chiropractor opinions-w/x-ray pics

So I've had ongoing issues just like we all do from our active lifestyle. I'm a healthy guy, haven't been sick in years, wake up feeling great, will wakeboard even when I can barely lift my arms for the love of the sport. I've also had a bad complex of cracking my back, neck, knuckles etc like a bowl of rice crispies every morning and every free chance. I encouraged my 200lbs friends to walk on my back to "loosen it up"

Well, 3-4 times in the past 2 years I have had shooting pain, usually after a hard day wakeboarding that I can't crack my back into "proper" good feeling position. I finally told myself to seek professional help. My last trip to the chiropractor was so lame, the guy jumped on my back, made me feel like crap but the next day the shooting pain was gone and he said I had something out of place.

Well, I found what I think is a great doctor, on my first visit I was evaluated, x-rayed, put on a electrolisis machine and massaged, and adjusted, this was yesterday. The shooting pain started to go away but they evaluated my lifestyle and was told they would like to see me today and go over my x-rays. The doc asked me to try to quit cracking my back too.

After leaving the doc, I saw my buddy heading to the lake boat in tow and couldn't resist making the call. I went from not being able to move my neck more than 30% right or left to having a great day riding and even threw down a longline barefoot session. Upon walking into the appointment this morning the doc laughed when I mentioned that I left and felt good enough to wakeboard and they told me they were alright with that, but I've got a pretty jacked up spine that needs some work. I should get back together after a few months of adjusting and therapy but I know there is so many skeptics about chiropractors. My doc hurt her neck doing a front flip snow skiing so I know she appreciates those of us who like to abuse our bodies, plus she walked me through all of my x-rays and what our goals were, plus told me I can ride for a while, but I have started to compress some vertebre and misalaigned my spine, neck, and pelvis which is why I get lodged into positions that cause shooting pain.

I snagged a photo of my x-ray and thought I'd share them to see anyone with similar experience thinks plus I'll post my results of how it goes. I was told I suffered whiplash in my neck 7-10 years ago and I need to get the curve back into my neck that doesn't exist. I also was told my pelvis is crooked causing bending in my spine, my head is 1.5" offset to the right from this.

I'm not scared or skeptical of chiropractors, but I sometimes trust a salesman too much. I'm going to give it 3 months and see where it stands. From what I have been told is that I should be adjusted to continue to live the lifestyle I wish to live and be able to be pain free when I am older.

Anybody had similar experience or advice?

Oh yeah, I started to make some witty coment telling the ladies I'm in good shape but my a.d.d. kicked in and I forgot to post it.

She said bad circulation can cause lack of circulation in the reproductive and bowel organs. I can't really imagine either of these getting better, but if they do life just keeps dealing me aces.

I am sure to get some flack for this, but I feel the need to get you some real life info. First, I had some very similar pain in my back and it would happen out of the blue. Crippling pain to the point where it would hurt to take a deep breath.. This would happen about every 3 months. Some days I could not even walk. I went to the chiropractor and he did the exact same things to me. Took the xrays as well Guess what. SAME DIAGNOSIS AS YOU!. I did not know better, so I went to him for "adjustments" to get things right. Yes, it did feel better temporarily but it NEVER stopped the issue from comming back. After a few years of bleeding out the wallet for the back cracking visits every few months I had enough. I was tired of this happening, and had figured out that my recovery time was the same with or without the "adjustments" I decided to seek a medical doctor. His evaluation was that nobody has perfectly aligned hips, everyones spine has a dif curve.. If your spine is crooked (looks way out of whack from the pic) you may have an underlying medical issue that needs to be addressed. Weak disk, collapsed disk etc. Something that the chiropractors "manipulations" is not going to fix, but maybe temporarily ease the pain. After a long visit with the Medical Doc, his diagnosis for me was to do some good stretching before strenuous activity and the NUMBER ONE THING TO DO WAS GET RID OF THE FAT WALLET IN MY BACK POCKET!!!!!! He said that it was probably causing the pain and problems. That every time I sit down, the wallet is causing my hips, back and neck to be in an awkward position. I kid you not,,, I have not had the back problem since!!!!!! I carry a money clip and I have been pain free for 12 yrs. Hope this helps. Back cracking, electro stimulation, and massage is never going to make your back straight. EVERYONE I know that goes to a chiropractor on a regular basis does so because they have to in order to feel "good" Everyone I know that has seeked actual MD medical advice and treatment for their back issues is in much better shape.

(Message edited by colorider on April 26, 2007)

go to a PT and have them show you exercises to strengthen your back muscles. do these exercises every day, and you will be much better off than going to a chiro

This is my completely unprofessional opinion, based soley on the experience of family members

(Message edited by timmy on April 26, 2007)

Go see a REAL doc...I.E. one that has a MD.

(Message edited by rson on April 26, 2007)

Dan-- Check one for the chiropractor.....

