I was hoping some SDopers may share their stories at the chiropractor - good and bad. And, I’m wondering if it is common to be more sore roughly 24 hrs later, like how muscles tend to respond to a work-out? I’ve had good luck last time, but this next time…my body’s just being more stubborn, I guess!
Anyway, please share…
About ten years ago, when we had health insurance that paid for it, hubby and I both went to a chiropractor. Hubby had been suffering terrible headaches, which disappeared after a few chiropractic sessions. I had lower back pain, which was likewise helped.
I’m skeptical of chiropractic claims that they can cure all kinds of stuff (menstrual cramps? Hello?), but believe that for certain kinds of problems, a good chiropractor can be very, very useful.
Only in my experience…
Chiropractic seems rather inexact. They know where you need to be adjusted, so they get your body into a certain position that makes it likely that o vertebra will move the way it should, and pop! But it doesn’t always move the way it should have. Sometimes you feel better, sometimes the same, and possibly sometimes even worse. The times when it just makes the pain go away are what make going to a DC worth my while.
How often do you go? Definitely tell him/her if the last adjustment didn’t work. A good DC will know a few different ways to adjust one spot. And don’t be afraid to switch it he/she isn’t helping. Like everyone else, some DC’s are better than others.
I had heard all kinds of horror stories about chiropractors, so I wasn’t too hot on them. I had occasion to talk to one at a seminar, though, and she impressed me. About two months later, I had some lower back pain, so I thought “Why not?” and scheduled an appointment.
When she started making my spine sound like popcorn, I was a little nervous. When she twisted my neck and there was more popcorn, I got really nervous. She then took me into another room and put me on a machine that worked on the muscles up and down the spine. That was bliss.
When I got up, I didn’t hurt any more. The pain came back late that day, but it was nowhere near as bad. After three sessions, it was gone completely. I proposed marriage to her and she laughed and told me she got about a dozen proposals a week.
It’s quackery, pure and simple. While some muscle manipulation may make you feel better for a short time, the problem is not gone. Chiropractic is based on false assumptions that are designed to be proven correct by the result. In other words, come up with a result, design the hypothesis to fit it, and then call it science.
I went to these people for several years, then realized that the visits were becoming more and more frequent, which meant that not only was I not getting “better”, but that I was being sucked into a never-ending money hole. It was like an addiction. I quit cold turkey, and just gutted through any muscle spasms, and have not had any problems that can’t be cured through exercise and being cautious about lifting things.
That said, if it makes you feel better on an occasional basis, well then certainly go ahead. But avoid any who want to put you in an extended treatment program and DON’T let anyone crack your neck.
I’m not really sure why, but I saw one when I was a kid.
I think I was about 10 years old and for some reason my mother thought I need it. (My back was crooked or something)
Any way each session started with this beautiful nurse giving me a back massage. That part I loved.
I’ve been seeing a chiropractor on and off for about the last six months. When I first got there, I was a mess. I had severe pain in my neck as well as my upper and lower back. Some of it was from my weight lifting, some of it was stress, some of it was because I have mild schooliosis. My mom, who is a massage therapist, recommended a doctor she used to work with. I saw him four times in the first two weeks, once a week for a few months after that, and now I’m seeing him once every other week. Within a few months I’ll be seeing him once a month, and I’ll probably stick with that.
My pain is gone. I have full range of motion in my neck and back. My workouts have improved dramatically. After I started getting adjusted, I was actually relatively weak, as my muscles had adjusted to where my bones and vertebrate were. With them in the right places, I was weaker. I’m now much more symmetrical. I’m even a bit taller, if you can believe it.
Of course, the endorphin rush I get from my adjustments don’t hurt… 
I have several vertebrea (sp?) that have sublexations (they are “tilted” wrong). One spot in my neck, one in my middle/upper back. (dead center in both curves)
Once in a while, my neck acts up, and the pain becomes so intense that I can barely move, roll over in bed, or pick anything up (my left arm becomes useless).
The chiropractor is GOD in my book. In about 4-6 visits, the pain is gone to a point that I can go on with my normal life, and wait for the next flare up. It’s usually about 18 months or more between problems.
I obviously prefer to have insurance pay for it, but if it gets so bad that OTC painkillers aren’t doing the job, I’d gladly pay for the visit to regain my mobility.
I don’t think they can cure everything, but my experience has been nothing but positive!!!
They do like to sign you up for unending visits, so I usually just start to ignore their suggestions as I begin to feel better.
-Butler
(my first experience with them was many years ago, when this started I was unable to work well, and dropped a monitor due to my lack of arm strength. The major amounts of pain were cured on the first visit)
Here’s an excellent site about chiropractic: Chirobase.org
And here’s an article dealing with “subluxations”: over har
I went about a year ago because my left arm kept going tingly and nearly numb. Turns out my neck and some nerves in that vicinity. I let Chiro Guy crack, lift, press and manipulate for a few visits, and that took care of it. I felt a bit funny after the first session but never had any pain from it.
I saw one for about 2 weeks back in October. I had terrible back pain that was preventing me from sitting at work all day. He didn’t do any cracking or massaging - just the muscle stuff. He used a couple tools that basically punched the specific muscles that were tight.
The general muscle pains in my back, neck and face went away. He didn’t cure my back pain because it turned out that I had a herniated disk pressing on the sciatic nerve. But, he did relieve the pain that was masking the real problem. And he’s the one who told me to see my doctor because he suspected a herniated disk. I went to my doctor, had an MRI and a cortisone shot and now I’m much better.
I’d go back again just because sitting at a desk all day is surprisingly taxing on the back and holding a phone all day is very taxing on the neck - and he helped with that.
By the way, I respect the fact that this particular guy would NOT do any cracking until after a few visits because he felt most back pain was due to tense muscles and cracking probably wouldn’t help them. It’s been a few months since I saw him and my upper back and neck still feel much better. I know people who only get cracking. They see their chiropractors at least once a week and have been for months with minimal results.
I had lower back pain and went to a chiropractor. He explained that he could fix me right up with a few visits. Each visit I would feel better for a while, but overall I was not getting any better. Always just needed a few more visits.
So I went to a neurosurgeon who did some tests (told me right off what my trouble was withing 2 minutes of meeting him) and also ran a CAT scan that revealed a badly ruptured disc and a compressed disc. I had surgery 2 days later and could walk the next day without pain (I had terrible sciatica before) and never needed anything else for pain.
So maybe my chiropractor wasn’t all that hot, but come on. The neurosurgeon sat me on the table and raised my leg, which made me yell. Then he pulled down on the top of my foot while holding my heel, which meant my leg nerves were pinched and the muscle wasn’t working (you should be able to resist this pulling normally). All of this took literally a couple of minutes.
Just a few more visits…until I get my car payed off or something. I won’t ever go back to a chiropractor.
I go to a chiropractor in Japan who hooks me up to one machine that puts my head in a sling and stretches my neck, and another that zaps my shoulder with sweet lovin’ DC current. He smokes through the entire session. It’s like a flashback to the 1950’s. I keep doing it because it’s covered by insurance, and it isn’t like there’s anything else interesting to do in the countryside.