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Chiropractic Medicine

Chiropractic "Medicine"

  • nuttier than a squirrel turd

    Votes: 14 42.4%
  • legit science

    Votes: 11 33.3%
  • bacon/loco sucks

    Votes: 8 24.2%

  • Total voters
    33

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,138
16,533
Riding the baggage carousel.
At the risk of reciving a Drkenan like custom title, I bring up this:
I was pretty firmly convinced Chiropractic's was all smoke/mirrors and BS for a long time but finally saw one some months back for a shoulder issue related to my accident. Couple of adjustments, shoulder felt WAY better and I was sold. But then I got the whole spiel about 3 times a week, traction, blah blah blah, for 9 months @ the low low price of $3500 bucks, that oh by the way insurance covers practically none of and I suddenly had the smoke and mirrors feeling come back. Started having problems again so I went to see another guy, same experience. Still not sure on where I stand on all this.
Discuss:
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,932
13,130
Portland, OR
I have seen many back dudes and some were total quacks. But 2 of them (one in San Diego, on in Portland) use a very basic process of electric muscle stimulation for 20 minutes followed by some adjustments.

Depending on the areas I was having issues with (most are my lower right side), he would place the electrodes and kick off the machine. It used a series of pulse waves of different lengths, intensity, and frequency. He would adjust it so it was almost painful, but after 20 minutes, all I had to do was move and stuff popped.

He would do the usual adjustments and I was on my way. If it had been a while, I felt like I was run over by a truck for a few hours. But the next day I always felt awesome.

I have had docs that did ultrasound (didn't do anything) or breathing techniques (nothing), and one dude who put me on the table, pop/pop/pop and send me on my way. That always hurt like hell and I quit going after 3 visits. Later I found out the quack was actually a professor at the chiropractic college.

In San Diego, my docs wife was an acupuncturist. I used to swear that was a hoax until I tried it. After my 3rd knee surgery, I was treated with acupuncture 3 times a week phased out over 3 months and never had to take pain pills.

<edit> My co-pay was $50, but since I paid cash, my doc charged me $35 and it was covered under my flex spending account. Acupuncture was only $20 a visit.
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
they are all nutty, but what they do does take some skill, otherwise theyll break your neck like chuck norris.

that being said, sometimes my neck and back gets so bad that i cant walk and the only way it will feel any better is seeing my Chiro.
 

Prettym1k3

Turbo Monkey
Aug 21, 2006
2,864
0
In your pants
I went in to see a friend of ours who is finishing up chiropractic school. 6 sessions and man... he set me straight. My hips were off. My muscles in my neck were messed up from a crash I had back last year. I'm feeling right as rain now.
 

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
Im not going to say it's all pseudo-scientific BS, but things I've heard from some of them are complete nonsense. For instance, they claim spinal alignments can bring your body back in "balance", such that your "energy" will help fight off the flu, cancer, etc. And alot of it is just like going to get a massage... sure, someone cracks your back in 27 places, it's going to feel good, but to what end? You get on a program where you do it once a week? Why not just get a massage once a week?
I think there are some legitimate things they can do to relieve pressure on pinched nerves and stuff like that, but that could all be BS too.

Anyway, why go to a chiropractor for a shoulder? Go to doctor... get imagining... get fixed by PT. No hokus pokus involved.
 

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
I went in to see a friend of ours who is finishing up chiropractic school. 6 sessions and man... he set me straight. My hips were off. My muscles in my neck were messed up from a crash I had back last year. I'm feeling right as rain now.
See, this is the kind of thing Im talking about... hips were off? Off of what? Your pelvis was dislocated? Crazy talk!
 

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,138
16,533
Riding the baggage carousel.
Im not going to say it's all pseudo-scientific BS, but things I've heard from some of them are complete nonsense. For instance, they claim spinal alignments can bring your body back in "balance", such that your "energy" will help fight off the flu, cancer, etc. And alot of it is just like going to get a massage... sure, someone cracks your back in 27 places, it's going to feel good, but to what end? You get on a program where you do it once a week? Why not just get a massage once a week?
I think there are some legitimate things they can do to relieve pressure on pinched nerves and stuff like that, but that could all be BS too.

