Chiropractors

Personally I have always avoided them.  With anything regarding my health I want a MD, and nothing else.  If an MD tells me to go to a Chiropractor then I'd go.

My purely unscientific and uneducated opinion is that getting your back "cracked" is like cracking your knuckles.  It feels great, but the more you do it the more you "have" to do it to keep the pain down.

I would suggest massage first.   While I am not going to denigrate the Chiropractic profession as a whole, it has a very high rate of stone-cold wackos in the field. 

I had some joint pain earlier this year... and since I'm in China (which has a long tradition of massage)  I decided to try it out.   After about 3 or 4 sessions I was able to notice a reduction in pain.   I also actually started to enjoy it.   Find a good LMT and see if it helps.

So many jokes there... biting tongue... 

There seems to be 2 schools of chiropractors.  Those who treat joint, nerve and bone issues and those who think they can cure everything from gas to cancer by cracking your back.

The former category are good people to see.  I have one who treats my slipped disk from time to time.  She has helped me with some neck issues too.

The latter are to be avoided like the plague.

Oh, you have no idea.  The first place I went to was labeled "SPA."   I walked in, and the girl behind the desk stood up to greet me.  She was wearing a KNOCKOUT dress which had slipped up around her hips. (it didn't have to go far)   I immediately knew I was in the wrong kind of place! 90minute massage was 888 RMB (about $100)

I've been to a few "legit" places and "happy ending" is offered about half the time.     Cost for a 90 minute massage is about $30-$45 dollars in the nicer places.  The really nice places have a little restaurant where you can eat lunch or a snack, included in the price of massage.

x2.  See a doctor or a physiotherapist.  Chiropractice falls into the 'alternative' medical field with homeopathy, naturalitic, and ion-crystal chi-ballancing wrist bands.  There is no medical evidence that it helps. Sure, there are loads of antedotal stories of where people were sick, visited a Chiro, and then got better. But corelation does not imply causation. I was sick once and then watched Lord of the rings and felt better the next day but I don't think it was LOTR that cured me.  There is also some non-insignificant risk associated with Chiropractic 'techniques' such as ART.

$30-$45 dollars for a happy ending massage, AND I get lunch included... I gotta move to China.

Nah, I made it up. 

It's most certainly not Chiropractic care but when my wife and I first got married she would have me give her the bear hug back cracks all the time, and if I wasn't around for a few days she'd complain about her back hurting and being stiff.  When I did my first 6 month cruise in the Navy and came back she didn't need it cracked anymore.  So my causation (love that cartoon above, btw) was that me cracking her back made her need to keep cracking her back.

So there, I consider this anecdote way better than a double blind study backed by scientific evidence. 

I used to think chiro's were wack job workers comp leeches.  No doubt some are.  Do your research.  I have bulging discs in my lumbar region and one day they put me on the deck.  I went to see a reccomended chiro in the area and have seen improvements all the way around.

My first visit was an exam with an X-ray.  He did not even touch me during the visit.  His reason was he first need to see what was going on with me before he did anything.  I liked his approach immediately.  I never have my back popped for "relief".  He focuses more on spinal alignment and movement.  It will pop on occaision but for the most part he just works on keeping it moving.  I see him regularly once a month for adjustments and treatment and he offers reccomendations with each visit.

As said before go with what you are comfortable with but do your research.  Also reccomend the massage.  Spine problems are no joke and can derail your life in a hurry so make sure you are taking care of it.

THIS. ^^ x10

My father has suffered from horrible headaches my entire life. He's done everything from taking some heavy, heavy prescription pills - to a sleep study that discovered he has sleep apnea. Which helped the headaches for a bit but then they came back. He refuses to go to a chiro (even when I was dating one!!) due to preconceived notions.

If you are in that much pain, wouldn't you do pretty much anything to get rid of it? I don't get why people refuse to explore a legitimate option that might eliminate debilitating pain  

NO!  Many are back-cracking quacks that don't do any good and push vitamins and supplements.

YES!  Many actually know what they're doing and help people.  I would have about 60% reduced range of motion in my neck, severe fibrosis & scar tissue, and still be suffering from L'Hermitte's Syndrome as a result of my cancer treatments if I didn't see my chirpopractor.  He's made a drastic improvement in my life!

It's legit.  But it's like medical doctors.  Some are better than others and finding the right one is the key.

Completely agree. Just like any other profession, there are some chiropractors that are not good. There are also plenty of MDs that are not good. I wholeheartedly recommend doing some research and at least consulting a chiropractor.

My daughter has had a lot of trouble with her spine. She had a bent/crooked coccyx, and later an L5-S1 bulging disc. We saw an MD for the coccyx, and his suggestion was surgery to remove it...just cut off the end of her spine. Before resorting to that for (at the time) 12-year-old, I brought her to the chiro I have seen for several years. He was able to realign it over the course of several weeks of adjustments. It wasn't an overnight fix, but it was a fix and she's never had any issues with it since. (She's 20 now.) I am so glad I didn't just go with the MD's surgery recommendation. Regular adjustments and some quality time in a suspension chair helped her avoid surgery on the bulging disc as well.

I know every case is different, and I fully acknowledge that there are some quacks out there, but there are some awfully good chiropractors too.