People who have been to a chiropractor: What was it like?

I go every so often and for my lower back it’s fine.
I don’t like it when he manipulates my neck but I have never had a problem with that either.

When they adjusted my neck, it was like an explosion of fireworks.
And it helped.

I’ve been going to the same chiropractor for over 20 years (I’m 71 years old). The chiropractor keeps my sacroiliac joint in place. It’s a painless adjustment. He has me lay on my side, bend my knees and then he pulls my knees up forcefully. I feel a slight pop in my lower back. I walk out of there pain free. When my sacroiliac joint goes out I can hardly walk and can be so painful that I’ve dropped to my knees a couple times. My chiropractor has also been working with me to stop or slow the kyphosis in my upper back with regular adjustments and daily exercises. I see my chiropractor every 2 weeks.

I went a little over a year ago because my neck hurt really bad when I tried to turn to one side.

I told him off the bat that I couldn’t go multiple times per week. I went once a week from around February to June. The first visit, he had me stand in front of an Xray machine and he did a few xrays of my neck and posture. He showed me the xrays and we talked about my posture. We also talked about what position I sleep in and how it was bad.

Each visit, I’d lay on my stomach and he’d put electrical stimulation on my back. It’s a jelly that he’d put on my skin and he’d attach these pads, which were attached to wires. He could turn the amount of stimulation up or down, and so if I didn’t like it, if it was too strong, he could lower it. It didn’t hurt. It was kind of a tickle. So that would be about fifteen minutes, and then he’d come in and give me a massage on my back and shoulders and he’d put this big massager on my back. It felt really good. Then I’d turn over and he’d do an adjustment, which is where he snaps your neck. For that, he sits behind your head and you have to relax. It doesn’t hurt, it’s really quick. He’d also pull my head slowly. It was really miraculous how it worked and I felt better immediately. I can now turn my neck.

I started going to my chiropractor 30 years ago after I had my stroke & my body was beginning to freeze up & NOTHING that I did was helping & the medical doctors had NO suggestions. I have NO doubt that I’d be an invalid IF she hadn’t helped me to get past that point. Instead, I worked for over 17 years & I still live alone & am independent of others deciding what is best for me!!!

Some chiropractors do what they call manipulate which is what most jelllies above described. Some use an activator which has the same effect but is much less intimidating. Don’t go in being tense or afraid. Many are good at what they do & are there to help you. They know how to relax you so they can do their job most effectively. IF & when you hear the machine gun style popping sounds…that will be a GOOD thing!!! I think that you will be well pleased with how much better you’ll feel on the way out!!!

Also, just to add that if you don’t want something or don’t like something, you’re the boss, so just speak up.

^^ Good point!!! My chiro knows me so well that I seldom have to ask her to stop doing something so I didn’t think about that. Every now & then, she does something that doesn’t give me the help that was intended. I have commented on my next visit…”you did whatever last time that didn’t work as intended, will you please undo it?” She laughs & fixes it!!!

Another thought…be TOTALLY HONEST with your chiropractor. That is IMPORTANT for them deciding how best to treat you!!!

Like being put through a wringer on a old Maytag washing machine.

Just research your chiropractor carefully if you must go to one, there are a bunch of quacks out there. Real ones are more like physical therapists, fake or fake-ish ones sell woo. They’re not doctors, not even close.

Chiropractors are quacks with a non-scientific training who call themselves “doctors” so they can make a buck off of you. You’re better off going to physical therapy.

Some chiropractors are quacks not all.
I went to a chiropractor once that specialized in cervical adjustment. He claims that the body will heal itself if all neves in the neck are free from being pinched. He told me that my body will stop my heart’s atrial fibrillation if he adjusted my cervical vertebrae. When he did the “cervical adjustment” he very lightly rubbed the skin on my neck. I asked, “That’s it?”. He did nothing! Cost me a few hundred dollars. Such a waste of time too.

He still advertises a lot on the radio to bring in more suckers who are desperate for relief.

7 minutes for 70 bucks. I got a heel lift, too, which did nothing but hurt me until I had surgery a couple years later. I’d take a massage over an adjustment any day of the week.

@gondwanalon All chiropractors are quacks. All. Of. Them.

@Caravanfan: How do you feel about acupuncture?

Well, I’m seeing one on the 18th so

@Caravanfan I don’t think so.
How can you possibly know ALL of the Chiropractors?

My experience is that people either love them or hate them. My wife talked me into going to one for a brief period. He would “adjust” me and then send me over to his physical therapy section. The physical therapy did far more than the chiropractor. And then he would have me in for periodic “routine adjustments”. I would go to these feeling good, he would “adjust” me and I would be in pain for days until I undid what he had done and then I would be feeling better…just in time for the next “adjustment”.

I’m with @Caravanfan on this one. Chiropractic is licensed quackery.

It’s one of those things that political pressure apparently allowed to become mainstream. This should never have happened. It’s mostly pseudoscience. It’s origin is in folk medicine mixed with straight up fraud. Modern practices try to sex it up with some actual treatments but honestly physical therapy is probably a better way to go.

Like any other person that you go to to get help with some ailment, (MD, dentist, chiropractor, etc.), some are better than others. Some actually help and others just take your money. And some actually do harm. Unfortunately it’s a crapshoot.

My experience with a chiropractor has been mostly positive. My neck is very sensitive. I can’t handle much more than very gentle treatment there. I always warn them first.

Acupuncture is also bullshit.

Before I went to a chiropractor, I asked people that I knew personally, about if they’d ever been to one and what their experiences were like. I think I even asked it here on Fluther but I searched yesterday for my question and I couldn’t find it. I was aware that many people had negative opinions of chiropractors and that there were/are people who say that chiropractors are quacks and not helpful.