Anyway, why go to a chiropractor for a shoulder? Go to doctor... get imagining... get fixed by PT. No hokus pokus involved.
I'm inclined to agree, but I've got to say that in the case of my shoulder I did the doctor/PT/drugs thing with pretty much no relief. None of it helped till I went to a sports medicine guy (he runs rehab stuff for the Rockies baseball team) who cracked my back and told me to go see a chiropractor. I'm telling you man, the relief was instantaneous and profound.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,932
13,130
Portland, OR
The key to my back is getting the muscles to relax, then make the adjustments. With the muscles tight, they will pull the back out of place. If the muscles are relaxed, they will allow the back to be aligned, then as they return to normal position, it stays aligned. This is why it usually takes more than a few visits so the muscles learn where the back is supposed to be.

I was told when I was younger that the curve in my spine would require surgery to correct. But using a good doc for regular alignments has kept me pretty healthy without cutting.
 

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
Im not an expert on this stuff, though my wife is a PT, so I know a little about what goes down. I know you can have an injury in one place and the pain will refer to somewhere else, stuff like that, so your shoulder injury could be a back thing... who knows? But here is the point.
Assuming your shoulder is messed up... by what mechanism could cracking your back possibly heal it? Have you been diagnosed with a particular injury, and is this the way it is treated? Or are you simply masking the pain of a hurt shoulder with the placebo of a nice back cracking?
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,932
13,130
Portland, OR
Im not an expert on this stuff, though my wife is a PT, so I know a little about what goes down. I know you can have an injury in one place and the pain will refer to somewhere else, stuff like that, so your shoulder injury could be a back thing...
Acupuncture is crazy like that. For treatment of my left knee, the doc stuck pins in points on my right elbow. He asked if my elbow hurt and I said "no, why would it?". So he felt around and say "how about here?" and put his finger on a spot that hurt like hell on my RIGHT ELBOW! He put a pin there, then found about 3 other spots.

He said the spots in my elbow reflect the pain in the opposite limb. Shoulder/hip, hand/foot, elbow/knee etc. he explained how the nerves are connected and while it might not seem like it, sticking pins in my elbow eased the pain in my knee.

Voodoo? Maybe, but it worked awesome.
 

Polandspring88

Superman
Mar 31, 2004
3,066
7
Broomfield, CO
Im not an expert on this stuff, though my wife is a PT, so I know a little about what goes down. I know you can have an injury in one place and the pain will refer to somewhere else, stuff like that, so your shoulder injury could be a back thing... who knows? But here is the point.
Assuming your shoulder is messed up... by what mechanism could cracking your back possibly heal it? Have you been diagnosed with a particular injury, and is this the way it is treated? Or are you simply masking the pain of a hurt shoulder with the placebo of a nice back cracking?
My g/f interviewed with a chiropractic place through a learning session I was brought to I gathered that the basis of their argument seemed to be that the spine connects all of our body in one way or another to our brain where all higher thinking takes place. If our spine is not in alignment than the signals are not properly transfered and our body is not able to undergo the healing process. That and if you kept your body's natural energy you would be immune to all ailments. ever.

It all seemed pretty wacky to me as a critical observer. That and $50 bucks for a 2 minute crack session seems absurd.
 

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,138
16,533
Riding the baggage carousel.
Im not an expert on this stuff, though my wife is a PT, so I know a little about what goes down. I know you can have an injury in one place and the pain will refer to somewhere else, stuff like that, so your shoulder injury could be a back thing... who knows? But here is the point.
Assuming your shoulder is messed up... by what mechanism could cracking your back possibly heal it? Have you been diagnosed with a particular injury, and is this the way it is treated? Or are you simply masking the pain of a hurt shoulder with the placebo of a nice back cracking?
FWIW, It was explained to me as a nerve issue. Due to the nature of my injuries, my right shoulder is no longer level with my left. Visibly so. I've had two different ortho docs tell me surgery might bring it back up but neither recommended it saying I'd probably be worse off in the long run. My issue here is the two chiropractic "docs" I've seen want me to spend 3500 buck because apparently my neck doesn't have enough curve (actually x-ray shows it as pretty much straight which is not, apparently, normal). I get headaches they claim are caused by this issue. And I got to say after my first trip I didn't have any for a long time, and after seeing the new guy they have stopped also. But still, they have not at all sold me on this "treatment". 3500 bucks is gonna be a pretty big stretch for me and the wife right now, never mind the fact that I'm still at least 50 percent certain its all voodoo anyway.
 

