What are your thoughts on chiropractors?

[lemondog]

My DH has been seeing a chiro every week for over a year now. He swears it helps. However, 3 weeks ago he abruptly started having pain, numbness, tingling and shaking in his arms/hands...more so his right hand than his left. It was sudden onset.

He has gone thru some testing with our internist, and so far they have been able to rule out: tardive dyskenisia, MS, Lou Gehrig's and Parkinsons. His next step is to see a neurologist...his appt. is Tuesday. In the meantime the doc has put him on a beta blocker called enderal (sp??) which has greatly helped the shaking but not so much the numbness/tingling.

I am no doctor, but his problem sounds nerve related to me. And my suspicions are that something was pinched/messed up by the chiro. I am very distrustful of them, and I can't discuss this with my DH because he thinks this guy hung the moon and that I am totally biased because of my distrust. It just seems that with all the popping and cracking and readjusting they do it would be easy to pinch something or otherwise push something out of place. Am I being crazy? I know some people swear by their chiros, but i am not one of them. Sorry to any of you DISers out there who are chiros!!!

 

[Tink888]

So funny to see this thread today. I woke up Thursday with a kink in my neck and several people have suggested seeing a chiropractor but I am distrustful of them also. It just seems like one wrong move and they could really do a lot of damage. Just my opinion though. I know many people who swear by them so I will also apologize in advance to any chiropractors out there. Just not for me.

 

[SandrA9810]

I don't like any kind of cracking and popping coming from my bones. But they've helped my room-mate quite a bit. Although she'll only go for a few adjustments whenever her back starts acting up.

I think Chiro's can be helpful. I just find the fact that you need to see them 2-3 times a week is a bit over the top.

 

[minkydog]

No. I wouldn't let a chiropractor touch me with a ten foot pole.

 

[Disnewbie76]

I was involved in a car accident a few years ago and had back pain for quite some time afterward. I went to see a chiro and he took x-rays and showed me how my back was out of line...after a few months of seeing him, he again took the x-rays and it was perfectly straight..my wife would laugh at me because I LOOKED forward to seeing that man...i promise you, it helped a ton...i would walk in his office in pain and when he finished, I felt 95% better....I am not at all distrustful of them...I would much rather see someone who actually treats the problems instead of throwing some meds at me to treat the symptoms and covering up the problem. Now, don't get me wrong, i don't mean to say that ALL doctors do this at all...but some do....

OH, and there are reasons for seeing them every two to 3 days, at first...because ultimately, as your muscles are rehabilitated back into holding your bones in the correct line, you will need to see the chiro less and less until finally, you will no longer have to go at all.

 

[beatlesblonde]

I was involved in a car accident a few years ago and had back pain for quite some time afterward. I went to see a chiro and he took x-rays and showed me how my back was out of line...after a few months of seeing him, he again took the x-rays and it was perfectly straight..my wife would laugh at me because I LOOKED forward to seeing that man...i promise you, it helped a ton...i would walk in his office in pain and when he finished, I felt 95% better....I am not at all distrustful of them...I would much rather see someone who actually treats the problems instead of throwing some meds at me to treat the symptoms and covering up the problem. Now, don't get me wrong, i don't mean to say that ALL doctors do this at all...but some do....

OH, and there are reasons for seeing them every two to 3 days, at first...because ultimately, as your muscles are rehabilitated back into holding your bones in the correct line, you will need to see the chiro less and less until finally, you will no longer have to go at all.

I totally agree with you. When I originally started going to my chiro several years ago my x-ray looked like a road winding down the side of a mountain. Due to the severity I started out going several times a week, now that I've been going for a few years I only go once every month. If I'm having problems, I'd rather call him up and make an appointment then be popping things like Vicodin or muscle relaxers like some family members I have do. The popping and cracking you hear sounds worse than it actually is, it's just pressure being released. Trust me, whenever my chiro gets my back to pop it's like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders (literally!)

 

[shortbun]

I have been enlightened about chiropractors. I have a Doctor who does my body work who is very holistic and gentle. She keeps me going. No cracking or popping, just gentle manipulation and the use of an activator. She also uses ultra sound on my sore or stressed muscles and has three kick-rear massage therapists working for/with her for other body work. She refers, researches, is kind, intelligent and well educated in her field. I love my chiropractor. If you live near central Ohio, MAYBE I will tell you who she is because I want to be able to get in when I need to. All of you non-believers have not experienced this special talent. Too bad.

