Doctors vs Chiropractors

[philray]

Why are most doctors so against sending patients to chiropractors? I have had back pain for the last year and a half and off and on for the last five to six years and every time I have asked about a chiropractor the doctors steer me away from them. Finally, tired of hearing me complain, my wife sets up an appointment for a chiropractor and after three sessions my back feels much better than it has in a long time. I just wish I could get a referal from my primary care physician so I didn't have to pay all of it out of pocket.

[The_Kat]

I have mixed feelings towards chiropractors.....

If your back is seriously out of whack they can make you feel better instantly....but then they wanna see you in three days, and three days after that.....then next week, then again and again. After the intial visit they don't do much at all, but ALWAYS find something to pop.....

One time I was at a follow up visit and the chiro popped my thumb, and tapped my forehead with his finger like you would to see if a watermelon is ripe.....that was the whole visit.

What a waste of time and money eh?

I say go if your hurting, let them fix ya, and don't go back to the follow ups and you'll be fine! Otherwise it's a ripoff.

[philray]

They want to see me three times a week for eight weeks. It will cost around $1,600. They did a xray and one of my disc in my back is deteriating. Still don't know if I will go all eight weeks. That is a lot of money.

[mike]

My stepfather is a chiropractor and I he has helped me alot. The reason for the follow up visits with most honest chiropractors is because when your out of place, and most times have been for awhile, the muscles are so tight that you can easily get it out again. My mother does massage therapy now and between the two I think you get more relief than you ever will an M.D. for alot of issues. jmho. Anyone who thinks the are phony obviously haven't been to a good one before. Beats the heck out of putting all the pills in your body that an MD would perscribe.

[wtnhunt]

Just my 2 cents here, but medical doctors often try to fix problems with medicine and a lot of times they are only masking the problems. Blood thinners or anti inflammatories and steroids are not always the answer for back problems and can screw you up worse than where you were before you went to them. Chiropractor got my back straightened out for the most part, never had a medical doctor give me anything to fix my back. Inversion table helps alot too.

[Newarcher]

My wife worked in a Hospital's Radiology department, first as a Radiologic Technologist and then as the front-office Manager for the Radiology department.

One day a lady walks in and says she's not feeling well. She was actually sent up from registration for an x-ray. She'd been to a Chiropractor who did a neck adjustment.

30-45 minutes later my wife hears a code call in the Radiology dept and it was this woman. She died. She was there just for general relief of stiffness and when doing the adjustment the Chiro severed one of her major arteries.

Not for me. Just my personal two cents.

New

[Newarcher]

I have no dog in the fight but I googled Chiropractor killed patient and this is what I found:

http://whatstheharm.net/chiropractic.html

New

[philray]

I have no dog in the fight but I googled Chiropractor killed patient and this is what I found:

http://whatstheharm.net/chiropractic.html

New

To be fair, how large of a list could we make where a doctor killed someone that was going in for a routine treatment. I know four people personally who died due to dr's malpractice. That being said, I am still ify about chiropractors, but can't argue the fact that I feel much better after 3 treatments. I did read an article that showed that chiropractors insurance is much cheaper than insurance a general dr has to pay.

[Ravin R10 man]

Having been down this road farther than I would have liked to be... Chiro will want you back to reset a few times if your way out of whack...I told mine I'll be back when I cant stand the pain again...that would work for about six months to a year....finally two discs ruptured,which pinched off both siatic nerves, that required surgury last summer..the Doctor done a great job, and yes I still have back pain, and have another disc thats ready to go... I am extremely careful not to lift too much..I've not been back to my chiro either, but prob should go just to get set again

[wtnhunt]

My wife worked in a Hospital's Radiology department, first as a Radiologic Technologist and then as the front-office Manager for the Radiology department.

One day a lady walks in and says she's not feeling well. She was actually sent up from registration for an x-ray. She'd been to a Chiropractor who did a neck adjustment.

30-45 minutes later my wife hears a code call in the Radiology dept and it was this woman. She died. She was there just for general relief of stiffness and when doing the adjustment the Chiro severed one of her major arteries.

Not for me. Just my personal two cents.

New

You think physicians don't misdiagnose patients and cause them harm or kill them?

Our 5 year old was misdiagnosed last summer 3 times by our family physician. Wife is a registered nurse and thought all along the kid had tonsillitis and he would not listen to me or her and was sure from his tests it was other problems(flu, strep, and a sinus/ear infection). The kid suffered over 3 or 4 weeks of his treatments which never did cure the problem. We ended up on fathers day weekend at the freaking ER with her and then to the hospital for an emergency tonsillectomy and abscess removal. The kid had a very bad case of tonsillitis. That is just the most recent md screwup in our family.

