I am wary of anyone who is taking my money to provide me with a good or service. I don’t trust big medicine any more than I trust chiro’s.
My boss recently experienced some major back pain due to heavy lifting. He went to a chiro and got an adjustment. An hour later he comes back to work and is in way more pain. I called one of my good friends, who is a chiropratic student, and asked her advice. She said, hands down, that the chiro was just out to adjust him for the quick money. Apparently all chiro’s know that adjusting someone’s spine too soon after a pain occurs is basically wreaking way more havoc. What should have happened is that the secretary had him fill out a form about his pain and then even she would have been able to say that the best thing would be to ice it. (ice has existed since water and below freezing temps have, funny how water is always best) Sucks to be be my boss, and his wallet.
Well, the question is does a chiropractor put something back into position that has come out of position. There is no evidence that this happens. Radiograps and other imaging don’t show the “subluxations” chiropractors talk about, they cannot reliable and repeataly locate them, and the most likely conclusion is they don’t exist.
Now, this is different from saying do you feel less pain or more mobility after an adjustment. You very well might, for a variety of reasons, some psychological, some involving local changes in blood flow, endogenous opiate release, etc. A Doug points out, people feel more relaxed and more limber after a good massage too. Doesn’t mean the massage therapist “fixed” anything that was “wrong,” just that having someone rub your joints and muscles feels good. I’ve got no complaints about that, so long as chiropractors don’t keep pushing this idea, that the evidence is firmly against, that they are identifying and treating something abnormal or pathological.
It may very well just be my personal experience. But I’m curious, have you ever had an adjustment? From my experience, it’s very difficult for me to say that something didn’t just happen (pain/discomfort relief or increased mobility) after an adjustment. It’s difficult for me to say that there is just a psychological effect happening. Then again, this is just my experience and I don’t know the studies.
Never had one myself. And I’m not saying “something” didn’t happen. I’m just saying it’s not what the chiropractor says it is. I think it is painful but beyond a shadow of a doubt that our personal experiences, especially with respect to such subjective issues such as pain relief, are far inferior to organized scientific research when it comes to evaluating the effect of a medical therapy. Thousands of people for thousands of years believed therapeutic bloodletting made them feel better, and it did, but it was medically useless and probably even harmful. It was just a great placebo. Chiropractic probably has a much lower chance of doing harm than that, but it’s an example of how useless anecdote is in determining whether something is physiologically real.
I don’t tell people not to have it done if it makes them feel better. But I think it is very clear from the data that the subluxation idea is bogus and that the value of the treatment is psychological.
I’ve had a couple of experiences with chiropractors. After jumping into a swimming pool I developed a headache that wouldn’t go away. A chiropractor, a relative who showed up from the US for a wedding, “cracked my neck” (I have no idea what the correct term is) and the headache instantly disappeared.
The second time was different. As many people who spend most of their time sitting by a computer, I inevitably acquired an unbearable pain in one of my shoulders. After a third unsuccessful visit to a chiropractor (a friend, she didn’t charge me) I realized I needed to pay a visit to my family doctor who is inconveniently located on the other side of the city; the chiropractors are everywhere, just like Starbucks. My doctor gave me some pills and I was fine within a few weeks.
I suppose having tried both doctors and chiropractors, yes for back problems, I used to go to the doctor to get a compensation and then after the prescribed time off and hopeless treatment, and then go to the Chiropractor and get a manipulation and back to the Doctor for a (magic recovery) clearance and back to work.
But like most things some are good and some not so and some put you on the drip feed, avoid those and go while it hurts and no more, but with back pain I find one of those gym balls a treat to keep my back in shape (yes they do manipulate the spine or are supposed to and the crink of the neck does that not release some wild energy?
Shop around
Doctors for diseases, broken bones and organ problems.
Studies have show that chiropractors are a help in pain relief for several conditions; however, I haven’t come across anything stating they are a cure. DO’s (doctor’s of osteopathy) are trained in manipulations of the body. This issue with any health care professional is that you need to find one that is more patient centered and less self centered. That can be a problem since most chiropractors like social workers, psychologists, therapists, etc. are programmed to establish a client base were the patient has to be seen over years. There’s been some paradigm change in the community, but still finding a good one is difficult to do. Care should always be coordinated with a physician
They can certainly cure disease related to the spine, aches in the back, and spinal decay. I visit every so often when my neck/back has been hurting (Especially from being in school all day) and I feel like a new man afterwards.
They can certainly cure disease related to the spine, aches in the back, and spinal decay.
Hmmm ... it’s one thing to say that they can make your back feel better, and another to claim that they can cure diseases of the spine. There is no way they could cure “spinal decay” (loss of spinal bone density?) by manipulations. So we have to be very careful here in attributing to chiropractors abilities that they may claim to have but simply do not.
What they are doing, in the final analysis, is deep massage of the spine. That may indeed be beneficial to certain sorts of muscle aches, stress problems, and perhaps a small number of so-called “misalignments”. (If there really are such).
Chiropractors are frauds in my opinion. I suffered from back pain as a result of my job. Started seeing a chiropractor three times a week (his recommendation) at $15.00 per visit. After two months of treatment for my “subluxation” there was no noticeable difference. A co-worker suggested I see a Remedial Massage Therapist he had been to. Two visits and $100.00 later my back was fine for about 6 months straight.
I now get a massage around three times a year and have been pretty-much pain free since.
Even a blind squirrel occasionally finds a nut. There will be the odd case where a misalignment is pinching a nerve and will be resolved by a chiropractor. That does not generally justify the “profession,” however.
Very useful when discussing any type of this so-called “alternative” medicine BS.
