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carebearstare
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« on: October 01, 2009, 03:19:53 PM » |
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I regularly walk by a chiropractor's office in my day-to-day dealings, and today I noticed they had free consultations, so I had one. What have been other people's experiences with it? While the doc got several things right (my chronic knee pain, lower back issues, etc.), some of the things he was telling me sounded like... well, bunk. I'm generally pretty predisposed to alternative medicine and whatnot, but I have a hard time understanding how he knew what ovary was ovulating from feeling my neck (for instance).
Thoughts?
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Well, some posters were being naughty here.
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prytania3
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« Reply #1 on: October 01, 2009, 03:32:03 PM » |
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My mother used to say chiropractors were a bunch of quacks. She hurt her back in a fall many years ago, and after traditional doctors wanted to operate for a 30% success rate, she ended up trying a chiropractor.
Though she obviously contends some are better than others, she no longer refers to them as quacks and has a high opinion regarding them.
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Clowns, I tell you. Clowns.
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menotti
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« Reply #2 on: October 01, 2009, 03:52:20 PM » |
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There is actual research on this. Last I heard, chiropractic care was as or more successful than standard care for treating back and neck pain, while there was no evidence it did any good for other conditions.
Interesting to me was that patients were often more satisfied after chiropractic care, not because of what they did, but because the provider listened more and touched the part of the body that hurt.
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normative_
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« Reply #3 on: October 01, 2009, 03:53:02 PM » |
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Legit
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Fortune favors the bold. Excellent analysis by Normative. All hail Normie! Normative, that was superb. |
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madhatter
We proudly present the fora's Least
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Just killing time
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« Reply #4 on: October 01, 2009, 04:58:42 PM » |
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Mixture of legit and hooey. Providing relief for neck and back pain -- most likely, legit. Straying to other parts of the body (such as ovaries), more likely to be hooey. "Subluxations" and other forms of magical thinking, hooey.
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"I may be an evil scientist, but it doesn't take a degree purchased from the Internet with your ex-wife's money to know how special and important you are to me." -- Dr. Doofenschmirtz
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gennimom
Somewhat Southern (Have I really posted that much?)
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 16,767
Let's get summer over with! Me want snow!
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« Reply #5 on: October 01, 2009, 05:04:26 PM » |
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As long as they were trying to straighten out my back and neck they were fine. If they tried to tell me that it would fix some unrelated problem, I probably wouldn't believe them, but the two I've been to were great.
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...only after reading gm's post, my new mantra is "always listen to gennimom".
Monday reeks! - Garfield The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a person (or something like that). |
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klbliss
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« Reply #6 on: October 01, 2009, 05:11:10 PM » |
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After living with sciatic pain for 15 years, I tried a chiropractor - one of the best decisions I ever made. Now I go regularly and am keenly aware of when I have to miss several weeks. The cost of an adjustment is $40 here - no insurance. When I consider the cost of going to the movies with popcorn and drink for two of us - the decision about where to spend the money is easy...
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figee
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« Reply #7 on: October 01, 2009, 05:13:36 PM » |
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Legit. I've just started seeing one for pain which has been chronic for the past few years. My back and neck are almost sorted and I'm feeling much better. The rest of it I can take it or leave it, but for the back, neck and (oddly) knee pain, things are great.
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"Eating at the Italian restaurant was a mistake." - student explaining how food poisoning was contracted while on fieldwork in Orissa.
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carebearstare
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« Reply #8 on: October 01, 2009, 05:14:47 PM » |
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Has anybody had any experience with a lower extremity pain that got better after a chiropractor worked on your back? I have done yoga for years, and so I know from my own body that my hips, lower back, and knee issues are all probably related in some way, and I'd be most interested in trying to clear up these problems. I've been to physical therapy too, though, which never seems to address the problem holistically--it's always "oh, your knee hurts, do this" or "oh, your back hurts, do that." But then I leave PT and the problems start again. So chiropractic is alluring for that reason. But if all this is bells and whistles, and it really can't extend beyond the back, I'm not sure I want to invest the time and the money to do it.
On preview: Figee and Klbliss, that is good to know. I have crap knees and would love if chiropractic might help them.
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Well, some posters were being naughty here.
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spork
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« Reply #9 on: October 01, 2009, 05:22:04 PM » |
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The subluxation paradigm is scientifically bogus -- no evidence.
I look at it as a form of massage -- move the musculoskeletal system to relax muscles that are otherwise usually in a state of tension, often in reaction to pain and often creating pain.
