Since I injured my back more than 4 years ago, I have seen so many types of doctors. None of them seem to know how to fix the problem. Surgery worked for about 4 months, and now I am right back to where I was before the surgery.
One of the types of treatment I have tried was chiropractic. The biggest problem I have with chiropractors is that they don't seem to want to fix the problem. They are like salesman! I don't trust that they really want me to feel better. They want me on long term plans where I am in the office several times a week. That is freaking expensive! Even if I have insurance to cover it, $15-$20 co-pay several times a week adds up. Plus, finding time to go is a pain in the butt when you have 3 kids and a ton of errands.
Besides the fact that they want you for life, I am scared for my health when I go to chiropractors. I know it's silly, but when they are adjusting my neck and my knees, it scares me to death. And it's gross, ick! Can't you kill somebody by snapping their neck? I just don't like it.
Still, even if I wasn't a weak stomached wimp, I have issues! The first chiropractor I saw for my back problem gave me a bone spur in the middle of my spine, and did not help my lower back at all. After I had been seeing the chiropractor for about 2 months twice a week, during one adjustment it hurt really bad. He told me that sometimes it does hurt, but I had never felt it hurt that bad before. I could barely move for days after that adjustment. I never returned to that chiropractor. A couple years later I found out I had a bone spur from that adjustment.
After a year of searching for other types of relief for the pain I saw different chiropractor. Yes I got the same sales pitch as all the other chiropractors, but I thought maybe he could help. He never hurt me during an adjustment, but I got migraines after every time I went. I told him about it, but he said that it must be something else causing the headaches, not his treatment. The headaches continued and so did my low back pain. When I stopped going for adjustments the headaches stopped.
Two years later I am considering trying a third chiropractor. I don't know if I should or not. I don't trust them, but I really want to be out of pain. Has anybody ever had successful results?
Almost fourteen years ago I was hit by a car while walking in a parking lot. Fortunately, I did not receive any life threatening injuries, just some bruises, scratches and soreness. Years later, however, I developed neck issues as a result of the whiplash from the accident. My neck got to the point that I could not look to my right without significant pain.
ReplyDeleteTo treat my neck, I have been to two chiropractors. The first used a different technique than the manual adjustments that you are talking about. He used this device that he placed on my spine that kind of popped. The devise popped not my back. It was supposed to slowly realign the spine. There was no pain involved in this treatment at all. I was not able to continue with him long enough to get lasting results because of the cost, though.
The second chiropractor I saw used manual adjustments like you have experienced before. I had very successful results from his treatment. I found a chiropractor who allowed me to pay a flat monthly fee for all the adjustments I needed.
I have been discharged from treatment for five or six years now. Periodically, my neck will flare up and I'll go back in for two or three adjustments which seems to work.
I don't think chiropractic treatment is a permanent fix like taking antibiotics to cure an infection or something. It seems to require months up front and occasional adjustments going forward. I also don't know how well chiropractic treatment would work given your prior back surgery, but a good chiropractor should be able to evaluate you and let you know if an adjustment would do more harm than good.
Good luck!
I'm glad you were able to find a good chiropractor. I remember Tony talked about seeing a chiropractor as well. I guess I just have really bad luck finding one.
ReplyDelete