How to pick a chiropractor?
julanig612
Posts: 40 Member
What makes a good chiropractor and what is expected from a visit to the chiropractor?
Do they go into much of your health details?
Adjustments are obviously important, what about massage or needling or other soft tissue work?
Do you get a care plan to do some homework on your own?
How much are you expecting to pay?
Is it a preference or personality thing that will cause you to keep going back?
How did you pick your chiropractor?
Do they go into much of your health details?
Adjustments are obviously important, what about massage or needling or other soft tissue work?
Do you get a care plan to do some homework on your own?
How much are you expecting to pay?
Is it a preference or personality thing that will cause you to keep going back?
How did you pick your chiropractor?
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Replies
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julanig612 wrote: »What makes a good chiropractor and what is expected from a visit to the chiropractor?
Do they go into much of your health details?
Adjustments are obviously important, what about massage or needling or other soft tissue work?
Do you get a care plan to do some homework on your own?
How much are you expecting to pay?
Is it a preference or personality thing that will cause you to keep going back?
How did you pick your chiropractor?
Are you a chiropractor?
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You just have to go for either a consult or adjustment and see if they offer what you're looking for, given the number of questions you have.0
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I have never used a chiropractor but I would use word of mouth referrals from family, friends & coworkers.
I think a lot of people have the idea that chiropractors just want to get you in their office several times per week so they can keep a stream of income from each patient. I would seek out someone with a less aggressive plan of treatment, more of an occasional or "one time" basis.4 -
I want a chiropractor who gives me physical therapy homework to *stay fixed.* I pay a copay for chiropractors, so it's always the same $20/visit. I want to know that my chiropractor has a clear understanding of what is causing me pain and how to fix it. I know this because my chiropractor should be able to explain it in clear terms that I can understand without making me laugh at an attempt to sell me a magic pillow.
My baby brother is a chiropractor and I've spent the last 36 years of his life shaping him into the kind of medical professional I need... And I've asked for his recommendation on schools that put out chiropractors with similar ethical philosophies.2 -
Diatonic12 wrote: »julanig612 wrote: »What makes a good chiropractor and what is expected from a visit to the chiropractor?
Do they go into much of your health details?
Adjustments are obviously important, what about massage or needling or other soft tissue work?
Do you get a care plan to do some homework on your own?
How much are you expecting to pay?
Is it a preference or personality thing that will cause you to keep going back?
How did you pick your chiropractor?
Are you a chiropractor?
If she is, she probably won't like what I say.
I had a chiropractor boyfriend and got all the adjustments and treatments for free and they did nothing that time and exercise wouldn't have done.
Also, the one time I did go to a chiro, he took Xrays at a personal cost to me of $200, plus the initial visit which was another $100 or so (not covered by insurance.) He gave me a $3,500 "plan" which involved a lot of visits in a short amount of time. I was not interested in that, so I did some exercising on my own and lost some weight and amazingly most of my pain went away on its own. As it usually does unless surgery is indicated.7 -
Seriously, though, the thing I most frequently find myself looking for in a chiropractor is one with evening and weekend hours. I rarely ever hurt myself on a Tuesday at 10am. It's always the dumb stuff I was doing Friday night that has me waiting for clinic hours to start like it's Black Friday and there's a sale...3
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cmriverside wrote: »Diatonic12 wrote: »julanig612 wrote: »What makes a good chiropractor and what is expected from a visit to the chiropractor?
Do they go into much of your health details?
Adjustments are obviously important, what about massage or needling or other soft tissue work?
Do you get a care plan to do some homework on your own?
How much are you expecting to pay?
Is it a preference or personality thing that will cause you to keep going back?
How did you pick your chiropractor?
Are you a chiropractor? If she is, she probably won't like what I say.
I had a chiropractor boyfriend and got all the adjustments and treatments for free and they did nothing that time and exercise wouldn't have done.
