Chiropractors, crazy charlatans or celestial being?

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  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    Also, I have recently gotten some serious back pain in my lower back - still have been exercising through it - even had back day yesterday... but my back was killing me this morning and the Chiropractor seemed like an easy fix.

    I highly suspect that your lower back pain is from using the Smith Machine for squats. The fixed bar tends to make you rest against it and the Smith Machine forces you into unnatural movements patterns. You’re pushing your spinal erectors & neck muscles more against the bar which means more back stress, especially with heavier weights. If your feet are too far forward it puts your lower back in a weak position and will tend to make your lower back round.

    the pain started pretty much the moment I got off the smith from doing squats Ms. Holmes!

    Seriously... uncanny insight.. :flowerforyou:


    Ok... fine.. you pointed out on the other thread I also risk knee pain and I also recently have been getting knee pain on my right leg after using the smith.. I guess it's time to figure out how to do a squat properly.

    Start with goblet squats. They are a very similar movement pattern to a regular barbell squat. Using the chiro money to invest in a trainer for a month would be a very good idea.

    I'm switching gyms soon and will be getting a freeeee personal trainger for 20 mins for 2x 2 weeks - I'll drill her with questions on 'goblet squats'.

    thanks for the solid advice! :D

    ^seriously impressed you figured out exactly what exercise caused it off of hardly knowing my routine.

    You talked about squatting 2x your body weight on the Smith Machine.
    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2014/03/03/strength-training-101-how-to-squat-properly/
    http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/goblet-squat
  • bkthandler
    bkthandler Posts: 247 Member
    I have never used a Chiropractor for myself but (and feel free to mock me) I did take a dog to one for a while and it made a huge difference in the quality of the last year of his life. I would do it again for twice the price.

    I have also known several people who benefitted greatly from Chiropractic treatment.

    I am sure there are some who are complete quacks but the same can be said of MDs as well. Western medicine doesn’t have all the answers, not by a long shot.

    Take it from someone who has spent over 10 years taking care of a parent who has had 9 back surgeries and spends most days in a medicated haze and can’t walk 30 feet to get the mail.

    Get a good recommendation and trust your instincts.
  • ThinLizzie0802
    ThinLizzie0802 Posts: 863 Member
    If you've had an injury for long enough, your muscles develop accordingly around that injury and can keep the injured disc out of place. Only repeat readjustment will change the disc and the muscles. This is why some chiropractors want to see you multiple times a month, not just once.
  • MrTolerable
    MrTolerable Posts: 1,593 Member
    If you've had an injury for long enough, your muscles develop accordingly around that injury and can keep the injured disc out of place. Only repeat readjustment will change the disc and the muscles. This is why some chiropractors want to see you multiple times a month, not just once.

    makes sense - in my unique situation however this back tweak occured yesterday...

    it is worth saying, I don't have a pinched nerve or broken disk or what not... It just hurts - but I was able to run 5 miles after it occurred yesterday and was walking all over this morning visiting a client with no problems and just a little pain.


    on a positive note I highly recommend IcyHot's XL back patch! Not a long term solution but it certainly is a bandaid for the muscle.
  • SwashBlogger
    SwashBlogger Posts: 395 Member
    I didn't read every post here, but I worked for a chiropractor for close to a year. At that point I couldn't' take watching him take advantage of people any more. The interesting thing is I read someone say if a chiropractor doesn't take x-rays they aren't going to be good. The guy I worked for took x-rays of everyone for $$$. He used a Pro-adjuster that someone else mentioned too. He adjusted me 2-3 times a week the entire time I worked for him and I never felt a bit better. My headaches actually got worse. Shortly before I left he had a partner join the practice. That guy rarely does x-rays. He primarily does manual adjustments (although he has a decompression table he uses for some patients). I went to him ONCE after I quit and felt 100x better than when the other guy used his expensive machine over and over. (BTW it was a "perk" of the job to get the adjustments for free. I would NEVER go to this guy as a paying customer knowing what I know.)

    I really want to go see the partner again but I dread bumping into the guy I worked for. (Who also pushed VERY expensive supplements and orthotics on more of his patients than not... especially those with good insurance or those who were clearly not so bright.)

    So, I'm with those that say a good chiropractor can do some good. A not-so-good one will just help you empty your wallet and meet your insurance deductible.

    Yes, indeed. As a licensed massage therapist, I have worked for several. I was also a patient of another for a short while. One gave masterful, MANUAL adjustments. The others phoned in some sort of spring loaded hammer bs (which took 30 seconds), and had us massage you for an hour, and took your insurance money. I left because it really began to seem unethical. The bulk of patients intimated that they came for the free (insurance covered) massages and felt like the adjustments were the price of admission. Not cool.
  • KinoM
    KinoM Posts: 359 Member
    If you've had an injury for long enough, your muscles develop accordingly around that injury and can keep the injured disc out of place. Only repeat readjustment will change the disc and the muscles. This is why some chiropractors want to see you multiple times a month, not just once.

    makes sense - in my unique situation however this back tweak occured yesterday...

    it is worth saying, I don't have a pinched nerve or broken disk or what not... It just hurts - but I was able to run 5 miles after it occurred yesterday and was walking all over this morning visiting a client with no problems and just a little pain.


    on a positive note I highly recommend IcyHot's XL back patch! Not a long term solution but it certainly is a bandaid for the muscle.

