Chiropractors?
 

Whats your take on them? Even though my insurance covers them, I still have to pay a co-pay and I dont want to keep throwing money at this guy if nothing will happen.

My situation is I have an extremely sore neck. I have aches all the time and limited movement (and when I do move it hurts more).

I have been 4 times and still feel the same. He says my sore neck is a result of years of bad posture.

Any thoughts?

I have heard mixed reviews about chiros. A friend of mine just fell off her horse and her chiro had her better in a few days. She loves hers. Others tell me that they are a quack. Honestly, I think you see him about another three or four times, if no difference, go to a pain management MD.

I went to one 3 days a week for two months straight because of years of overtraining at the gym and the guy did nothing for me.

If he has ordered x-rays and said nothing is going on, I recommend two things; Acupuncture & a good Sports Massagest.

Some people say Acupuncture sounds grazy but if it worked on a 1,200lb jumper in our stable, I think it could work for humans.

You own jumpers now?

Formerly yes, what's it to you?

By the way Greedy, you saw pictures of most of them...or are you just fishing to be a bitch like usual?

my husband had some back pain. he doesn't care much to go to doctors. some people at work encouraged him to go to a chiro. so off he went. the guy did x-rays and said that tony had a bulging disc. and so the weekly visits began, and then twice monthly. problem one is that insurance only covers so much, problem two was that when tony went less often, the pain returned. he said he didn't want to go the rest of his life..so once again i suggested he go to the family doc. finally he did. our doctor did x-rays--and miracle of miracles, no bulging disc. so whose back x-rays did the chiro show my husband??? also, on one of the initial chiro visits, the 'doc' suggested that all problems could be traced to a spine that isn't correctly aligned--even cancer!! i raised a brow at that, but told tony as long as it was helping, go for it.
at any rate, the doc told tony that it was a combination of aging, arthritis, and being overweight. sent him to physical therapy, and gave him a prescription for mobic.
if you enjoy getting a massage, go to chiro, if you're looking for a way to resolve a medical condition, go to a dr.

Tim, last year at about this time, I hurt my back and went to my regular doctor, a neurosurgeon and an osteopath and was just getting ready to take a pain shot(epideral) when a friend talked me into a chiropractor. This was almost three months after original pain and I was desperate. I went to chiro on wednesday and was actually fine the next day! I go to him once every two weeks now and have only had pain once in the last year after i slipped on a wet floor, but he saw me the day it happened and straightened me right out. I've heard all the talk about them being quacks and a waste of time, but I swear by mine....Good luck whatever you do!

Gander: check out magnetic therapy! Not Dr Scholl either. There are others, but I have experience with Nikken.com. Japanese company way ahead of others in equipment for pain therapy. Magnetic blankets are used in horse industry for sore animals. Golfers and other athletes use their products also. They have discs called mini-mags that you tape on....did that on my neck and shoulder, and it worked well. Roam their site...good stuff!

Thanks for all your responses. I am in severe pain and I am doing things like overeating to help myself feel better. Its no good. I am trying to give this guy a chance but hes taking more money out of me than NYRA.

as long as you go to a chiro, you'll feel better. problem is, you can never stop going!
and yeah, those magnets work. one of my employees strained his shoulder, they put those on him. he's doing much better now.

Hey, Gander,

I've done chiropractic, acupuncture, feldenkreis (or however it's spelled), etc for chronic back pain, in my case. I think the treatment depends on what is causing your neck pain. If it is from years of bad posture, yes, it'll take a while, but if you haven't felt any relief yet from chiropractic, I wonder if that will work for you (has anyone had it where they didn't feel relief soon after the first session, but eventually did?). When I went, I felt the same after the session, but the next day I woke up and realized I wasn't in pain anymore. So if you're not getting relief yet, I start to wonder if it's the right treatment. But I'm not a chiropracter; I don't know.

If it's stress, or something like that, acupuncture might really help. I promise it doesn't hurt, and actually feels pretty cool when they get a needle right into a bad spot-- I feel the muscle clench up tight around the needle and then start to relaaaaax and I get so very sleeeeeepy. I never didn't fall asleep during acupuncture. If the acupuncturist trained in Asia, they might do some other odd techniques-- vacuum cupping and... I can't remember the other one-- coining, or something like that.

