Chiropractor and lower back pain
elphie754
Posts: 7,574 Member
So, I’m really out of shape again and get lower back pain when I exert myself for too long. I know losing weight is the ultimate solution, but as I work on that, what about a chiropractor? Anyone have any luck with them helping?
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My chiropractor has virtually eliminated my debilitating migraines. I swear by it. If your back pain is an alignment issue it could certainly help. It's worth a try.5
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A physiotherapist would probably be better if the pain was serious. Chiropractors are not well regulated as a practice and a lot of them claim and sprout crap, and/or don't actually know what they're doing. My mother saw one and she screwed up my mother's back further. Had the woman actually ordered tests she would have discovered my mother had two herniated discs and disc degenerative disease. All which got worse thanks to that "doctor". Personally would not recommend.12
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How’s your core strength??? Honestly would rather see a specialist than a chiropractor then go from there7
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So, I’m really out of shape again and get lower back pain when I exert myself for too long. I know losing weight is the ultimate solution, but as I work on that, what about a chiropractor? Anyone have any luck with them helping?
Short version: disc slipped after I was hit by a drunk. Immense daily pain.
I swear by yoga. There are tons of yoga routines to follow free on Youtube. I usually look for them by 'yoga for lower back pain' 'yoga hip opening' 'back yoga' and so on. Adding yoga into my life has been a game-changer. Please try some yoga, it's free.2 -
Physiotherapist and perhaps Pilates, if okayed by Physio.2
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Have tried chiropractors for back pain a couple of times but they didn't help. Only tried it because my medical insurance paid for it.1
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The only thing that helps with lower back pain for me is a good posture, and basically cood core strength. Since training I've not had a single day with lower back pain. But in my case there was no underlying reason other than too weak muscles.2
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I have had lots of lower back pain over the years, it was only sorted when I saw an excellent osteopath (for one session, seriously, years of mild pain and this guy fixed it in one session).
Something he told me was that it quite common for people to get lower back pain due to poor core strength (both front and back). This can happen even if you work out a reasonable amount if you don't work on your core. When I started doing core exercises I realised how bad my core was (even though I was pretty fit, strong and active). You can try yoga, or just work some core exercises into your daily routine. Planks are great for backs, as are leg raises.
I sometimes get back pain back again, and I make sure I do some core strength exercises again and it normally goes away again fairly sharpish.2 -
Personal experience:
Physiotherapist - totally ineffective for my lower and upper back issues.
Chiropractor - moderately effective but mixed with a dose of woo and short duration but frequent appointments created a lot of soreness and very limited long term benefit. The diagnostic process which included traditional methods such as X-ray was actually very good and useful.
Osteopath - life changing in both short term treatment of acute episodes and long term maintenance of a chronic spinal condition including rehab rather than just repeat treatments. I only tend to see him once a year which crucially both of us regard as success.
Caveat.
My brother found a good chiropractor and he was effective for him, conversely I found a wonderful Osteopath and an average Chiropractor.
I've also been treated over the years by some far less effective Osteopaths but all have helped to a degree and none made things worse.
PS - think you should start with a proper diagnosis and then choose treatment options accordingly. It could be muscular, postural, spinal, ligaments etc.....6 -
MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »A physiotherapist would probably be better if the pain was serious. Chiropractors are not well regulated as a practice and a lot of them claim and sprout crap, and/or don't actually know what they're doing. My mother saw one and she screwed up my mother's back further. Had the woman actually ordered tests she would have discovered my mother had two herniated discs and disc degenerative disease. All which got worse thanks to that "doctor". Personally would not recommend.
I have the same diagnosis plus spinal stenosis. I see a chiropractor who can read an MRI and understands that. He works vertically (traction) in my lower back and horizontally (adjustments) in my upper back and neck. He is also big on sports medicine and teaches exercise and foam roller techniques to loosen up muscles. He doesn't claim that adjustments will help your heart and liver; the chiropractors who claim everything is related to spinal alignment really turn me off. That's bro science and I can get that lots of places for free.3 -
I've found massage more helpful than chiro, but chiro more readily covered by insurance, so have had chiro done over the years. (Had chronic lower back pain for decades.)
I think I've mentioned foam rolling to you before, but forget what you replied.
Gentle yoga and regular exercise has been great for my lower back.1 -
It depends on your problem. My low back pain is caused most of the time by my SI joint being out of place, which also causes a change in my leg length. When I have a flare my chiro is great at getting me back together. I found a chiro that is awesome0
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I have dealt with a herniated S1 for years. I have had success with the following:
Mckenzie Method of Physical Therapy
Network Chiropractic
I still see the Chiropractic and do the PT exercises. Google both methods for more information. I paid the money for an MRI and feel it was worth it to know for sure what I was dealing with.
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I tend to use a chiro when I have a bad headaches or if I fall and hurt myself.
I use a massage therapist when I am just kind of stiff, sore or achy.
