Experiences with Chiropractic Care?

[BittyBug]

I'm wondering what experiences others have had with chiropractors. Good, bad, neutral?

My experiences have been neutral to bad. Sometimes I received some very short-term relief, but that's all it was - very short-term relief - and other times the manipulation actually exacerbated my problem.

What do you think about subluxation?

To me that is an extreme aspect of chiropractic that is completely unfounded. Or as Ziggy said:

There's no solid science behind it.

Exactly.

In the end though the pain stopped when I took up figure skating 17 years ago because it helped me strengthen the muscles that supported my back.

Now I have massages and would choose not to see a chiropractor. Because I feel you can only keep clicking a back into place for so long. Surely you must get wear and tear by moving the bones around and against each other.

Aussie Willy - Exactly, going to a massage therapist is a much better idea. You relax, loosen your muscles and there aren't any potential negative side effects.

I think the issue goes back to AW's question about what is causing the back problem. My back problems are often caused by very tight muscles pulling my sacrum and spine out of alignment. In that past, I have had excruciating pain from this and have been unable to walk fully upright for days at a time. But I found relief from strengthening my abdominals and deep massage to loosen my hip and glut muscles.

So maybe it's not so much that chiropractic was bad for me but perhaps it was an inappropriate treatment. Which goes back to AW's question - what is the root of your neck and lower back pain? (BTW - the two are often very connected for me - neck and lower back.)

[Ziggy]

A lot of back pain is probably psychosomatic too.

[Aussie Willy]

A lot of back pain is probably psychosomatic too.

I don't necessarily think that. In most instances people do have pain. However it is what people do about it will mean whether they continue to have the pain or manage it.

I probably did something to my back when I was a teenager (could have been from horseriding or sports). But it was when I was doing housework as a student that it got particularly bad and I had to give that up (from vaccuming). Then when I worked in the library it was bad as well from shelving books. Plus my workplace had really bad occupational health and safety practises which didn't help. You would try to tell them that you didn't pick up great big armfuls of books because you were looking after your back and they just said you were being lazy.

When I changed to a library that cared about people's health, then that helped solve the problem. As well as being shown correct manual handling procedures. And also taking up skating.

So I have been fortunate enough and probably aware enough to learn about my problem and then manage it so I don't have the problem.

My sister complained about having back pain but did no exercise and was overweight. She said it was because she was constantly picking up her baby. But she didn't have any core strength which meant she couldn't manage it. So of course she had back pain. However she is not going to listen to someone like myself because I am just her sister and I don't understand these things because I am not a mother (because mothers always know more than people who don't have kids). Some people find reasons for their problem which aren't necessarily the right ones and they are usually most convenient for their lifestyle.

That is not saying it is true for all cases but it can be for quite a few.

[KCC]

I went to a chiropractor 2-3x a week for about 2 months to deal with a terrible lower back issue. I got immediate and wonderful, but not long-lasting relief from the realignments. About a year later, it was a PT that pointed out my stretching technique was all wrong. Once my stretching was corrected, the source of my lower back problems was fixed. If I had an occasional acute problem, I might see a chiropractor again, but if it was chronic, I would add a PT.