Chiropractors: real deal or a bunch of quacks?

BigClay

BigClay

Knower of useless ZJ things
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Location
Winston-Salem
Looking for experiences and opinions of chiropractors. What are they good for, what are they not good for, are they good at anything? What are your opinions?
 
My chiropractor flat out told me, the first time I saw him, a lot of what he does, won't work unless I believe it's working. Sugar pill mentality sort of thing. But also said, a lot of what ails most people is also 'sugar pill'...they believe they hurt, so they hurt. The rest of what he does is more holistic and organic, dealing with the torque release process and pressure points...he absolutely does not pop and crack. I have bulging discs, I have bone on bone, I've had torn muscles...and what I can definitively say is there have been times I've literally been wheeled in to my chiropractor, unable to breathe...but when he's done I'm able to walk out. I think there is legitimacy to getting your back/body in alignment, but I also believe 90% of what most chiropractors do is just hogwash.
 
Depends on who you ask.... ask a chiropractor and he'll tell you that it's the greatest thing since sliced bread (we really do need to create things better than sliced bread, you know...), but if you ask a Physical or Occupational Therapist (such as my wife), it's a bunch of hooey and voodoo.

My argument to her about how it was beneficial is that Chiropractors have more years of medical school than other doctors, her argument was that she has seen too many people in therapy that have been messed up BECAUSE of chiropractic. My insurance doesn't cover it, so I don't go to one anymore (stopped going at 19 when I fell off my father's insurance).
 
It won't matter what a chiropractor, or anyone else, does to get you back into alignment if you continue to practice the habits that have misaligned your joints/muscles/ligaments and/or caused them injury. They can make you feel better, but it won't last.

Most of us sit or stand in a static position way too much of the time. Most of us need a better strength-to-weight ratio in our shoulder girdle and core.
 
i have gone to a chiropractor since high school.(20+ yrs) i originally started going for football injuries that ended up causing severe headaches. back adjustments cured the headaches. after years and years of back pain and the auto/transmission business i had a chiropractor tell me there was nothing more he could do for me, i was going to need surgery. i ended up having a double discectomy of L4/L5. i refused to have fusion(as it was suggested many times), i had surgery and was walking again within 8hrs.

with all that being said, i still go to the chiropractor about once a month. when my back hurts, i go, i feel better. do i think they fix everything hell no, but when my back is bothering me, they make me feel better. as with anything else, there are good ones and bad ones. i can't see how anyone can say a doctor is better than a chiropractor (for back related pain). if you go to a doctor they are going to prescribe some pain meds and muscle relaxers and hope they keep the pain away until the body heals itself, after a year or so of that they say surgery. a chiropractor will re-align your spine so the body has the chance to start healing itself. they will all say that physical therapy will be the best thing you can do.(to strengthen the muscles that support the spine)
 
I think they are crap. However, sometimes, your body does need to be realigned. I hurt my back in Iraq and went to a chiropractor for a while and got the typical cracking and pulling treatment. I went to physical therapy and learned what exercises I needed to do to balance my muscles so everything would stay in alignment. I kinda halfass do the exercises and have learned my limitations. Muscles keep bones in their place. If your muscles are imbalanced (front to back, side to side) your bones will keep doing what they always do. I think 25% chiropractor, 75% physical therapy and proper exercise is what is best.
 
I had been brought up, to believe they are Quacks. But when my back finally gave up, from sitting in broken down Truck seats, I ended up getting relieved by a Chiro. Everybody gets those Cricks in the back, but 1 day, it didn't go away. After a week, I had to go to my Family Doc. He found nothing wrong, so sent me to an Orthopedic Surgeon. Gee, you'd think he'd know the body, Better than a Quack! HE found nothing wrong, & sent me for a MRI. That should nothing! By then it had been 4-5 weeks. The main Pain, left shoulder being numb, tingling & cramping, had subsided, & the tingling had worked it's way down my arm, through my hand, & out my fingers, =gone. You'd have to experience that to really understand it. Surgeon, told me good, but he expected the pain to return, & then he would consider "exploratory surgery"! O, That sounds nice! Well the pain Did return in 2 weeks. A Lady friend of mine used a chiropractor, so I ask her for a recommendation. Guess I got lucky, & saw the Best one ever, that I've know. [He's passed away] The day I went to his Clinic, I was having muscle spasms, in my back. While x-raying me, he ask me to turn my head right, far as I could, then left. That's when I first realized, I could barely turn my head, to the left. He ask me if the Surgeon checked that? NO he didn't. He should me [x-rays] how my spine in my neck, & shoulders , was twisted. He slowly healed me as much as can be, I'll never be 100% again. And over some time, I "tested" him, just to be Positive, of his treatment. Things like, you go in, & her ask where does it hurt, & I might say, You tell me! He'd feel my back & shoulders, & pin point the pain. I finally reached a stage, of knowing When I need to come in, for "maintenance". As he said, your body will tell you. I still do stupid things, at times, & hurt myself, but now, I can usually give it 3-5 days, & the body will re-heal. If my neck gets tight, or a pain won't go away, I return. Yes, he Does "Crack" my neck, & YES, it Works!
 
I think they're quacks, but like said, it feels great to go in and have your back popped. Sometimes they'll get other joints(hips,shoulders) while you're there.... Does it cure anything, I dunno, but it feels good
 
Went to one just a single time....didn't care for it. Still had back pain.

A week or two after the appointment I was in Chapel Hill to see an old buddy from high school. I want to say he was studying osteopathy. I saw his books on his desk and we were talking about it. I mentioned my back, etc. etc.

Anyways, he had me perform a series of exercises and the pain went away. Basically, he teaches a person how to relieve their own pain, so they don't need to waste a trip to a chiropractor over and over. It really worked for me.
 