There are so many things that I've learned about chiropractic (first hand and from conversation) that the layman (this includes me) can not understand without getting good info about it.

Like politics or religion, I'm not gonna try to convince anyone of something they don't want to believe.......Having said that, I love my chiropractor! And a good one won't -just- crack your back...There's a lot more to good chiropractic than that. This also includes what it takes to be one compared to an MD....

Not bashing MDs, cuz I like em' too, but to me they are apples and oranges...BTW, I'm no expert either, but I feel much better all the time now that I have one.......My post wake n' quad reset button!!

yeah, like I said, it's easy to be sold and I kinda had the same ideas that I'm sure nobody is perfectly built. As for the wallet thing, I was told that by someone else today that knew I went to the chiropractor. I do carry a fatty wallet in my left pocket, it's been that way since I started packing a wallet. If I ever put it in my right pocket something just doesn't feel right.

One of my best friends is a PT and he told me some of the same, it's about excercise more than adjustment but if my chiropractor has me working on things more than just adjustments then I was probably in good shape.

Dude, put your wallet in your front pocket. Save your spine.

Yeah, I go to a chiropractor every now and then and it helps. When I get bad knots in my back muscles or a wierd cracking constantly in my neck, they sort it right out and I'm good for several weeks or months. I definitely recover faster from back and neck pain compared to when I don't go. The back and neck cracking also goes away after a chiropractic adjustment, which has to be better than constantly crackling. But I guess it depends on your particual condition as to whether a chiropractor will work for you.

I will not carry a wallet. You can get your back adjusted all you want. Until you stretch and strengthen the muscles, you will always be back in there paying out. Your muscles are what controls the skeletal alignment. For instance, tight hip muscles can cause your feet to point out or in and that can cause knee pain. I used to go to a chiropractor about once a year before softball season until I learned better.

I had a knot in my thigh that happened from a line drive from a year or two earlier. I did not know I had this knot. I developed all sorts of shooting pain down the back of my leg and into my calf. I was going to PT working on strength of my legs and general flexablity and nothing was working. I finally went to a massage therapist and she found the knot. It hurt like heck when she rubbed it out. I told the PT I was also seeing and she measured my natural flex of my thigh. I gained over 10 degrees of travel from the one session. The pain was gone within the month after my body realigned itself from me compensating.

I will take the gym and a good massage therapist before I will see a chiropractor again.

I guess I'm on the side that likes chiros. Of course, there are ones out there that seem sketchy. But I've found many in my life that are extremely intelligent and dedicated to patient healthcare.

I personally go the maintenance route and see one every month or two for an adjustment. It feels great and since I've been doing this, I don't wake up with low back pain anymore. Not bad for $40 here and there.

I do agree with the strengthening/stretching that a couple have posted about. Without that, your body will just revert back to the bad positioning that the adjusted may have corrected.

As far as the MD being the be-all end-all of healthcare, I disagree. Medical school may be more intense and laborious than chiro school, but that doesn't make all MDs geniuses and all chiros dumbasses. There are many MDs who throw drugs at a problem and then do their best to recommend surgury in many situations to pad their wallets. No profession is without its slimeballs.

Make your own judgment on the person you're seeing, and if you like them, keep going. If not, find someone you do like.

(Message edited by tparider on April 27, 2007)

I agree with Tim and Rod, IMO most back problems, unless there was an injury, are the result of not exercizing, stretching, and strengthing the muscles around the spine. I too dont have a lot of confidence in Chiropractors.

well I used to go to the chiropractor ALL the time. Had unaligned everything....started playing competetive tennis, got tendonitis, spread from the elbow down to the wrist, up the into the shoulders and neck, gave me tension headaches nonstop. Ever since then, that was 4 years ago, it still hurts, been to 4 different chiros, 3 pt's, and a md. Chiro helped feeling better for a few days, but it never went away, wasted alot of money going for a year and half, but i'm sure your body is different than mine, good luck with whatever you can get....i still haven't found a solution.

The human body is supposed to have imperfections in it's symmetry. I bet a chiropractor looking for accounts could find something wrong with the worlds healthiest person. Not saying you don't have a condition that would not be helped by one and certainly not saying that chiropracters are bad.

I hurt my back badly snowboarding. Went to a chiropracter, she did the whole crack my back thing. What helped the most though was the heating pad and the deep massager. 12 years later I now know that I probably have a screwed up disk and that are of my back always hurts.

Have you considered accupuncture??

I started doing the wallet in the front pocket a few years ago too. There's a Penn & Teller: BS episode all about chiropractors that's interesting.

Ya, I had a compressed spine problem. I started doing ab exercises for my core strength. After doing that for a while the pain went away. Seriously try strength training the core. The muscles will align the bones correctly.

Interesting thread, I am a chiropractor.

Rich, you are an idiot, I am a real doctor, that is why we are recognized by every state as such.

Dan,

It looks like your doc did a very good examination and report of findings. I would trust the recommendations and I think you will see positive results.