[hoosierhunter]

Here's the easy answer from a insurance standpoint. The chiro won't release you and just keeps asking you to come back!!! Literally

[PA_Spike_King]

Well, about three years ago on a Sunday I woke up and could not move my head, (Pain in the neck, right arm, and chest muscle). I went to a very good Chiropractor and he took x-rays and found out that I had a disc out between my shoulder blades and a bone spur form the disc being out for so long. At first I went to him 3 times a week then 2, then once a week and now I go once every 6 weeks and to this point he has me feeling almost 75%. I went to my home Dr but all they wanted me to do was take extra strength tylenol so that is why I went to the back cracker and will continue to do so. Good thing my wife and I have good ins as it will pay for me to go up to 24 times a year if need be.

[woolybear]

I was to the chiro for 2 years straight 3 x's a week with 2 bulging discs and serious joint deterioration in my hip. Couldn't walk, drive, work or sleep without excruciating pain due to a work injury.

Whenever I'd try to avoid the follow up visits the pain would return. After about 6 mo. of cracking he got me fixed up pretty good and I haven't had much problem ever since(knock on wood).

I've never been much of a pill popper but figured I'd try his recommendation of herbal treatments of some glucosimine concoction.

They worked great for me as well. Heck, I even had a rottweiller with hip displacia that made a pretty good recovery taking them when I was through. The vet couldn't even believe it,lol.

You can't beat a good chiropractor unless you like pumping all that pain killer crap through your veins.:nurse:

[unioncountyslayer]

Everybody has their opinion, here's mine. Dr's don't want you to go to see a chiropractor because they lose money. I've had a series of back and neck injuries over the years. All the Dr's wanted me to do was take pain killers and muscle relaxers and rest myself back to health. Then 6 months later something would "go out". That's when I started seeing a chiropractor. That was 4 years ago, and to this day have not missed a day of work because of my back or neck. To each his own, but I'm sold.

[fladawg]

Been about 8 year's now,I had a blown out 5th disk push'n into my siatic nerve.First thing orthopedic wanted to do was cut on me,not,then fill me with steroid's,not...4 trip's to Chiroprator and i have'nt been to NoBody since....Man,when that tingle went down my leg that day i went down like a shot buck,tried to get up an went back down...That pain i'll never forget....

[GWSmith]

My Opinion....I'm suprised you did not get a refferal...From the Chiropractor to the Doctor!

They did a xray and one of my disc in my back is deteriating.

I believe if it was anyone of us in his position we would take the time needed not to screw your back up worse in the process of trying to help you.

[Newarcher]

You think physicians don't misdiagnose patients and cause them harm or kill them?

Our 5 year old was misdiagnosed last summer 3 times by our family physician. Wife is a registered nurse and thought all along the kid had tonsillitis and he would not listen to me or her and was sure from his tests it was other problems(flu, strep, and a sinus/ear infection). The kid suffered over 3 or 4 weeks of his treatments which never did cure the problem. We ended up on fathers day weekend at the freaking ER with her and then to the hospital for an emergency tonsillectomy and abscess removal. The kid had a very bad case of tonsillitis. That is just the most recent md screwup in our family.

Oh no doubt...I am still waiting to see if my liver was damaged after my hernia surgery on 12/3 thanks to a doctor over prescribing tylenol.

Some 64,000 people a year die in hospitals each year from something totally unrelated to what they went to the hospital about. From being given wrong meds, wrong diagnosis, etc. etc. etc. It is scary, I double check everything.

My point was about the seeming pattern of strokes/deaths due to chiros. I can only go on personal experience and my wife seeing an otherwise healthy woman being wheeled out of the X Ray department under a sheet thanks to a chiro. The list seems to back up exactly what happened to this woman.

New

[wtnhunt]

Oh no doubt...I am still waiting to see if my liver was damaged after my hernia surgery on 12/3 thanks to a doctor over prescribing tylenol.

Some 64,000 people a year die in hospitals each year from something totally unrelated to what they went to the hospital about. From being given wrong meds, wrong diagnosis, etc. etc. etc. It is scary, I double check everything.

My point was about the seeming pattern of strokes/deaths due to chiros. I can only go on personal experience and my wife seeing an otherwise healthy woman being wheeled out of the X Ray department under a sheet thanks to a chiro. The list seems to back up exactly what happened to this woman.

New

Suppose there are good and bad chiropractors just like there are good and bad physicians.