    That sounds like it's just a little muscle tweak, definitely seems more of a physio situation to me. They'll help to alleviate the pain & give you exercises to strengthen the muscles involved and stop it happening again.

    Sidenote: a good friend of mine had some lower back pain and went to a chiropractor. As a result he's only starting to recover from the two surgeries and the removal of part of one of his disks as a result, and his back will never be the same.
  • bridgie101
    bridgie101 Posts: 817 Member
    I am going to the chiropractor for the first real time today... I had gone to one as a child (5-11) for my ear but can't recall anything positive or negative, just that he would grab my ear and yank on it till something cracked :laugh:


    Is this beneficial because it is sorta decent $$$ and I was thinking, it cost half as much as getting my hair cut so I'm wondering if it would be wise to blow decent money twice a month on myself yet again especially if this isn't extremely beneficial. - my monthly cost of living has just skyrocketed over the past six months and I'm having to be a budget stickler now - hydrafacials only once a month moving forward :sad: :sad:

    Also, I have recently gotten some serious back pain in my lower back - still have been exercising through it - even had back day yesterday... but my back was killing me this morning and the Chiropractor seemed like an easy fix.

    Also, if you are not in favor of the Chiropractor who would you recommend in their place? A massage therapist? :wink:

    Chiropractic fixes mechanical displacement. it's physics. If you have something like a spine, when it goes out of alignment, the shock absorbing function of the curve goes all to pot, and the spaces between vertebrae cause pinchings of nerves. The trick and the reason for the whippy methods, is to send that curve back into position again.

    If your chiropractor is good, 3 things.

    1. you will be expected to have x-rays, standing, with special bits covered in lead, to get proper standing postural x-rays. They should not touch you without x-rays, but x-rays cost money. Expect to pay, then, for your standing x-rays.
    2. you may start with 3 adjustments a week for 2 weeks, even. but eventually you will tick along with about 3 - 4 adjustments a year. To start with your muscles will be used to being in certain states of clenched tightness - and that needs some work. Get massages prior to adjustments and they will last longer, and you will get to that 'ticking over' stage quicker.

    You should be given muscle work at an adjustment - either using one of those fabulous vibrating guns, or via fingers. It's painful but it unlocks spasmed muscles around the site of injury.
    ]
    3. when you get your next set of x-rays you will SEE the difference. Quite clearly, on the x-ray, you will see the difference.

    It's not magic, it's not juju, it's not hidden. It's dead clear what's happening and is perfectly logical. The only time it's no good is when you're not dealing with bone alignments. It's not going to help you with a torn ligament. :)

    The horror stories you are hearing are rubbish - i am left wondering if any of these 'chiropractors' in these stories have any certification? Ask about certification. also: if you don't like the crack, get them to use the little rubber gun.

    I find the rubber gun best on my lower back, because I can easily go into an overloosened state, so tiny adjustments are best.
  • KinoM
    KinoM Posts: 359 Member

    The horror stories you are hearing are rubbish

    Dismissive much? Enjoy your kool aid.
  • aneary1980
    aneary1980 Posts: 461 Member
    I am going to the chiropractor for the first real time today... I had gone to one as a child (5-11) for my ear but can't recall anything positive or negative, just that he would grab my ear and yank on it till something cracked :laugh:


    Is this beneficial because it is sorta decent $$$ and I was thinking, it cost half as much as getting my hair cut so I'm wondering if it would be wise to blow decent money twice a month on myself yet again especially if this isn't extremely beneficial. - my monthly cost of living has just skyrocketed over the past six months and I'm having to be a budget stickler now - hydrafacials only once a month moving forward :sad: :sad:

    Also, I have recently gotten some serious back pain in my lower back - still have been exercising through it - even had back day yesterday... but my back was killing me this morning and the Chiropractor seemed like an easy fix.

    Also, if you are not in favor of the Chiropractor who would you recommend in their place? A massage therapist? :wink:

    I have been to doctors, chiropractors and physios.

    The doctors are the cause of me slipping so many discs they advised against foot sugery which has caused a major unallingment in my back.

    The Physios haven't noticed that I'm not allinged properly until I tell them

    The chriopractors have been the only people who have sorted my back out and the reccommended exercises have reduced the slipping of discs. So worth the money.
  • KinoM
    KinoM Posts: 359 Member
    I'm just going to leave this here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiropractic_controversy_and_criticism

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