Chiropractors?

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  • Derf_Smeggle
    Derf_Smeggle Posts: 611 Member
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    I have some disc degeneration in the cervical vertebrae. 2 years ago woke with a nerve impingement that caused tingling "pins and needles" down my entire right arm, and drastic loss of range of motion in my neck. OTC NSAIDS, rX'd muscle relaxants, acupuncture, massage, stretching, heat, cold, etc, etc didn't relieve it.

    I couldn't get the nerve "un-impinged" long enough for the muscles to relax and locking everything up again.

    After 3 months of pain, three weeks of adjustments from the chiropractor made a complete difference.
  • RachelElser
    RachelElser Posts: 1,049 Member
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    To see if your body works optimally? It does sound like a waste- that's like have 20/20 vision but getting glasses just in case. My mom goes to a chiro because she was in a car accident that whacked two of her vertebrae out of alignment. Her back still bothers her so she goes when it acts up.

    As for all the people who say chiro is a 'pseudo' science, some chiro's certainly take advantage and do all that wierd stuff but so do some doctors. My mom's chiro works with the local hospital and uses X-rays and works with the other various Bone doctors to help people.

    Go if you want, see what they say.
  • Motorsheen
    Motorsheen Posts: 20,492 Member
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    Shawshankcan wrote: »
    Most are a waste. And a chiropractor will always say you need work done and to come back twice a week.

    yeah, this was true for me too.

    the chiropractor was/is a friend of mine and we made progress, but the visits were constant and a drain on my schedule.

    massage, stretching and heat... all on my own was just as effective without the hassle.

    I don't want this to be taken as a blanket statement because I think that there probably is some value in seeing a chiropractor on a regular basis, just not for me
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
    edited June 2017
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    I think it would be stupid to go if you don't have a specific reason to go. My boyfriend goes to his chiropractor once every couple weeks because he has back problems and he does help.
  • JustRobby1
    JustRobby1 Posts: 674 Member
    edited June 2017
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    armchairherpetologist wrote: »
    MarziPanda95 wrote: »
    Like some others have said, it's mostly quackery and psudoscience, not backed up by any actual scientific evidence/studies. The placebo effect is a powerful thing. If I had a problem with my spine I'd go to a medical doctor, not a chiropractor. I follow scibabe on facebook - she's a scientist out to debunk woo nonsense. She's shared several videos with chiropractors doing adjustments on BABIES. Yeah, tiny babies, even newborns. Their bones aren't even properly hard yet and these guys were properly yanking on their necks. It was horrific. I couldn't watch all the way through. Several babies and children have been injured or died because of chiropractors, as well as many adults. If you want to go then go and I'm glad people feel like they've been helped, but I wouldn't personally touch a chiropractor with a barge pole.

    I also like Science Based Medicine.

    Chiropractic is clearly and convincingly refuted for the quack pseudoscience that it it is.

    Indeed, SBM does a great job of pointing out the rank nonsense which comprises chiropractic claims. The reason why there are not more contemporary sources our there challenging Chiropractic is that the majority of the medical community does not feel it is worth their time to address anymore since it has been throughly discredited for so long. Once a scientific claim has been soundly rejected, it is up to the proponents of said claim to provide data to the contrary. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and I would say it is safe to assume chiropractic has pretty much given up trying to establish their credibility through mainstream scientific channels.

    At this point, why would they even bother? It's abundantly clear many can still make a decent amount of money off people despite being a launching stock to medical science, so what motivation would they have to actually conduct further clinical trails? Especially when you consider all of their previous attempts have failed miserably.

    In many ways, I simply do not understand how Chiropractic manages to persist in the year 2017. At one point, humanity largely believed in witches, trolls and astrology too, but human progress eventually signed their death knell. For whatever reason, Chiropractic seems to be immune.
  • robynrae_1
    robynrae_1 Posts: 712 Member
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    I love my chiropractor, I think you just have to find one that suits you. My husband sees the same chiro as me but doesn't like his neck or wrist adjusted...so they don't do it. She also will let you decide if you need another appointment or if you just want to wait and see how things feel in a couple days.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    While there is perhaps a higher % of chiro's practicing mainly what's beneficial to their pocketbook compared to other Dr's (perhaps an argument there actually) instead of benefit to the patient

    The above comment isn't true either about it not being in studies and scientific claims.
    Someone needs to keep up even if it disagrees with their notions.

    http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2616395

    Perhaps not the greatest endorsement, but certainly not to the other extreme either.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    heiliskrimsli wrote: »
    Knowing the history of chiropractic and what is still taught in those circles, coupled with the risk of injury, I won't go near one.

    This. I've been reading about the failures of chiropracty for 15 years.

