Chiropractor: quack or not?

$19?????

That's it? $19? Crack whore hookers charge more than that for a handjob, and you are going to let someone work on your back for that?

Or you may have a very common injury of tight or spasming psoas muscles that are causing the imbalance. If your pelvis is out of place a Chiropractor can adjust it back in place. If you don't stretch the psoas muscles though, it will keep happening. Go here for a little info on the psoas muscle and do the sink stretch.

http://julstro.com/what_happens_exactly.html

Chiropractors may advertise a cheap intro rate, but trust me, you'll need to return to him many many times, and you'll never be completely healthy. Chiros stay in business by adjusting people, then telling them to come back in a week. Once you start seeing a chiropractor, you never really stop.

You should go see a good physical therapist. Your insurance should cover it a bit, and they should fix you to the point where you can be completely discharged from their services. It might cost most up front, but if you see a chiro for $20 a pop (once a week for a year), you'll end up paying more than with the PT.

If you really do have compression on a spinal nerve, find a PT that specializes in the spine, hopefully with a Manual Therapy Certification (MTC) from Stanley Paris. I've had very good luck with those PTs.

in high school i repeatedly had knee problems (patella-femoral syndrome, chondromalacia, whatever you want to call it...) and did physical therapy that didn't really help. after a lot of time off, it healed and i ran again. the injury came back my senior year and an orthopedist told me i would need surgery to correct it and i would never run again. luckily between visits to him i had been encouraged to see a chiropractor. the chiropractor said he could have me running in 3 weeks. he diagnosed a muscle imbalance (quad/hamstring) and pelvic misalignment. i had a combination plan of massage, adjustments and physical therapy. i ran without injury for almost a year (sadly a long time for me). so i would say, no, they are not a quack and its definitely worth checking out different approaches to pain/injury management. i would recommend going to an integrative practice though that will combine chiropractic care with other components.

there are good chiropractors and bad ones

the ones that put you on a "treatment plan" with no end in sight are the ones to run away from.

Just guess but this guy sounds like the $19 special is just the beginning

The guy i go to in So cal is great. I have seen him whenever i screw up my back, usually once every couple of years, sometimes he can pop it back in one adjustment and he has taught me how to ice it and do stretching to fix it myself.

The worst i ever was, i could barely walk, could not turn my head(car accident) 5 treatments over 2 weeks and i did not see him for another 3 years.

He was recommended to me by an ER nurse and also a friend who got cold feet before back surgery. Both of them had great results with only a few treatments.

One other thing, most good chiropractors i have been to only adjust your neck after asking as it can be dangerous and also not neccessary for most adjustments.

The guys who lay you down and start cracking everything are the ones to stay away from.

just say no wrote:

Chiropractors may advertise a cheap intro rate, but trust me, you'll need to return to him many many times, and you'll never be completely healthy. Chiros stay in business by adjusting people, then telling them to come back in a week. Once you start seeing a chiropractor, you never really stop.

I guess this is what I'm worried about. I'm afraid that the pain/misalignment may be a symptom of a muscle imbalance or just really tight muscles, and the chiro will repeatedly relieve the symptoms without actually diagnosing/rectifying the underlying issue. I'll look into the PT thing - I take it you've had a good experience in the past? Thanks.

This is exactly right. Some chiros will try and fix you up with a bunch of bs you don't need and try and get hundreds of dollars from you. Some will actually try and fix the problem and send you on your way. The guy I go to has totally healed 3 injuries I've had in very few treatments. He says to call him if I think I need him to work on it again, but he doesn't insist and doesn't try and set me up on any bogus program. If I DO come back he tries to do everything he can so that I don't have to come back again for the same problem. However, the guy you describe sounds like someone you don't want to patronize.