Also, the one time I did go to a chiro, he took Xrays at a personal cost to me of $200, plus the initial visit which was another $100 or so (not covered by insurance.) He gave me a $3,500 "plan" which involved a lot of visits in a short amount of time. I was not interested in that, so I did some exercising on my own and lost some weight and amazingly most of my pain went away on its own. As it usually does unless surgery is indicated.
They might be looking for positive feedback but I've learned with so many open ended questions or simply just "?" after the thread title, it's usually just a hook just to reel you in. It's taken the ol'kid a few times but my eyes are wide open now.
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Well spotted. I am a chiropractor. I just started in practice though and I am doing things very differently to my predecessor.
The question has no "hook" to reel you in. I genuinely want to know what is considered to be a good service as there are so many different views and protocols. Also, patients rarely provide helpful feedback, they either come back or don't.
Therefore I was hoping to get the point of view from the other side. I'm all ears 👂3 -
julanig612 wrote: »What makes a good chiropractor and what is expected from a visit to the chiropractor?
Do they go into much of your health details?
Adjustments are obviously important, what about massage or needling or other soft tissue work?
Do you get a care plan to do some homework on your own?
How much are you expecting to pay?
Is it a preference or personality thing that will cause you to keep going back?
How did you pick your chiropractor?
Probably pretty individual. My chiropractor is a sports chiro and treats a lot of the collegiate and other athletes in the area. His treatments are aggressive and designed to get those athletes back to business in short order...he's not looking to have clients coming in repeatedly for weeks and months.
I don't think he would be the average persons cup of tea...my wife and are are two of a very limited number of clients who are just regular folks...I think most "regular" folks would find his treatments too aggressive.
He spends more time needling me and cupping than adjusting. Most of my issues are trigger point related and he needles those and also hooks up some kind of electric shock thing to the needles and sends electrical pulses through the needle into the muscle...you do a lot of convulsing, but it does the trick. He also does massage, but not the gentle, relaxing kind of massage you get at a spa...he uses a machine that is kind of like a jack hammer on your muscles. He also gives homework to keep you from having to come back.2 -
julanig612 wrote: »Well spotted. I am a chiropractor. I just started in practice though and I am doing things very differently to my predecessor.
The question has no "hook" to reel you in. I genuinely want to know what is considered to be a good service as there are so many different views and protocols. Also, patients rarely provide helpful feedback, they either come back or don't.
Therefore I was hoping to get the point of view from the other side. I'm all ears 👂
Alrighty then. The Ol'Kid is back in biz. Once upon a time, I went to an old school chiropractor. He didn't really take x-rays or anything. He'd just jump on top of the table and crack your back. The bigger you were the more he had to throw all of his weight into it. He'd snap you around and crank your neck back and forth. He was fearless and I was fearless and trusting to endure all of that.
As far as I can tell, it didn't hurt me but I live in the wild, wild west and it's always a rodeo out here. We take what we can get out here in the sagebrush. Do you have money to invest in the newer equipment, that laser adjustment and light therapy. There's all kinds of new handy dandy devices but it's expensive.
I haven't been to the new guy because like you, he's doing things differently than the old school chiropractor. I fell off of a scaffolding trying to spackle cracks in the walls. My back was jammed and all I know, it felt better immediately and I've never had any trouble after that. It was wild seeing him jump on the table making you turn this way and that and cranking you around but it worked.
Would I do all of that again. I trusted the man by word of mouth. Word of mouth is going to be your best advertisement going forward. Your reputation will be built upon that solid foundation. I wish you lasting success.
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cmriverside wrote: »Diatonic12 wrote: »julanig612 wrote: »What makes a good chiropractor and what is expected from a visit to the chiropractor?
Do they go into much of your health details?
Adjustments are obviously important, what about massage or needling or other soft tissue work?
Do you get a care plan to do some homework on your own?
How much are you expecting to pay?
Is it a preference or personality thing that will cause you to keep going back?
How did you pick your chiropractor?
Are you a chiropractor? If she is, she probably won't like what I say.
I had a chiropractor boyfriend and got all the adjustments and treatments for free and they did nothing that time and exercise wouldn't have done.