If it's all bad posture related, I suggest, if you can find it in your area, anyone who might offer the Alexander technique of movement-- it's a way of learning to move, walk, etc. that focuses on getting the body into proper alignment and stuff. I really liked it in college-- actors study it because a tight body can block emotional responses so we really need to be able to be relaxed onstage. Great for gently moving you back into alignment for the long term (and not a bad workout, either, as it keeps you moving).

In my case, I finally realized my back pain was connected to my hips (bad hips run in the family) so I started doing yoga stretches designed to stretch the hip muscles and that seems to keep the pain at bay for me. Your neck problems may result from another part of your body not moving right. So you might want to look into a yoga class-- I know, it seems girly, but it's really quite a physical workout and where else do you get to see oodles of women stretching and contorting without having to tip them? ;)

I should note there are lots of great partnered stretches in yoga you can do with your wife...

But check with your doctor first-- yoga is not for everyone. Again, it depends on the cause of your pain.

Hope that helps and hope to see you tomorrow at Belmont!

gander....I adore my chiropracter....I went initially for back pain following a bad spill off me horse but since then he has also 'cured' pain in my jaw from chronic TMJ....I had surgery for it 9 years ago which didn't help but the chiro did...so like everyone else has stated I guess it depends on the problem...yoga has also done wonders for me.

BTW chiro has also breathed new life into my old thoroughbred...he has numerous ex-racehorse issues and has been helped tremedously by chiro and acupunture.
Just my 2 cents.

Tim,
I was having pain in my lower back that was persistant and very bothersome. Did the whole chiro thing and it just didn't seem to work. My doctor threw me on mobic(good stuff) and had me try yoga. About a month later i was off the medicine and feeling great. And as a added bonus, I'm much more flexible. I think if the chiro is not helping, I would try something else;you can always go back to him later.

My, my are we a little touchy?? (Your post sounded as if it was present to me.) All I did was ask you a question and you jump my ass. And who's being the bitch here??? BTW, I only remember seeing pics of horses you rode, or that your aunt owned, I don't recall you saying anything about owning them, and I don't recall you saying anything about them being jumpers. Perhaps I didn't hear that. Sorry your complex got in the way of my question.

my sister in-law is a chiropractor
 

Tim as with all doctors no matter what they practice some are good some are bad.My sister in-law has helped me on numerous occasions.She has been the team doctor for the Canarsie high school football team for 12 years and now works with wrestling teams.She's proudest of her kids that have made it into the NFL and when they come back home they always go to see her.Ironically you posted today and she worked a game today and stopped by our house to show me she had just recieved from Lance Shulters who played for the 49ers and Titans a signed Titans jersey.Chiropractors can do tremendous good.In fact i think they use them on horses sometime.Good luck.

I don't have an aunt. And yes they were mine all but the one I leased until last May, but again, why should you care?

The person you lived with in Texas, I remember you calling an aunt. Sorry if that's not the case.... and you know what? I don't care jack about you, your complex and your fantasies, so how about if I place you on ignore and you do me the honor and place me on your ignore list? Weirdo.

Didn't work for me. But starting to lift again has helped immensely. Go figure.

I have friends that claim miracles. And others who say its no good.

It seems perfectly reasonable to me they can help if your vertabrae are pinching the abundance of nerves that come from the spinal column all along the back. I can see how they might be able to shift tissue and bone around a bit a relieve pressure on nerves. When they start trying to cure cancer... I see no mechanism.

Is your soreness muscular or spine/bone oriented? or is it to hard to tell? I have had really bad neck soreness before that was muscle oriented and just took time to go away. And it was running related... Have you been running a bunch. I have a friend who actually compressed neck vertabrae from running too much. He has stopped. The pounding was compressing his spine way up in the neck instead of further down. Oh. He is a doctor.

Good point,Pgardn! Gander, it might be as simple as changing your pillow!