 

[rluey29]

I wouldn't let them touch me with a 20 foot pole, my wife was going to school to be one and she got information that totally changed her outlook on them. She used them in the past and believed their garbage until her research made her pull a 180. She no longer even wants to be one. I do think there may be some that are helpful to some people but not for me or my family.

 

[bumbershoot]

"It just seems that with all the popping and cracking and readjusting they do it would be easy to pinch something or otherwise push something out of place"

No, actually it would be very hard to mess someone up in that way.

Things are either changing in his spine and his chiro needs to pay attention to that, or he has something else, something *medical*, wrong with him.

Chiropractic helps the nervous system work better, and therefore can help with just about anything. Amazing things have happened in my extended family, even before I was old enough to think about becoming a chiro, and my own health and life have been greatly enhanced by it.

And, the most important thing to remember? It's NOT your body. It's your husband's body. Not your call.

I wouldn't let them touch me with a 20 foot pole, my wife was going to school to be one and she got information that totally changed her outlook on them. She used them in the past and believed their garbage until her research made her pull a 180. She no longer even wants to be one. I do think there may be some that are helpful to some people but not for me or my family.

Cracking me up. What, pray tell, "research" did she encounter?


I do have to edit to add...I noticed while in school that while men with wives who were skeptical could be strong and carry on...women with husbands who were skeptical generally changed their feelings. Seemed to be a heavy male > female dynamic, where the female morphs to the husband's beliefs. Saw it over and over. And generally, when women continued forth in their education despite their husband's thoughts, especially b/c chiro school is expensive, those marriages generally didn't last very long. Sad, really.

 

[aprilgail2]

I would steer WAY clear of Chiropractors! I never had such bad headaches until I let one near me!! I think they are all a bunch of quacks- I even had one tell me that he could have cured my godsons cancer!!!!

 

[Jeafl]

I had a nightmare experience.

I went to this chiropractor for lower back pain and she did a couple of adjustments, then told me to lay down while she put different pills on my tongue, telling me not to swallow them. In the meantime, while the pill was on my tongue, she told me to push against her arm, and by doing this she could determine what I was allergic to. WTH? I went in there for back pain, not an allergy problem! The whole thing was bizarre! I told her I wasn't interested in any kind of allergy testing at that moment, so she stopped.

Anyway, she did another adjustment, and when I got off the table the pain was so intense that I could hardly move. As I started walking towards the door my entire leg and foot went numb. I ended up going to the ER and they did an MRI and determined that I had one herniated disc and one completely broken/mostly missing disc! 11 years later I still have terrible pain in my back, hip and leg. I definitely blame that doctor for making things worse. I guess I will never really know if she did the original damage or not, but she certainly didn't help.

 

[Tuffcookie]

I have been to a chiropractor a few times. Sometimes I lift something the wrong way and I get lower back pain. Going to the chiropractor early on gets rid of the pain sooner. Believe me, I used to just suffer with it for a week or more. I learned there are some things it's good to go to the chiroprator for. That said, I do not buy into the idea that chiropractics can cure everything.

TC

 

[Poohlovr]

Another "no" vote--at least for some things. Clear as mud, huh?

A few months ago, I was diagnosed with a pinched nerve due to cervical spinal and neuroforamenal stenosis. My dad always swore by a chiro, so I thought I'd see if that would help. I had one treatment and made a second appointment for the following week.

In the meantime, a friend of mine, who happens to be a neurologist, but not my neurologist, sent me a message asking how I was doing. I told him I had been to see a chiropractor and I immediately got a reponse--"Whatever you do, don't let them do any adjustments on your neck".

What? Why? (I didn't tell him that my neck had already been pulled, twisted and turned in every possible direction). He went on to tell me that the adjustments to the neck have been linked to strokes and sent me some websites to read the case studies.

After reading the documentation, I immediately cancelled the next chiro appt and never made another.

I fully realize that the number of strokes caused by chiropractic treatment is minimal in relation to the number of people having these adjustments, but, with my luck, I would be one of the few and wasn't about to take that chance.

 

[HeatherH]

Add me to the list of those who were HARMED by a chiropractor!