Also, the one time I did go to a chiro, he took Xrays at a personal cost to me of $200, plus the initial visit which was another $100 or so (not covered by insurance.) He gave me a $3,500 "plan" which involved a lot of visits in a short amount of time. I was not interested in that, so I did some exercising on my own and lost some weight and amazingly most of my pain went away on its own. As it usually does unless surgery is indicated.
I've found visiting a chiro tremendously helpful after car accidents.
It didn't really help with chronic, long term lower back pain. Not sure what finally made that go away but it was probably a combination of the gentle yoga I do a few times a week as warmups, regular exercise, and an expensive office chair.3 -
I would run fast and furious from any Chiro who sells supplements or "wellness products".9
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The few chiropractors I've had experience with were so cult-like and scary. One of them locked us in a room to preach the evils of modern medicine. We "could leave at any time" they just didn't want "interruptions." It was like the Cult of the Leader from The Simpsons! I was very tempted to start humming the Batman theme.
I don't think there's anything I could get from one that my physiotherapist doesn't do better, with less preaching and door locking.3 -
I've used quite a few Osteopaths over the years rather than Chiropractors. The one Chiro I did use was for pure convenience (working long hours in an isolated location and could go in my lunchbreak).
Quite impressive and exhaustive diagnostic routine (including x-rays).
Whole load of complete woo in an education session which almost made me decide not to procede. "Fix your spine and the rest of your body will heal itself". What a load of cobblers!
Adjustments were skillful but too frequent, no regulation of force applied (always voilent), working on multiple patients at one time I thought was appalling. Very little reassessment of progress or reaction to previous treatments, just like being on a production line. No soft tissue work at all.
Overall I was put off ever trying another Chiropractor again.
In contrast I've found an excellent Osteopath who does lots of soft tissue work, adjustments are minimal force because he has taken the time to assess your injury properly and success is seen as rarely having to go back. Plus he gives me great rehab and prehab advice. Genuinely life changing.
There's been quite a change over the years where the spheres of training and treatment by Chiropractors, Osteopaths and Physiotherapists have merged and over-lapped much more and there are good and bad examples of professionals in all three disciplines but for me a Chiropractor would be my option of last resort.
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I used to read all about how chiropractors were pseudo-scientific nonsense but I went to a chiro for a while a few years ago and used to swear by him. He wasn't into all the other stuff just provided good deep therapeutic massage and adjustment.
Then one day I went to a physio and got just the massage and experienced all the same benefits. Realised that the 'adjustment' was doing nothing and that really chiropractic manipulations were in fact doing nothing an it was entirely possible that chiropractors were indeed pseudo-scientific nonsense peddlers.7 -
I would run fast and furious from any Chiro who sells supplements or "wellness products".
Yep, along with a chiro that sets up numerous appointments for maintenance. A decent chiro will give a lot of homework for the patient with the goal of not having to seem them again for the same issue. A chiro that set up long term maintenance is just looking at the patient as an annuity.2 -
Like sijomial, I see an Osteopath (affiliated with the health service of a major university, and a faculty member there) for manipulation.
Some of my friends see and swear by chiropractors; the pattern I see with the ones considered good are as others suggest above: Not over-reaching the core effectiveness of the modalities or claiming cure-all properties, willingness (eagerness, even) to refer to an MD or a GP DO for things that are not core to musculoskeletal (or potentially related soft tissue) issues.
Horror contrast to the latter: A chiropractor who effectively put my mother-in-law in the hospital in dire condition for a longish stay, by either misdiagnosing or imagining he could treat a major blood clot in a limb (I'm not sure which of misdiagnosis/mistreatment it was).
I'm not anti-chiropractor. When relevant questions arise on MFP, I have, and would again, suggest seeing a chiropractor as one option for things more within a rational scope of practice, with other options, depending on the situation, being things like seeing an osteopath, physical therapist, well-credentialed & experienced licensed massage therapist, etc.