I went to one back in the day and it felt good to be aligned but he was making his women patients fully disrobe and then "adjusting them" I guess by his suicide that he was guilty, when my back hurts I miss that old pervert tho.
 
Good for certain things, but he's not going to fix a herniated disc, or a broken leg.

There are quacks out there and there are good good chiropractors as well. Depends on what's ailing you and what you need.
 
I had to go to PT for about a year. They weren't chiropractors, but I suspect they know a lot of the same tricks. I was in there a couple of times a week, so I'd ask them about stuff... "Oh, hey, I slept funny last night and woke up with a crick in my shoulder, is there anything I can do about it?" and they'd show me how if I turned my head this way and raised one arm over my head, etc, etc, that it loosened up the cramping muscle.

So yeah, they might be able to give you some relief, but they're not going to be able to fix muscle balance issues that you've taken years to develop.
 
I go to one every week to every two weeks. I love the one I go to now. The first one kept me coming back 2-3 times a week. I have an extra vertebrae in my lower back that did not fully form and is attached to my pelvis on one side. The first guy had me wear a lift in my left shoe which made me even more out of alignment. Then new guy had me take it, stretched me out and I had instant relief that had I had been dealing with for 4-5 years. I was in a lot of pain but there was always a pressure in my lower back. When it starts to come back, I go. He had me go to a running shoe, thin out my wallet, carry my conceal carry opsite of my phone to balance me out.... He really cares about my quality of life. He did advise me that racing was hard on me, he could always tell when we had a race that weekend, but also told me to not stop living, just modify how I was.
 
I hit an idiot woman driver who spun her car out in the rain on I-40 20+ yrs ago, T boned her and braced myself before the impact, I had my seatbelt on. I was sore and neck stiff the next day. The second morning after I woke w severe pain in my neck shoulder like a knife stabbing through my back/neck and had to grab my hair w one hand to hold my head while I slid my legs off and rolled out of the bed on my knees! I made it to the shower and scalding hot water eased it slightly but any movement of my head left or right up or down would about bring me to my knees. Orothopedic diagnosed "soft tissue injury" after Xray and prescribed muscle relaxer and powerful pain meds that did nothing but make it worse unless I overdosed the pain pills. Took weeks to get bareable and then started PT prescribed by the ortho. It got better but about 75% after weeks of PT and my neck constantly felt like it was clenching the muscles on the left side constantly and turning my head left or right hurt the further I turned it and nowhere near as far as I could before the injury. It got better and worse for months and I finally went to see a Chiropractor, Dr. Ira Rubin in Cary. He asked about the cause and symptoms, checked my mobility and tolerance of arm, neck, back motion and pain, X-rayed and explained what was wrong and what he could and could not do to fix it. They put some electric muscle stimulating pads on my lower neck / upper back and a hot compress for 10 mins. and then he adjusted my chit. The last thing he adjusted was my neck and It cracked like chewing ice C C C C C C C Crack with both twists and he told me to relax a few minutes. When I got up off the table I felt 2' taller and the pain/stiffness in my neck WAS GONE !!! I mean GONE. I think I almost cried and shook his hand thanking him for fixing my neck/back I told him I had heard Chiros were quacks but he had made me a believer and if he was a woman I would kiss him! He gave me some lists of exersizes and stretches to do and wanted to see me 3 times a week but my work schedule would'nt allow it. I returned about 2 times a week for a month or so and eventually did not need to return. I also saw him 8 years later when Sciatica and lower back pain from a bulging disc got bad and again he fixed the problem. If it's injury, pinched nerve,muscle spasm, range of motion type pain/problems and alignment I believe a good Chiropractor can fix it.
 
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I trust them more than doctors... To a point. They have a good understanding of how the human body works and how YOU need to fix it and they're not trying to shove drugs down your throat.
 
Infamous1 said:
I went to one back in the day and it felt good to be aligned but he was making his women patients fully disrobe and then "adjusting them" I guess by his suicide that he was guilty, when my back hurts I miss that old pervert tho.
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.....guess he flunked out of Gynecology school??
 
I used to think they were all a rip off and vodoo doctors that didn't really help anybody. However, last year my wife woke up and had such pain in her back she couldn't even walk out of the room without having to stop due to the pain a couple times. Lasted about 3 days until we decided to try a chiro (and went to the person that does the Hurricanes), turns out she had a disk that was pinching a nerve. A few adjustments later she was a lot better and walking normal again. She now goes about every 3 months to help her, as she has always had a lot of back issues.
 
DSM Turbos said:
I used to think they were all a rip off and vodoo doctors that didn't really help anybody. However, last year my wife woke up and had such pain in her back she couldn't even walk out of the room without having to stop due to the pain a couple times. Lasted about 3 days until we decided to try a chiro (and went to the person that does the Hurricanes), turns out she had a disk that was pinching a nerve. A few adjustments later she was a lot better and walking normal again. She now goes about every 3 months to help her, as she has always had a lot of back issues.
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The Doc I went to worked on athletes for NCSU and had pictures and testimonials from many of them on his office walls.
 
I think there is some validity for their role as pain relievers. I know a few people with auto accident injuries that swear by them. The one I went to was definitely a quack though. He told me if I got a flu or cold to come see him and he'd make me better faster than going to a regular doctor. I LOL'd. Didn't know popping my neck and back could help cure a virus. Guess that's what you get when you find a Chiropractor on Groupon though...
 
^^^He may have been talking about reflexology...different pressure/sensation points across the body that unblock toxin channels. Sounds kooky, I'm sure...but, again, I'm a believer. My guy has an electrode he applies to my sinuses if he hears me sniffle or a little stuffy...I'll be able to breathe when he's done, and I usually clear up shortly there after.
 
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