps them.
But then I had these “heart attacks” in which my chest hurt like hell, and the pain radiated down my left arm, with lots of discomfort, followed by a numbing sensation in the arm. My GP ran EKGs a couple three times, once when I was experiencing an attack. Normal.
He referred me to a cardiologist.
More EKGs, and then and examination whose name - intials, actually - I’ve forgotten, in which he inserted a catheter in a blood vessel and then pushed it along to my heart, watching all this via X-Rays, or whatever… Normal.
In fact, he had no more idea of what I had than the guy who cuts my lawn.
Happened to mention all this to my dentist and he practically yelled “CHIROPRACTOR!!”
He gave me a name, and initially the chirpractor had me come in 3 days in succession for an adjustment - crunched my spine, snapped my neck both ways, etc/
Now I go once a month for the same stuff, and I no longer have a problem. He has no clue as to why I have these non-cardiac related heart attacks [ :)] , nor why the therapy helps, but it does!!
And yes, my health plan, Anthem BC/BS, covers chiropractic as I think most plans do these days.
Chiropractors are still, in my mind, glorfied masseuses with a totally bullshit “science”. But sometimes what they offer is beneficial. Even so, you might be better off with a massage therapist as recommended by wonderwench, et al.
Quacktastic just about defines chiropractic. Thanks, friedo. I’m still chuckling.
I’ve got a similar story to E = mc² in that I had a pain that started seemingly inside my shoulder blade and ran all the way down the outside of my arm. This presented itself after I had done a couple of thousand miles of motorcycle riding in a summer without a windscreen. Bad idea, BTW.
I kind of knew what the problem was, I just needed someone to fix it. After about 3 months without progress, I gave up on physiotherapy. A GP wanted to refer me to a neurologist. I decided I would rather live with the discomfort than see a surgeon. And I did for about a year until someone suggested a chiropractor. I’d always viewed chiropractic as less than a legitimate form of treatment, but I had nothing to lose.
I explained the problem to him. He touched (very lightly) a spot on the side of my neck. This amplified the pain I was experiencing in the shoulder blade immediately. He had known exactly where to look for the origin of the problem. He found it. Over the course of 1 month and 10 or 12 treatments, the pain was gone, never to return. I was a convert.
This was about 10 years ago. Since then, I’ve sought chiropractic treatment for my lumbar region twice due to lower back injuries. I don’t know if this speeds the healing or not, but it does provide for some temporary relief. If nothing else, I do get some good advice about posture and exercises to strengthen the muscles to prevent future injuries.
The idea that the chiropractor will lighten your wallet is somewhat true. I find that I am the one who has to determine when treatment has run it’s course. If the chiropractor has a say in it, I’ll be going weekly for maintenance adjustments for the rest of my life. The guy reminds me to “book another appointment in a couple of days” as I’m leaving his examining room. When I feel I’m healed, I simply don’t make the next appointment. Insurance does cover most of the cost of treatment (chiropractic is not covered by the Canadian health care system) (neither is dentistry, for that matter).
In my industry (insurance adjuster), chiropractors have long been considered quacks. However, in the last 10 years I’ve seen a decided change in the attitudes of MD’s. And yes, there’s a lot of overlap between physical therapy and chiro treatments.
Finding a good chiro can be dicey at best. Some claim that the alignment of the spine is tantamount to curing liver disease or cancer. Total unconditional bullshit, IMO. Others will take hundreds of dollars of in-house tests and treat you 3x a week until you have no more money.
I’ve been fortunate to find a good chiro that manipulates my spine and relieves my back pain. I may go several months not requiring any treatment or I may require treatments 2x a week to correct a particular pain. There’s never any pressure to return for more adjustments and there’s never any offers of supplements or boogidy boogidy stuff.
IANAD or a chiro. It’s my understanding, however, “knots” along your spine are indeed muscle spasms. If the underlying cause of the knot is strictly a pulled muscle, then deep muscle massage would be the right answer. If the knot is as a result of a mis-aligned spine, then a chiro can help. In some cases, a chiro may even recommend deep muscle massage in addition to adjustments.
Have you been evaluated by a neurologist for thoracic outlet syndrome? This a condition where the chest muscle squeezes off the nerves and/or blood vessels that serve the left arm. I’ve had it, and some of the symptoms mimicked a heart attack.
All chiropractors talk about subluxations. That is part of their vocabularly. A MD will normally not use “subluxation,” but will use “spondylosis,” which is the same thing.
States vary greatly in their requirement for chiropractors. In some states, they do not even need a license. In addition, education requirements vary greatly, too.
I would not entirely agree with Friedo that “they are not even close to doctors.” I know some who have their offices next door to MDs. Well, they are, after all, doctors of chiropractory. They have a “DC” after their names.
Many chiropractors also use “supplementary medicine” or “alternative medicine.” This is the prescription of vitamins, minerals, and supplements in general, but not drugs. I would stick with one who does only spinal adjustment and bone manipulation. These tend to be more reliable than those who advocate supplements.
No I haven’t, MsRobyn, and thank you very much for the link. I bookmarked it and will read it later.
Meanwhile, speaking of quack chiros…
Years back, a buddy of mine went to a chiropractor and, after listening to his complaints, this ‘doc’ gave him some whacko treatment and then had my friend stand on two scales. He weighed more on the left scale than he did on the right, and suggested he sleep on his right side to shift his innards to balance out the weight.
This was more than 30 years ago and I’m laughing (again) as I type this.
And now, I have no doubt, that someone will come along to prove that this weight disparity is a legitimate observation, and I will be proclaimed an idiot.
Just because a DC calls himself a doctor and is in the same building as an MD, has nothing to do with his medical credentials. And, for that matter, an OD - a Doctor of Optometry - calls himself an eye doctor, but he really isn’t.
I was being (or attempting to being) funny when I said his office is near a MD. But an optometrist is a doctor: a doctor of optometry. And a chiropractor is a doctor: a doctor of chiropractory. Of course you can’t elevate those positions, but they are entitled to be called “doctor,” and, in fact, all local chiropractors call themselves “doctors.”