As with those sources, if I went to a chiropractor, I'd be looking for effective treatment (short course unless the problem were chronic), and recommendations (including printed instructions where relevant) for things like stretches or exercises that could be done at home to complement the treatment. The chiropractor should be doing enough of a medical history on first visit to identify any potential concerns that could affect treatment or explain symptoms (to avoid things like that blood clot fiasco!), and on subsequent visits should ask about changes in health/symptoms/meds since last visit.
I've had personal contact with a chiropractor trying to put people on contracts for "wholistic wellness programs" using pretty skeezy tactics (and ideas poorly founded in science, IMO) that included selling supplements and long-term ongoing treatment program contracts. Don't be that guy.
To be more specific, this is how I reported my encounter with him, on another thread:I went to a meeting recently where the speaker was speaking as an expert about "digestive health".
It was a hearty broth of pure nonsense, but here's just one highlight: Everyone will benefit from giving up dairy, gluten and (especially) sugar. Sugar is poison, because it spikes your insulin. But honey is a superfood, especially local honey. Fruit is good for you, because fiber. Agave syrup is OK, because it's natural, but not a superfood, partly because no fiber. Stevia is bad like sugar, just like other things that taste sweet (even if they have no nutrients/calories) because your body has been programmed to . . . I dunno, do something bad . . . just because it has a sweet taste like sugar.
I'm sitting there thinking " . . . but . . . but . . . it's all just sucrose, glucose and fructose!" (except the Stevia of course)
I am not lying, exaggerating, or misrepresenting. (My career made me very good at taking accurate notes on things I violently disagree with, because it was an essential skill.)
His incoherent steaming pile of pseudoscientific crapitude was being delivered to a group of cancer survivors . . . and the whole talk was implicitly hawking a multi-visit (or online) multi-step remediation program.
"If you have questions, be sure to fill out the question sheet with your contact info, and leave it on the table, so we can get back to you." (In response to any question requesting actual actionable specifics.)
He was coy about cost, but said his office would give you the paperwork to submit to your insurance company for insurance coverage. (Odds most US insurance would cover, I think: Near zero.)
The thing I thought was truly sleazy and unethical is the bolded. The rest is just . . . silliness.
Just don't be that chiropractor. Please. One is enough. Too many, even.
:flowerforyou:2 -
My friend saw a chiropractor and he caused her back to get far far worst to the point she couldn't walk. He caused huge amounts of trauma and he was recommended to her by several people. When she said I should of gone to the physio I had to agree. My mum swears by them but not for me at all. I would rather go to a physiotherapist. I see it as more placebo effect really and if not slightly dangerous0
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julanig612 wrote: »Well spotted. I am a chiropractor. I just started in practice though and I am doing things very differently to my predecessor.
The question has no "hook" to reel you in. I genuinely want to know what is considered to be a good service as there are so many different views and protocols. Also, patients rarely provide helpful feedback, they either come back or don't.
Therefore I was hoping to get the point of view from the other side. I'm all ears 👂
Don't get into the 'dark' side of chiropractic selling all the potions and tinctures. Stay in your legitimate lane. I have used chiropractors for decades, good ones aren't hard to find if you know what to look for.
Curious as to what your predecessor was doing and how you're changing that.0 -
I've seen people helped by Chiro and people who were just fleeced. I personally visited 2 and neither helped. I will likely never try again. Unfortunately it is such a fuzzy science that the bad ones make it hard for the good ones. If I ever was desperate enough to try again I would certainly go by word of mouth. Also as others have said when they tell me I need 25 treatments I know something's wrong.0
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cheryldumais wrote: »Also as others have said when they tell me I need 25 treatments I know something's wrong.
It's *possible* to need 25 treatments for a chronic problem, but realistically, my chiropractor uses it as a threat.