    People say "Oh, but mine helped me" but people almost never want to admit being fooled. People fool themselves even more. It's lovely getting attention and a massage and hearing a click, but a few days later the injury has healed itself in its own time with no help from the bone cruncher. Or the buzz from the visit wears off and you have to go back.

    See a physiotherapist who can recommend targeted exercises for the specific problems so you don't have to keep going back.
  • JustRobby1
    JustRobby1 Posts: 674 Member
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    heybales wrote: »
    While there is perhaps a higher % of chiro's practicing mainly what's beneficial to their pocketbook compared to other Dr's (perhaps an argument there actually) instead of benefit to the patient

    The above comment isn't true either about it not being in studies and scientific claims.
    Someone needs to keep up even if it disagrees with their notions.

    http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2616395

    Perhaps not the greatest endorsement, but certainly not to the other extreme either.

    Question....Did you even read the full text of the paper you cited?
  • tjohnson29
    tjohnson29 Posts: 12 Member
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    AsrarHussain wrote: »
    I was thinking of trying a chiropractor to see if my body needs work to be done to perform optimally.
    What are your guys thoughts?
    Is it a waste of money and time or is it worth it ?

    Working out and exercising will automatically improve your spinal alignment. Just ask a phycial therapist. It is more of a natural way instead of having someone mobe your bones, do it yourself by moving.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    supaflyrobby1 wrote: »
    heybales wrote: »
    While there is perhaps a higher % of chiro's practicing mainly what's beneficial to their pocketbook compared to other Dr's (perhaps an argument there actually) instead of benefit to the patient

    The above comment isn't true either about it not being in studies and scientific claims.
    Someone needs to keep up even if it disagrees with their notions.

    http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2616395

    Perhaps not the greatest endorsement, but certainly not to the other extreme either.

    Question....Did you even read the full text of the paper you cited?

    Yes - and a non-abstract version.

    And the Consumer Reports article that was very skeptical and still did a reader survey on it.
  • tndorenez20
    tndorenez20 Posts: 10 Member
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    It's worth it!! Only if you have serious concerns or injurys but they do magic it helps a lot
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
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    hesn92 wrote: »
    I think it would be stupid to go if you don't have a specific reason to go. My boyfriend goes to his chiropractor once every couple weeks because he has back problems and he does help.

    If he's going every couple of weeks, IMO, he is one of the people that is feeding the chiropractor's annuity. A good chiro, IMO may do some treatments/adjustments for a bit, then provide the person with self care instructions.
  • Derf_Smeggle
    Derf_Smeggle Posts: 611 Member
    edited June 2017
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    As there is a claim that spinal manipulative therapy has been debunked, here is some research that counters that claim.

    Here is a Cochrane Review of spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) for chronic low back pain. In summary, it states that SMT appears to be as effective as other common therapies prescribed for chronic low-back pain, such as, exercise therapy, standard medical care, or physiotherapy.

    http://www.cochrane.org/CD008112/BACK_spinal-manipulative-therapy-for-chronic-low-back-pain

    In another Cochrane review for chiropractic care they did find "combined chiropractic interventions slightly improved pain and disability in the short term and pain in the medium term for acute and subacute low-back pain".

    They go on to say in this review that "... there is currently no evidence to support or refute that combined chiropractic interventions provide a clinically meaningful advantage over other treatments for pain or disability in people with low-back pain."

    Which is basically saying it helps, but there is not sufficient evidence to show that it is either better, or worse than other forms of care.

    http://www.cochrane.org/CD005427/BACK_combined-chiropractic-interventions-for-low-back-pain

    My own opinion is that the Science Based Medicine website would be better termed Seriously Biased Medicine. If it doesn't fit their narrowly defined opinion of medicine, any evidence contradicting them is obviously "fake news"... ;)
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    Derf_Smeggle wrote: »
    As there is a claim that spinal manipulative therapy has been debunked, here is some research that counters that claim.
    When people point out that spinal manipulative theory has been debunked, their not refering to treating back pain, but rather the claims that spinal manipulation can cure indigestion or asthma.
  • Derf_Smeggle
    Derf_Smeggle Posts: 611 Member
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    stanmann571 wrote: »
    Derf_Smeggle wrote: »
    As there is a claim that spinal manipulative therapy has been debunked, here is some research that counters that claim.
    When people point out that spinal manipulative theory has been debunked, their not refering to treating back pain, but rather the claims that spinal manipulation can cure indigestion or asthma.
    I've not seen that to be the case with vocal opponents.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    That's because they commonly throw out the baby with the bathwater.

    Some claims are rather extravagant and outrageous - therefore they throw out all of it and therefore none of it is useful.

    Merely the common one extreme to the other syndrome.

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