To everyone,
There are good and bad chiropractors, just as there are good and bad MD's, Attorney's etc...
Don't base your opinion of chiropractic care from 1 doctor.

My girl had me doing Pillates at one point...it's similair to yoga (best I can describe it) and is good for strengthening your core muscles and involves stretching and balancing of the spine (your core). I'm a believer.

No more double ups either...

There are good attorneys?

I started having bad lower back problems not too long ago. I definitely noticed it was worse when my wallet was in my back pocket. I'm a front pocket guy now too. But what really has helped is:

PILATES! It helped so much in such a short amount of time that I figured it wasn't helping so I quit doing it for a while and the pain came back. I got a tape from my grandma, I'm pretty sure it's called Hillary Burnett's Intermediate Pilates. It does an amazing job of core strengthening and stretching. Plus, I read in some magazine that women who do pilates report the highest amount of sexual satisfaction. So if you can get your wife or girlfriend to do it with you too then maybe you'll see improvements in more than just you back.

Fact of the matter is that Chiropracty has its place in our society but I wouldn't trust them further than cracking my back

How many Medical doctors sit at malls and give free screenings?

How many doctors set you up for weekly and monthly f/u appointments regularly?

Fact is that our bodies are not perfect in every aspect, one foot might be a little bigger, back not exactly straight, or one arm a tad bit longer than the other. I feel that most Chiro's prey on the reality that they can almost find a fault in everyone's body and they have a cure for it.

LOL Josh - yeah baby! Randy!

Rich, why do most all NFL teams have a chiropractor on staff for treatment of injuries. Why do Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods receive regular chiropractic care? These are the best athletes in the world, they get the best of everything. If chiropractor didn't help they wouldn't use it.

Some MD's might as well be pharmaceutical reps, that's all they do is write prescriptions treating the SYMPTOMS and not the CAUSE.

I am not saying all MD's are bad, I refer my patients to MD's when needed.

"There are good and bad chiropractors, just as there are good and bad MD's, Attorney's etc...
Don't base your opinion of chiropractic care from 1 doctor."

I agree with this statement. Maybe there are more flaky chiropractors, or maybe people are just more sceptical. Most people tend to assume an MD is competent until evidence proves otherwise, not sure the same assumption applies to chiropractic.


Also, Tony Hawk uses chiropractic regularly.

And yes, rare, but there ARE good attorneys out there!

I'm surprised this hasn't come up. My neck pain has been ongoing for a while from a whiplash I took snowboarding in 89. After a few adjustments, my Chiro finally recomended massage therapy. Good news is the school of massage gives 90 min massages for $25.

Has anyone tried this.

I have also been thinking about Yoga, but I might give this Pilates thing a try.

-S

Rod mentioned massage was working for him. It sounds like I need to find a massage school 'round here, although I might be in a coma after 90 minutes!

You may think this is weird but I used to get incredible back spasms everytime I ran and did activities. I started doing Bikram Yoga to help my back and I've never felt better. Look into it and you'll thank yourself a million times over. It will also help prevent injuries due to inflexibility.

I believe that the chiro has his/her place, but a good PT/massage therapist is needed when there is something wrong. I use the chiro to loosen up the spine, like dan said, I can turn my head 90 deg after a trip to the chiro. The chiro I use also has an very good massage theripist that does the deep tissue. I get knots in my back and she can get them out after a session or two. But she does leave bruises.

I went to a chiro for my back in HS when I threw it out aahem kneeboarding. Never did get it straightened out. In college I threw it out worse playing hockey. Doctor in the ER sent me to PT. Come to find out, my hammies were extremely tight pulling my pelvis out of align and pinching the siatical (spelling?). Taught me alot about keeping my legs stretched and have had a problem since.

After I took an 8 week yoga class (once per week) it was the first time I could EVER remember my back being pain free.

I highly recommend it!~

(Message edited by team_o on April 27, 2007)

Actually David, I had been going to the PT for nearly a month. I finally went to the massage therapist and it only took that one time. I had a muscle spasm that was causing significant compensation. I think between removing the spasm and the strength training, I was able to recover. I firmly believe you need both heal. Massage will not work alone as with just strength training if you have a spasm. You have to break down the tissue that has scared up.

Pwork, that is basically what my thigh caused to me. My lateral hamstrings got tight from compensating, which all of them attach at the knee and casue all sorts of empengment.

In general Chiropractic is a scam in my experience, and that's why most people do not consider Chiropractors to be real doctors. From what my Chiropractor-friend told me, chiropractors go through only a portion of medical school (and related work) that real doctors do. IMO they should have to go through all of that and then get the added specialization of scamming and cracking

My current chiropractor is called aleve (naproxen). Works great!

The best advice I've had from a chiro is stretching techniques/ physical therapy plus occasional adjustments only if needed. I seem to get the same results with aleve though.

(Message edited by Thedangcorn on April 28, 2007)