I had a back injury that was COMPLETELY misdiagnosed by a supposed "top of his field" chiropractor years ago. All of the manipulations and machines that he did ultimately made my injury WORSE. I finally saw an orthopedist who correctly diagnosed my HERNIATED DISK and congenital spine issues.

After two years of physical therapy I eventually had spinal surgery that was completely successful.

OP, I know that people get very defensive if you dare to suggest that a chiropractor can cause harm, but I hope you are able to convince your husband that he is better safe than sorry right now. Do the other doctors he has seen know he has been seeing a chiropractor as well? Perhaps they can convince him to stop that treatment while they are trying to figure out what is going on.

Good luck to you and your husband.

 

[MommaSnowwhite]

Often times a Physical Therapist is a better choice - in my opinion.

 

[minkydog]

Often times a Physical Therapist is a better choice - in my opinion.

This.

 

[IDoDis]

Love my chiro, but he'd be the first person to tell your DH that going once a week for adjustments is a BAD idea. My chiropractor deals mostly with people who have been injured in accidents, but helps people like myself when my lower back decides to take a vacation south leaving me in a zig-zaggy shape.

Years ago, I too believed chiros were quacks. Some are, I'm sure, but if you find one that is board certified you are probably getting a good one who is not out for your money. Well, then my back went out for the first time in my life. I was miserable, but recovered after a couple of weeks. A few weeks later it happened again and a couple of months later the same thing. I suffered through and got about 80% better after many painful days then when I reached for my baby's shoes to put on his feet, my back did the crazy pull again. I was back to major pain, no sleep, and walking crooked again.

I went to my doctor for some muscle relaxers. He gave me those and also sent me for x-rays which showed nothing like a slipped disk or anything. He thought some physical therapy would send me on the road to recovery. Now that physical therapist was a quack! I went three times and had to pay $50 co-pays each time for a 30 min. session. The guy first said maybe I had scoliosis. Then, he said, no it wasn't that. Then he had me lay on a table and pulled on my right leg really hard to stretch me out. When I stood up, I wasn't crooked and he said, "ah ha! On of your legs is shorter than the other which is giving you back problems." He prescribed a special insert to put in my left shoe. That didn't help at all and I figured the guy was nuts. Of course I won't be temporarily crooked if he stretched my leg out on the side I was hunched over on.

I was not sure what to do next, when a friend recommended her chiropractor to me. At this point I figured, "what the heck" since nothing else worked. I went in and had some adjustments, and a great massage. I walked out already feeling 50% better. I went back three days later for the same thing and again 3 more days later. I was back to 100% the morning after the 2nd adjustment, but decided to do that last follow-up just to be sure.

I went a whole year before my back went out again. My chiro recommended some exercises to strengthen the muscles and daily exercise which helped me lose the rest of my weight gain from having babies. I didn't have to see him again for 3 years. I go in every 4 months or so for an adjustment. He said if things are going well, that is all that is needed. He told me that some people get adjusted way too many times and often learn to self-adjust because things pop into place too easily after having too many adjustments. He said that is bad.

So, I do love mine. He's been a God-send, but not all are as good as he is.

 

[starann]

I think there are chiro's out there who are quacks (like the one who said he could have cured cancer).....and then there are trustworthy ones..........just as there are internists and surgeons who I wouldn't let touch me with a 20ft pole.

You have to find some one who comes highly referred by others, this, much like any other medical person, is not something you jsut pick out of the phone book.

I LOVE my chiro....in fact, he took such good care of my Bama, I started to see him, then my (now)DH, then my father.......we became such good friends, he was an usher in my wedding. He helped me deal with constant headaches during my pregnancy, as well as siatica, basically with no meds that could harm my baby......had I not been pregnant I would have taken meds (narcotics) to control the pain, but he was able to help without the use of meds.

I now see him on an as needed basis, but there was once a time I saw him 3 times a week.....and I'm glad I did, cause now I see him every 3 month and ended up not needing surgery or constant pain meds to fix me!

 

[C.Ann]

I'm "on the fence" about them.. DD has one that has been very helpful with her back, but unable to help with her neck.. I have gone to the same chiro for my back and the problem was made much, much worse..

I guess my opinion is that "the verdict isn't in yet"..

 

[HsvTeacher]

Add me to the list of people who will never, ever go to a chiropractor again.

When I was having back problems, my chiropractor did more harm than good. Thank goodness my neurosurgeon was able to correct it!