Chiropractors – what is your experience with them? Are there any docs with opinions

[yomama]

Well I went to the chiropractor for my wrist pain and my impression is that their whole theory is a bit hard to take. I am not a doctor but I have a medically related degree ect and the premise of explaining everything through spinal misalignment is hard for me to believe. I could go on forever but … what are your experiences and feelings. My admittedly biased view is that any gains are due to the placebo effect which I believe to be a very powerfully means of healing.

[Knothead]

W-e-e-ell....I have a lot of experience with Chiropractic treatment, only with me it was always for lower back pain. And like everything else, there's good ones and bad ones.

But wrist pain?? Hmmm. Doesn't make a lotta sense to me.

[Sixpac_XP]

Well personally myself I have been fighting this vertigo feeling and acid reflux.

I've been to alot of doctors, had x-rays, blood tests, used many different types of prescription drugs and nothing helped.

Quite a few "ahem, real" doctors told me that I had a lot of back (spinal) problems and my systems (which I missed alot from having) should go away.

I've been seeing a sports chiropractor now for a week and seems to be helping.

I will find out later if it helps.... but nothing else has so I am giving this a chance.

[daveleau]

I was a pre-med major and tried getting into med school for four years while working in research. Not a doc but I have some background in this area of study.

Chiropractors are good in their niche. Their niche is the spine and its allignment. They relieve muscle pain associated with a misaligned neck and/or back. There are two different philosophies with Chiropractors. Some believe what I stated above and limit themselves to healing what they can heal. Others believe that they can heal all sorts of maladies from high blood pressure to kidney infections to carpel tunnel. They base this on the idea that the nervous system is the core and if it is unhealthy, it creates other illnesses.

The first idea is great. Chiropractors are great at treating the spine. What others believe is a crock and is why many chiropractors are seen as quacks. A chiropractor has no better ability to heal your wrist than you have of healing a sick puppy without help from a vet.

Go to a chiropractor first for lower back pain, neck pain, whiplash and scholiosis, but go to an MD for anything else. The best route for wrist trouble is to go to a General Practitioner and then be referred to a orthopedic doc.

Just a side note, it takes a high GPA (3.5 or higher) and a high MCAT score to get into med school. It takes a 2.5 to 2.7 to get into most chiropractic schools without a problem.

Personal experience:
I have been a patient under 3 different chiropractors. 2 were really good and helped my back pain, one was a quack and I only visited him twice. I injured my neck when I was a wrestler in high school. I had a reverse 13 degree curvature in the cervical vertebrae. I have also had problems with my mid-back from being a waiter in college (carrying lots of heavy trays only on my left side). They have stopped allt he pain I had and have done great things, in regards to my spine.

Sounds like you may have a full-fledged quack on your hands. I'd say RUN!

Good luck with your wrist. Remember...GP then orthopedic specialist for this problem...

Dave

[capybara]

i have had family members help ALOT by chiro. yeah i know their theory doesnt make alot of sense, but the practice works.

[pickel]

There good until you have an accident and they here it's an insurance claim.....watch out.
I went to a chiropractor when I pulled my back out of alignment and within a few visits, I felt like a new man. But when I went back to him after a car wreck, he had me coming eveyday doing all sorts of useless maneuvors. Went to a orthopaedist for a REAL check up.

[Knothead]

Originally posted by pickel
But when I went back to him after a car wreck, he had me coming eveyday doing all sorts of useless maneuvors. Went to a orthopaedist for a REAL check up.

And...?

[skuz]

I once wrote about my experience in xtreme forums.

I hurt my back after moving a piano. (never again will I go in stairs with a %"$& piano) I went to see a chiro, got a few treatments, it wasn't doing any good and was becoming very expensive for no improvement. I lied saying to the chiro I was all right, and the pain disappeared after a few weeks.

Yo(socalsurf)mama

I'm an RN (registered nut!! ) who has experience in rehab of injured workers, with the majority being back injuries (nurses). I've dealt with some chiros who are like Dave said, out and out quacks, or who overtreat and overcharge to make money. (In fairness you can get Docs the same... )

But I have also worked with some chiros who know their stuff (all spine/neck related), and have the patients' best interest at heart, not their wallets.

Sounds to me like you got a quack there. He would keep getting you to visit twice a week for about another 40 years or so..

Cheers
Mick

PS BTW, some muscle/tendon problems are better managed by rheumatologists, as they are an inflammation issue. Worth a though if orthopods don't help.

[angelcat]

I have to agree with everyone, there are good and bad Chiropractors, just as there are in most professions. I have an Aunt who works in a Chiropractors office, and she has had a bad back for years, but he has helped her so much. I have also been treated by one for awhile, and it really did help, although my back problems now are a bit out of the range of Chiropractic help, due to a ruptured disk.