A friend at work told me about her experience and told me that they may want you to come several times a week for months. I didn’t have that kind of time to invest in any treatment program unless it was urgent (like if I broke a leg and needed physical therapy, then of course it would be urgent and I’d have no choice).

I went to a chiropractor that I knew from my work with the union and so I figured I’d try it, and if it didn’t work, I’d just stop going. I couldn’t turn to the right at all, and every day when I was on the highway and getting off the exit, I was keenly aware that I had to turn my whole torso in order to see cars coming from my right.

I told him that I couldn’t go more than once a week. It was about 20 minutes from work but an hour from my house, so I’d go after work and the sessions were about 45 minutes to an hour. I went once a week.

I was reallly amazed and pleasantly surprised that after a few treatments, I was a lot better and after a few months, I was totally 100% better. Maybe not all chiropractors are good like this guy was, but he was great and I would recommend him.

@Caravanfan: Thanks.

@gond don’t be asinine. I don’t know all chiropractors. I do know that the entire basis of their training is based on a fantasy medical theory. Same with acupuncture.

So are homeopathic remedies. It’s literally just water.

Yep

Well, I’ll see what the chiro says/does and if it doesn’t help I don’t know what I’ll do.

Chiropractors will always tell you they can help and always advise you to come back to give them more money

Well at this point, with the back pain I’m feeling, I’d do anything.

I go to a regular doctor last week, they literally poke my back , tell me I have a lot of tension and give me anti inflammatory pills that haven’t done a damn thing so far and I’m almost done with the pack. I am in a lot of pain, it is getting worse and it sucks.

I’m at work and my back locks up so fast I can’t take a deep breath, and I want it to end.

So if the chiro helps, I’m gonna take it.

Mine always says let’s see what we can do. IF she can’t fix it, she finds a medical doctor who can help & will turn you over to them. She consults with doctors at our local hospital, so some of our medical profession doesn’t just ASSUME quackery!!! Two of my mother’s friends went to her when their medical doctor was giving up on fixing them. He NEVER once offered to refer them to another doctor. She tried for a week & realized it was a problem that she couldn’t fix, found them a new medical doctor & in BOTH cases, cancer was discovered, treated, & eradicated. Their medical doctor would have kept them coming for tests until they died!!! She has one patient who comes once every 10 years because he says that’s all he needs. She treats him just like the patient who comes in 3 times per week. She is ALL that kept me going after the medical doctors proclaimed that they had done all that they could do & I just needed to resign myself to laying in bed, watching TV for the rest of my life & I’m still going strong!!! These same doctors told me that I’d be dead before I reached my 10 year anniversary…fooled them, 3 of them are dead & I’m still kicking 32 years later!!! There are quacks in EVERY profession & I’ve found most of the medical doctors that I’ve visited to be a LOT less honest than the chiropractor that I’m going to now!!!

So, @SergeantQueen, go in with an open mind. Don’t know what your problem is, but 1 visit will more than likely NOT fix it. A good chiro will NOT keep you coming in several times a week. They will work with you to fix the problem!!! Also, IF it doesn’t fix your problem, you are under NO obligation to continue going…use your common sense!!!

@Caravanfan they don’t always tell you that. My present chiropractor and my previous chiropractor (in 2 different states) do not operate under that principle. With them it’s just once and done, I get to determine when it’s time to go in again, and sometimes there’s a year between visits.

Just like everything else as I mentioned in my first post, it’s a crapshoot!

@snow well you certainly found a rare one. They still are based on junk pseudoscience.

@sergeant I recommend asking to be sent to a physical therapist. I am a huge PT fan.

And they will do what a chiro does basically?

@Caravanfan Sometimes. Sometimes not.

We spent $5000 trying to help my daughter with severe arm pain. Started when she was about 13. We went to the best medical experts in the area. They performed all kinds of tests and finally decided she had a mental problem, and recommended years of psychotherapy. In the meantime she was crying herself to sleep at night. We went to chiropractors and physical therapists. We did everything that they told us to do, and everything else that we could think of. Nothing helped.

Well she graduated from college with a double degree in Japanese and teaching English. She ended up working in Japan and found a chiropractor there who helped her immensely in one visit.

See her pain was in her wrist, but he noticed her elbow didn’t look like the other one. Her elbow was partially dislocated, and had been all those years. The chiropractor readjusted her elbow, and she is no longer in constant pain. All those “medical experts” as well as chiropractors in the states missed that little detail.

It’s unfortunate that we never got that $5000 back from all those “experts!” I wanted to strangle every single one of them.

We have since discovered that Ehlers-Danlos syndrome runs in our family. Whether family members actually have the disease or not, loose joints and things going out of socket is a regular occurrence in our family. It’s also not surprising that the medical community isn’t great at diagnosing such disorders. However, they are great at recommending psychotherapy for pain that they cannot explain.

I used to go to one when I had neck problems. She was good with physical therapy techniques, so was pretty helpful. Eventually the problem progressed too far for that. She tried popping my neck to help, but that resulted in increased internal swelling and partial paralysis of my right hand. Luckily I had previously scheduled a steroid injection in my cervical spine so was only a few days away from real help. That made the swelling go down and my paralysis go away. Something good to be said about using established medical techniques.

“She tried popping my neck to help, but that resulted in increased internal swelling and partial paralysis of my right hand”

I’d assume that was the last chiropractor you went to?

@Blackwater_Park I sure as hell hope so. He knows better than that.

Definitely! Injections are the way to go. To hell with popping anything anywhere near important nerves.