"Look, you need to fix your posture. You can either book your next 25 treatments now for the next year, or you can raise your laptop 6 inches and get a USB keyboard to straighten out the way you sit at work. CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE, but I won't be hurt if you prefer spending $20 on a keyboard instead of becoming my most frequently seen patient next year."3 -
I've seen a few chiropractors in the past, usually when my hips are not aligned and causing pain that no amount of stretching, PT, or exercise helps. I just started seeing a new practice that was highly recommended in a local "Moms" facebook group. This practice does offer a lot of "holistic" things I'm not too interested in, but they don't push it hard, mostly just provide the info. The one thing that I have really liked that hasn't been provided before are a series of x-rays throughout the process. X-rays at the beginning, middle and end to show the difference the adjustments and home care have made.1
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I totally believe in chiropractors. They keep everything aligned.
I see one regularly due to my labour job. He is old school, which I’m ok with
My son sees a different chiropractor as he has other issues, his chiropractor does the xrays which I think are
Equally important, as if he had never has the X-ray, we would have never known exactly why he gets the pain he does.
He as well will need regular maintenance.
I say hooray to chiropractors!!
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Thank you all for your honest responses. It has been quite an eye opener to hear the different perspectives. I can't help but feel shame for my profession if the experience of the majority of people is such a negative one where the motives of the care providers are in question. I wish to do better in that regard, at the very least I now have an extensive list of what not to do 😉
I am curious as to which countries the respondents are from as where I am from we are heavily legislated and monitored, for example, treatment package sales and marketing/product pedalling of any kind is illegal and will result in losing your license to practice. I don't stock products either as I have always felt that it taints the patients opinion when I suggest they get something that I sell, even if it is a necessary part of the treatment plan.
Thanks again for the helpful feedback.3 -
@julanig612 are you in some other country other than the U.S.? Because it seems pretty prevalent in the U.S. that chiropractors are more of the "Alternative Medicine" variety. I have heard too many stories and think they generally don't have a great reputation here. But then, it may be the company I keep, too. I guess most of us either believe in them or don't. Obviously many people do find them helpful.2
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I'm from South Africa.0
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julanig612 wrote: »I'm from South Africa.
I hope you find a way to make a good career for yourself, you sound like an honest caring professional. Good luck. 2 -
Thank you0
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The only chiropractor I've seen was the only one in my small town. The first visit was with one of my sisters who praised the services. I got an adjustment, can't remember if it was full body or just my neck. Second visit was years later in a Hail Mary shot for my Bell's palsey; I knew Bell's cause nerve paralysis and chiros can help with that and wtf did I have to lose? The chiro gave me an adjustment, just head/neck and shoulders iirc. Bell's gone for 24 years. Only a small flare up after a dental visit from the novacaine.
There was no health plan. I went in, got asked why I was there, told them, and received treatment. I think it cost like $40-$50 back in late 1980s/1995.
I know many believe chiropractic is quackery and that's fine. It helped me and I'd suggest it depending on someone's problem. As long as the chiropactor isn't claiming they can cure diseases and that sort of bs, I'm good with it.1 -
There is some stigma in US. I used to think chiropractors were quacks just from stories I'd heard. Then I had really bad knee pain in my 20's. An orthopedic doctor recommended knee replacement surgery for misaligned knee caps after a month of physical therapy didn't help. Knee replacement surgery in my 20's!!! I finally went to a chiropractor at the urging of family and friends. He suggested shoes with better arch support because of a fallen arch in my left foot. A change of shoes reduced pain by 50% almost immediately. There was a massage therapist in the office that rolled out my i.t. band with what felt like a rolling pin. That helped the pain too. He recommended exercises (similar to pt) and foam rolling. He adjusted my hips and back. I went 3 times a week for a month then weekly for 2 more months. I was pain free in 3 months. Yep, I'm a believer! (Knee pain free 7 years now!) Also very disturbed that a doctor recommended knee replacement surgery! Pt didn't look at my feet, Chiro did. Doctor didn't look at x-rays of hips or back- just knees. Chiro looked at x-rays of hips and back too and found problems in my hips that could contribute to knee pain. Chiro was by far the better care for me but maybe I would have had better success with a different pt and ortho.
Later I switched to a different Chiro- female, who was recommended for specializing in pregnancy-related care. I honestly just felt more comfortable seeing female doctors when I was pregnant, that's why I switched. I had a good experience with both chiropractors I've seen.2
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