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a.k.a. gum-chewing monkey in a Tufts University jacket
"Please do not force people who are exhausted to take medication for hallucinations." -- Memo from the Chair, Department of White Privilege Studies, Fiork University
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figee
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« Reply #10 on: October 01, 2009, 05:25:22 PM » |
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Mine has been helped because most of my knee pain is caused by a serious ankle injury which the rest of my body has compensated for for the past twelve years, pronating feet (and gradually falling arches) and bad posture. As a result of this, my pelvis was out of alignment, one leg has ended up longer than the other and my body is skewed slightly. Since going to the chiro after severe lower back pain, my knees seem to be coming good despite some fairly intensive training, my posture is improving and the pain in my back is gone. Obviously it's different for everyone, and its been uncomfortable at times, but as far as I can tell, this stuff works.
And I agree with spork re the subluxation paradigm. I wouldn't call chiro massage but I feel better.
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"Eating at the Italian restaurant was a mistake." - student explaining how food poisoning was contracted while on fieldwork in Orissa.
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carebearstare
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« Reply #11 on: October 01, 2009, 05:32:31 PM » |
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Mine has been helped because most of my knee pain is caused by a serious ankle injury which the rest of my body has compensated for for the past twelve years, pronating feet (and gradually falling arches) and bad posture. As a result of this, my pelvis was out of alignment, one leg has ended up longer than the other and my body is skewed slightly. Since going to the chiro after severe lower back pain, my knees seem to be coming good despite some fairly intensive training, my posture is improving and the pain in my back is gone. Obviously it's different for everyone, and its been uncomfortable at times, but as far as I can tell, this stuff works.
And I agree with spork re the subluxation paradigm. I wouldn't call chiro massage but I feel better.
This sounds like me. Bad ankles and flat feet that gave me problems when I was younger; now that's gone but my knees are constantly a source of pain and my back has been messed up for the better part of a year. I stretch, wear braces, use heat, take painkillers, and nothing works. So maybe chiro is worth a try. I'll just ignore him when he starts talking about my gall bladder and my left ovary, I guess. |
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Well, some posters were being naughty here.
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history_grrrl
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« Reply #12 on: October 01, 2009, 10:45:35 PM » |
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My comments aren't strictly about chiro but more about connections between body parts that others have mentioned. I've had back pain for about 30 years, most likely related to scoliosis which seems to be worsening. I also have weird foot problems -- severe overpronation like figee, no instep, etc. (related to a connective tissue problem that's likely the source of the scoliosis as well). I've been going to PT for over a year after developing intense back pain, and the exercises and traction have helped enormously. But recently my primary care doc sent me to a physiatrist (sp?), who wants me to strengthen my calves and hamstrings so I can tolerate more aggressive correction from orthotics. He wrote up some exercises for my PT to add to my usual routine, and it's amazing: the foot and leg exercises relieve my back pain immediately because they relieve the pressure on my lower back. A few years ago, an cranky old orthotics guy told me to start doing foot exercises (where I basically pretend I have an instep) for my back pain, and presto! He was right. Now I have this other guy with an M.D. saying the same thing. What I love about my PT (and these other people) is exactly what the OP mentioned: they understand the relationship among different parts of the body that other health-care people rarely seem to connect. I'm saying all this because it sounds like some of us with back pain also have other things going on. Addressing those other things could help the back pain a lot.
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[R]eality sometimes has a left-wing bias.
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daniel_von_flanagan
<redacted>
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Posts: 8,978
Works all day. Posts all night. Needs sleep.
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« Reply #13 on: October 02, 2009, 01:00:36 AM » |
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Physical therapy can be phenomenal.
As for other forms of medicine, NIH has oodles of grant money available for people to test alternative medical procedures, I have respect for any that submit to such testing and none for those that do not. - DvF
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The U.S. Education Department is establishing a new national research center to study colleges' ability to successfully educate the country's growing numbers of academically underprepared administrators.
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drmink
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« Reply #14 on: October 02, 2009, 08:17:06 AM » |
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Mixture of legit and hooey. Providing relief for neck and back pain -- most likely, legit. Straying to other parts of the body (such as ovaries), more likely to be hooey. "Subluxations" and other forms of magical thinking, hooey.
This is the correct answer. Also, their holistic medicine theory is complete and utter garbage. My general rule is if they try to sell you anything, or suggest that an adjustment can fix anything but your back, then run away as quickly as you can. |
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