But really since I have started core and back strength training, I have not had much back discomfort. I was a bit skeptical (or to be honest - just plain lazy) about stronger muscles helping. But it really has made the world of difference.2 -
I had lower back pain for years, sciatica, sometimes so bad I'd be lame and stuck in bed for weeks. My wife had to feed me and cloth me, I could not as so much as roll over on the couch without excruciating pain. When it got a little better- on it's own over time- I went and saw a chiropractor that my manager recommended. I had seen one years ago and it was moderately helpful.
This guy was a NUCCA practictioner.. which I now see and know to be the biggest WOO of all woo-dom. It would have been more helpful to clamp a vise onto my neck and go run in front of traffic.
My primary care physician's office has a D.O... I saw him, twisted tailbone he says. Crack, pop, pull, done! Instant relief.. some soreness for a few days.. he says lose weight and strengthen the core muscles.
At 16lbs lost after that, the twisted tail bone was kinda coming back, but not bad, I had him adjust, good to go. Lost continuously after that to today, total of 56lbs, and it's been over a year and (knock on wood) everything has been great, couldn't be any better in terms of what I used to feel. All gone.
So I echo what others are saying about an osteopath.0 -
I have Scoliosis, so my back has always been an issue.
Due to money, I haven't seen a lot of whom they have referenced above but I invested in a foam roller and roll my back out when its bothering me and it helps for a bit.
https://www.target.com/p/gaiam-restore-muscle-therapy-18-foam-roller/-/A-135616310 -
Physio for me, who said, "build your core strength up" no problems since. My dad hurt his back badly years ago, he does Pilates once a week (he's 71), swears by it. Exercise (with guidance) is 9/10 the best thing for fixing back pain.3
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As you can see here, different modalities work for different people and different conditions. I have recently retired from massage therapy and found my clients got relief in so many different ways. Some loved the newer graduate Physio who was very hands on and very assignment based I would refer them to and others liked the more traditional one who sat them down and did only ultrasound treatments, some loved the osteopath I worked with, others found a chiro they worked well with. Still others actually got relief from those with courses that made me shudder(uncertified weekend “bodywork” courses), and things like that while others did the stretches and strengthening I assigned them, walked a lot and were fine with just massage therapy as their main form of treatment.
Whatever you pick, see if it helps at all. Walk a lot in between. Try to move with good body mechanics. If you don’t have minor relief after 2 treatments then it probably won’t be useful for you in the long run. Then try something else.
I have disc damage in my back and tried 3 certified massage therapists before I found the one that helped me and I felt had the positioning and assessment skills to figure out exactly which muscles were guarding and which needed to be left alone until I could handle a full body treatment.0 -
Back exercises, core strengthening, and massage therapy have helped me in the past with my lower back pain. I went to a chiro at the same time I had the massage therapy and frankly, the massage therapy did me a lot more good than the chiro manipulation. As others mention, there's a lot of woo out there in the chiro community - the one I went to was big on detoxing and junk like that. I also did pilates for a while, and that helped a lot with the core strengthening.0
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It helped me. One thing she asked me to do was to strengthen my core0
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My husband has a herniated disc, scoliosis, and arthritis in lower back now.
Between the chiro and physical therapy he's in great shape. The chiro seems to help short term and the stretching and pt exercises are a longer term solution.0 -
It'll go away. I had killer knee and back pain and it went away when I lost weight. I started at 220. It was gone when I lost 20 pounds.0
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My personal experience after a herniated, then slipped disk that left me hardly walking and unable to sit for more than a couple minutes, was that proper chiropractic was a life saver. Orthopedists started talking about fusing my lower back - a good chiro had me feeling 85% better after a week and 3 visits (they did need x-rays to see the issue though as it wasn't showing in their normal exam methods).
Its been 8-9 years since then, and I'm fully functional. I still go in once every few months for an adjustment, or sometimes a few visits after a good crash on my bike, and generally find it to be pretty helpful.
That being said, I've also been to some who try to recommend FAR more frequent visits than I know I need. I've been dealing with this long enough with my original chiro that I know how frequently things really need an adjustment. The last guy I saw wanted me to keep coming in twice a week for like 6 weeks - um, no (especially not at $55/pop!). He did fine, and I liked him, so I'll go back, but won't be taking his recommendations on frequency LOL!
To someone who's never been, that could be much harder to determine. When I first hurt my back, it DID require regular visits for several weeks, then slowly backed off until I just go in when it's tweaked now.1 -
Physio. A lot of them incorporate yoga moves into your therapy. I've had back pain for the last few years - I have disintegrating disc (old person problem). Muscle relaxers can help. I've had "adjustments" twice and while I felt no pain while I was in their office, within an hour I was back in pain. One chiropractor in our town is offering some kind of laser therapy, and I've heard positive things about it, but don't have any first hand knowledge.0
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I've had luck with a chiropractor, but I'm also really lucky because my chiropractor and physical therapist are in the same practice/same office so my care is integrated.0
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Personally you can't beat a chiropratitioner for low back pain all else I tried never worked but chiro so quick and you feel the benefits straight away0
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In my experience a good chiropractor (that doesn't overstep the bounds of their area of expertise) is a unicorn and can be very helpful.
Unfortunately so many chiropractors get swept up in insane amounts of woo that they're one step above homeopaths on the insane-o-metre1
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