I've started going to a chiropractor, how often do I need to go?

Be careful with Chiropractors, many are quacks that have very little/no evidence to back up their methodology. If I were diagnosed with Scoliosis, I would get a second opinion from an orthopedic guy or a spine doc.

Hey Lucid. The establishment on this site is not particularly friendly toward chiropractors, Christians, alternative medicine, and a few other topics, or anyone who thinks these ideas are a good idea. PM me if you want to have a conversation without harassment.

Three times a week is normal. Less is normal, too.

I went to a chiropractor for a year, three times a week. Ended up with a unresolved herniated disc in my lower back and I needed surgery. The surgery didn’t result in less pain.

Several years earlier I went to a chiropractor for two weeks, three times a week. He was excellent! Had long-term positive results from the treatment.

Find what works best for your body. If chiropractic care works, go for it!

It might be helpful to keep a log of treatments and to rate your pain level after each session. Share this with your doc if there is no noticeable improvement after a few weeks.

Good luck!

@snowberry I think when people ask health-related questions, they tend to want to hear facts which are evidence-based. I don’t think sharing factual information that there are many serious issues with Chiropractic medicine is “harassment.”

The founder of Chiropractic medicine was a magnetic healer who claimed he cured a man of his deafness by adjusting his spine even though there is no anatomically plausible explanation for such a claim. He also claimed that 95% of all disease is caused by spine mis-alignments. There are some in the field that have rejected these theories, but many still hold to them.

I’m not saying that YOUR Chiropractor is a quack, but only to be careful and to also get the opinion of someone who went to medical school.

@gorillapaws this chiropractor claims that his practice is primarily preventative medicine, not meant for cures. he seems legit. i had one that was a quack once when i was a kid… actually he’s probably the reason why i still have scoliosis.

The term quack is not limited to chiropractor. There’s plenty of quacks out in the world.
If you feel the treatment is not helping you then stop it otherwise follow their advice.

I just started with a new chiro in a new city. His plan was to come 2 times a week for the first 8 weeks. I went for a month, then decided to cut back to once a week and with 2 weeks to go decided that I don’t like this guy and will look for another. He was too rough, I like a more gentle approach. So I think it differs from one chiro to the next. It is like anything else, shop around until you find one you feel comfortable with. Your treatment plan sounds like a lot to me but I don’t have a problem as serious as yours so I don’t know what to say.

What @snowberry says is pretty true, unless it is straight western medicine with a lot of standard meds prescribed, it often gets less than favorable reviews here, but there are some medical free thinkers so you will probably hear from both sides with a question like this.

@rooeytoo it’s not about the medicine originating in the east, west, north, south or whatever. It’s about the efficacy. Treatment should be more effective than placebo in multiple peer-reviewed, large, well-conrolled double-blinded studies (just like any drug or surgery is required to do). I’m open to any treatment proven safe and effective.

@gorillapaws – it keeps this 66 year old body running and swimming and able to sit up and take nourishment in general. That is enough proof of safety and effectiveness for me. And I am sharing my experience in my answer.

I’d read everything I could lay my hands on with regards to scoliosis.

I’d also read SImon Singhs excellent book trick or treatment. Some quotes from an article the Chiropractors association tried to sue him for, and lost.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/19/controversiesinscience-health

Science works. It is excellent at distinguishing things that do make a positive difference healthwise from those that are mere placebos or cause harm. I would ask my doctor to check the cochrane’s database or get access to it myself…as well as web of science (or even google scholar) and see whether or not double blind control trials have been conducted on a variety of treatments for Scoliosis, and compare for yourself the outcomes.

@rooeytoo you do realize that anecdotal evidence is notoriously misleading? It’s why we had blood-letting, and demonic exorcisms for hundreds of years before modern medicine. Those treatments “worked” for enough of their patients to keep them doing it. There’s an effect in medicine known as placebo, which means people get better without any real treatment. In order for a treatment to be deemed effective, all it has to do is show that it works better than fake treatments (which “help” many patients).