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
Did the Ortho docs tell you it was a nerve issue, or the chiros? If you had nerve damage to the point that your shoulder completely sagged, I'd think your entire arm would be useless. I mean think about it...at rest, "nerves" do nothing to support your shoulder... you've got a chassis of bone there.
 

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,138
16,533
Riding the baggage carousel.
Did the Ortho docs tell you it was a nerve issue, or the chiros? If you had nerve damage to the point that your shoulder completely sagged, I'd think your entire arm would be useless. I mean think about it...at rest, "nerves" do nothing to support your shoulder... you've got a chassis of bone there.
I perhaps explained that poorly. The shoulder sag is due to the fact that it pretty much exploded when I got run over, multiple bone breaks. I was having a pain and numbness issue associated with said shoulder. Not a usage issue, although I can no longer throw a ball with any accuracy. It was actually the Rockies doc who told me it was a nerve issue.
Like I said, I'm not at all convinced that the whole practice isn't mostly a study of bovine scatology, but my one experience made me question my stance. Like JimmyDean talks about with acupuncture, my father was very sick while I was in high school and of all the drugs and therapies that were tried on him, acupuncture was the only thing that helped him keep food down. Before I would have said that was all juju and BS too, so I remain a skeptic, but I'm certainly aware that I don't know everything there is too know.
 

TreeSaw

Mama Monkey
Oct 30, 2003
17,669
1,847
Dancin' over rocks n' roots!
I think it depends on the Chiro. The one I went to see is a sports medicine specialist with combined services in Chiro & PT. He is the one who discovered my sacroiliac joint was out of place and assisted with putting it back in and strengthening my muscular structure to assist with keeping it in place. God-send with the instant pain relief and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him. He was recommended by my regular Dr. as an alternative when we went through his tests and couldn't diagnose the problem.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,029
7,549
Im not going to say it's all pseudo-scientific BS, but things I've heard from some of them are complete nonsense. For instance, they claim spinal alignments can bring your body back in "balance", such that your "energy" will help fight off the flu, cancer, etc. And alot of it is just like going to get a massage... sure, someone cracks your back in 27 places, it's going to feel good, but to what end? You get on a program where you do it once a week? Why not just get a massage once a week?
I think there are some legitimate things they can do to relieve pressure on pinched nerves and stuff like that, but that could all be BS too.

Anyway, why go to a chiropractor for a shoulder? Go to doctor... get imagining... get fixed by PT. No hokus pokus involved.
Agreed. Chiros or PTs have their realm, which is straightforward muscoloskeletal disorders. All that crap about malalignments of the spine causing, well, anything else, is exactly that.

Oh, and don't let a chiropractor touch your neck. You just might dissect a vertebral artery and stroke out.
 

Polandspring88

Superman
Mar 31, 2004
3,066
7
Broomfield, CO
Agreed. Chiros or PTs have their realm, which is straightforward muscoloskeletal disorders. All that crap about malalignments of the spine causing, well, anything else, is exactly that.

Oh, and don't let a chiropractor touch your neck. You just might dissect a vertebral artery and stroke out.
It's funny you say that, the ones I listened to were of the opinion that there is more or less nothing that chiropractic care can't fix. They kept blabbering on about how chiro work is proactive and promotes the body's ability to heal itself compared to conventional medical care that is primarily reactive and consists of taking medicine. It was crazy to see people around the room nodding their heads vehemently to the ideas coming out of their mouths.
 

mandown

Poopdeck Repost
Jun 1, 2004
20,126
7,674
Transylvania 90210
I've had some good experiences where they set me right when I was in a bundle of pain. They were able to loosen the tightness in the back/neck area, and even fix a bungled wrist that I had fallen on. However, I also believe that they are like Jiffy Lubel; you go when your oil is dirty and get it cleaned up on the spot, but you keep going to real mechanics for real issues.