We know a retired chiropractor who is good as gold, he has helped a lot of people and animals too. He got my back straightened out earlier this year, my back was so bad I could not walk and my daughter went and asked him to check me out. Last time I had back issues prior that were bad enough that I looked for help I went to a physician, x ray showed a bulging disc at L3 and I was prescribed relafen(a blood thinner/anti inflammatory) and also a steroid which I took as prescribed. Had been to the same family practice clinic for back pain in the past and pretty well the same thing, was prescribed pills, temporary relief of a problem they could not treat. All those drugs did for me was make me bruise easy, bleed like crazy everytime I got a scratch, and keep horrible headaches. Really did not do anything to help my back.

[philray]

My Opinion....I'm suprised you did not get a refferal...From the Chiropractor to the Doctor!

I believe if it was anyone of us in his position we would take the time needed not to screw your back up worse in the process of trying to help you.

He explained to me that the discs are made up of cartlige and fluid, and that one of mine is getting thin. He said that him manipulating that area of my back will allow more blood flow throw that area and it will rehydrate the disk. To explain how it works he used an example of when a person breaks their arm and gets a cast. The area with the cast will start to shrink. When the cast is removed it allows more circulation of blood and fluids and that it returns to it's normal size.

[Newarcher]

Suppose there are good and bad chiropractors just like there are good and bad physicians.

We know a retired chiropractor who is good as gold, he has helped a lot of people and animals too. He got my back straightened out earlier this year, my back was so bad I could not walk and my daughter went and asked him to check me out. Last time I had back issues prior that were bad enough that I looked for help I went to a physician, x ray showed a bulging disc at L3 and I was prescribed relafen(a blood thinner/anti inflammatory) and also a steroid which I took as prescribed. Had been to the same family practice clinic for back pain in the past and pretty well the same thing, was prescribed pills, temporary relief of a problem they could not treat. All those drugs did for me was make me bruise easy, bleed like crazy everytime I got a scratch, and keep horrible headaches. Really did not do anything to help my back.

I gotcha...don't get me wrong, I am not saying that Chiros don't help people. Nor do doctors always help people.

It concerns me that there seems to be a pattern to those neck injuries and deaths with chiros.

Glad you got your back better.

New

[MUDRUNNER]

Like William said, an inversion table is great for most disc problems. IMO a majority of back problems can be solved with stretching and exercise. I was about to have surgery to repair a disc in my lower back a few years ago, and after doing some research decided to try some alternatives. I was taking 800mg of tylenol and a muscle relaxer just to get through some days. Eventually the meds started giving me an ulcer...not good. When I would twist just right it would totally lock me up and I absolutely could not move for a few days. I started stretching and lifting weights a few days a week and amazingly enough my pain slowly went away and I have been free of any major pain for a few years now. I beleive my core was weak, giving me bad posture, and forcing me to rely on my back more than I needed to. I still get some pain....mostly when I'm sitting, but have not missed any work or been laid up for quite a while now.

[Turkeygirl]

I go to the chiropractor every now and then. My mom goes about once a month, her insurance pays for it, and it's a good chiropractor. She actually has some degenerative stuff going on in her neck and spine, and he had an x-ray done. Told her flat out don't get hit in a car from behind....

If it's a good chiropractor, you can't go wrong. MDs want to give you more pills, sometimes a person does need the pills, sometimes not.

And in terms of the chiropractor severing the artery....how different is it from an MD misdiagnosing a patient or having a surgery go wrong, etc....

[elkoholic]

He explained to me that the discs are made up of cartlige and fluid, and that one of mine is getting thin. He said that him manipulating that area of my back will allow more blood flow throw that area and it will rehydrate the disk. To explain how it works he used an example of when a person breaks their arm and gets a cast. The area with the cast will start to shrink. When the cast is removed it allows more circulation of blood and fluids and that it returns to it's normal size.

It is true that insufficient blood supply to the subchondral capillary beds will hinder diffusion of nutrients and water into the discs, but there can be other factors limiting diffusion, such as mineralization of the vertebral end plates or decreased production of proteoglygan. Manipulation of the spine is not likely to cause a long term increase in blood flow, but, like a massage, will stimulate a short term increase in blood flow. I would question any chiropractor who, after taking an x-ray, diagnoses a bulging disc and still performs a "manipulation". The practice of medicine/chiropractic therapy is just that, practice. I am aware of multiple missed diagnosises from all walks of medicinal practices and have come to the conclusion unless there is a straight forward problem there may not be a straight forward answer. Blind faith in your medical provider can cost you in the long run, and if you are hoping for a miracle, you might want to look somewhere else.