I’m not saying that you don’t feel better, simply that it’s very possible that the benefits you’re experiencing could be caused by mental expectations of improvement (which is actually a very real and powerful factor) and exercise, over any special treatments your chiropractor may be using. I’m not an expert, but everything I’ve read on the subject seems to indicate that there is very little clinical evidence to support chiropractic medicine’s claims.

@gorillapaws – did you read the question???? The OP did not ask if she should go to a chiropractor, she asked what the normal treatment protocol is. I answered with my experience. I don’t really care what you think and I don’t care if I feel better or just think I feel better (thank you so much for telling me what a placebo is), the end result is the same, this 66 year old body keeps on ticking. And I keep on running. So your sermon is wasted on me.

@rooeytoo I did in fact read the question, and I wanted to provide some information to help the OP make an informed medical choice.

Based on your response, you are still confused about how the placebo works: you do actually get better from a placebo (not just think you feel better). And the end result isn’t the same if you have to pay for a regimen of 3 insurance co-payments for a month, because you’re out the cost of 12 co-payments, for what you could have gotten using dumbo’s magic feather.

I wasn’t sermonizing, simply responding to the inaccuracies in your earlier statements such as people who disagree with certain alternative medicine modalities aren’t “free thinkers.” As I stated above, I will accept any therapy (no matter how weird it is) as long as it can be demonstrated to safely and reliably perform better than fake treatments in a fair and controlled environment—I can’t possibly imagine a more “free thinking” or “open” point of view than that. If there’s evidence for Chiropractic doing this for the treatment of Scoliosis, then that would be enough to convince me.

@gorillapaws @rooeytoo @AdamF so… i’m completely familiar with studies on this subject… i have access to massive medical study databases. I’m just asking if 3x a week sounds reasonable if I’m trying to get potential results in a month.

oh… but i do appreciate answers from all of you thank you… arguments though… not helpful.

[mod says] Let’s stick to actually answering the question, folks. Thanks!

go until you feel better.

When I first had a back ache that bothered me enough to need to seek some help, my wife referred me to her chiropractor. I wasn’t at all sure it was something I wanted to do, but I went, and he provided immediate relief. I think I went every day at first, for like five days and then less often until my back felt better.

I kept going to him for years every time my back hurt, and he always seemed to get rid of the pain, once in one session. Eventually he quit the business and went into the wedding ceremony business, and he never practiced again. He hated dealing with insurance.

I went to another one, but she wasn’t as good. She never did neck adjustments, which always seemed to relieve me.

Nowadays, I have another chiropractor, but I’ve only seen him a few times, and not for a few years now. What I do now is put an ice pack on my back or neck. It calms down the the spasming muscles, and when that happens, I feel better. So I don’t need spinal adjustments.

He also prescribed exercises and I believe those are very important. I can’t see why anyone would oppose the strengthening of muscles.

Never. I recommend a licensed physical therapist instead.

I went to a chiropractor twice a month for over two years. In a very short time after my first visit I experienced total relief of my leg sciatica pain. I asked the chiropractor why I have to keep up the bi-monthly visits but he didn’t give a good answer so I just stopped going to him. That was 5 years ago and I still have no sciatica pain.

I agree, go until you feel better! And as maintenance go twice a year. I was going 3 times a week but that was after an accident, but it sure made me feel better.

If your having pain after, I’d get a second opinion. Chiropractic care is still pretty young, and mistakes can be made. But if you have a good Chiropractor he will tell you need to seem someone else if that’s the case. But finding a good chiropractor is like finding an honest mechanic, they are hard to come by!

If you have scoliosis than my thoughts are you have little choice but to follow the doctors recommendation, if it was a pinched nerve or something like that I would recommend not seeing a chiropractor for the simple fact they want to make money and will make your spine weaker everytime you go in there and they move things around, for something like a pinched nerve or headaches, the best medicine is using freeweights to strengthen the connective tissues that hold your spine in a proper alignment in the first place, people may disagree with this but I really dont care, follow what your doctor recommends.