I went to a PT/Chiro for my last shoulder dislocation treatment. He got things up and running, and he also tried to tell me about how I needed treatments to get my spine back in shape and some curvature back in my neck (over the years, I've managed to straighten it, which appears to be a bad thing). The process they used to return curvature to the neck was to place you on your back with a pillow under your neck and a light weight on your forehead. I figured a few minutes of that a few times a week wouldn't undo all the bad stuff I was doing every hour of every day. This was all about a year ago; so fast forward a few months to where I started taking some yoga classes a few times a month (sometimes multiple classes a week). The yoga has started to help realign my spine and neck, and it is covered in the cost of my gym membership.

Chiros remind me a bit of coroners; they can identify the issues, but aren't much for fixing them.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,029
7,549
It's funny you say that, the ones I listened to were of the opinion that there is more or less nothing that chiropractic care can't fix. They kept blabbering on about how chiro work is proactive and promotes the body's ability to heal itself compared to conventional medical care that is primarily reactive and consists of taking medicine. It was crazy to see people around the room nodding their heads vehemently to the ideas coming out of their mouths.
The nutty chiros claim to be able to cure what ails ya, no matter if diabetes, cancer, indigestion, headaches, etc. I'm totally serious with this list, btw: there have been several high-profile lawsuits where kids died because their parents kept on taking them to a chiro to "treat" their diabetes or malignancy… so not cool.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,932
13,130
Portland, OR
The nutty chiros claim to be able to cure what ails ya, no matter if diabetes, cancer, indigestion, headaches, etc. I'm totally serious with this list, btw: there have been several high-profile lawsuits where kids died because their parents kept on taking them to a chiro to "treat" their diabetes or malignancy… so not cool.
It's a damn shame when all they needed was the jeebus.
 

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,138
16,533
Riding the baggage carousel.
I went to a PT/Chiro for my last shoulder dislocation treatment. He got things up and running, and he also tried to tell me about how I needed treatments to get my spine back in shape and some curvature back in my neck (over the years, I've managed to straighten it, which appears to be a bad thing). The process they used to return curvature to the neck was to place you on your back with a pillow under your neck and a light weight on your forehead. I figured a few minutes of that a few times a week wouldn't undo all the bad stuff I was doing every hour of every day. This was all about a year ago; so fast forward a few months to where I started taking some yoga classes a few times a month (sometimes multiple classes a week). The yoga has started to help realign my spine and neck, and it is covered in the cost of my gym membership.
.
Ya, I think it was the whole pillow/weight thing the really raised my eyebrows. You make a good point about yoga, I might look into that. God knows I could use the core strength stuff,
 

Mr Jones

Turbo Monkey
Nov 12, 2007
1,475
0
I slipped a disc 2 years ago while I was unloading the grass catcher of my dad's riding mower. My primary doc said that I had a slipped disc and that I need surgery. Heard about spinal decompression so I figured why not. My insurance covered the $5000 fee (Aetna). 75% of the pain was gone after the first session. Completely pain free after the 4th session. Sessions were spaced out further and further as the weeks progressed. First 3x for 2 weeks, 2x a week for 3 weeks, 1x a week for 3 weeks.

Each time I was given a vallum, then strapped to the machine (looked like a 21st century torture machine). A little soreness after the vallum wears off, but all better by the next day.

btw.... I picked 'bacon'
 

bigwheel

Monkey
May 24, 2004
119
4
Canada
Many aches/pains, crooked spine/hips can possibly be caused by myofascial trigger points... muscle knots... contracted fibers that got stuck that way. Pulling the muscles tight, which jams up the joints causing stiffness and pain at the joint or, since it's all connected, the pain is referred to another spot.

Find a PT that deals with trigger point release. They'll dig in and work out the knots, relieving the tension. A chiro will only re-align the bones, which will feel good for a day, maybe a week, but muscles are still tight so the relief is only temporary.

A lot of trigger points can be released with self-treatment... using thumb pressure, tennis ball or some other suitable device. There's plenty of info online, and books. There's a book called "The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook"... self-treatment guide for pain relief... 2nd Edition. Explains head to toe all the spots that cause pain and why.