Chiropractor?

Mitica100 · Jan 1, 2007

OK, so I'm pretty much 'confined' at home with a pretty bad back problem. It's been bugging me since about 4 weeks ago but it got worse for the past week or so. I visited a chiropractor, at my physician's recommendation but... First visit was all talk, X-ray and a slight adjustment, second was also more talk, a look at the badly scratched X-ray films and another slight adjustment. It only got worse since I started seeing this guy. I have another visit with him tomorrow morning. If there is no improvement, I'm going to get my butt outta there and seek another one. This sucks!! :grumpy:

Anyone had a similar experience?

Torus34 · Jan 1, 2007

Bad backs are one of medicine's most difficult problems. Unfortunately, x-rays do not show pain. Your solution may lie in locating a doctor who is familiar with your particular problem. It can be a long search.

hobbes28 · Jan 1, 2007

Give it a little time Dimitri. The bad part about going to the Chiropractor is that your muscles get "used" to how they are positioned and when you get the adjustments, they are being untrained. I think it took me around a month before I started really noticing that it was actually getting better. I have much faith in the practice and can't wait until I get authorization from the VA to go find one here. If you don't feel better in, say, two months, start looking for a different one.

I know all too well the joys of back pain from my slipped discs and degenerative disc disease so I can truly say that I hope you feel better.

PlasticSpanner · Jan 1, 2007

It probably doesn't work for everybody but I had a damaged disk/nerves many years ago which was completely cured with acupuncture (sp?)

Took 3 visits over 6 months I think and within a week of the first treatment I noticed the difference. Relief from a really bad back isn't something you easily forget! :lol:

Chiller · Jan 1, 2007

I was down with a bad back over a year ago. I was in that ...denial part, thinking it would just go away. I played ball hockey, cycled, exercised so I just assumed it was part of all that. I found myself with ice on it almost every night. It got to the point where I ended up in emergency getting a needle in my lower back, so I could move. I was talked into finally going to see a specialist. It was 3 times a week for adjustments, for almost a month, before I noticed any difference. Now just over a year later, I only have to go once every 6 weeks for a check up. It really takes time, cause the back is a part of the body that moves with the slightest movement of another part of the body. I had pain as far down as my feet at one point. Now Im med free and can do things pain free as well.
When an adjustment is made, the muscles have to re heal around the adjustments. It takes a long time and can be painful too.
Good luck, hang in there

midget patrol · Jan 1, 2007

My dad had a herniated disk not long ago and my mom's L5S1 disappeared completely over the span of a month about two years ago. She had an artificial disk put in almost exactly a year ago.

Dad had more work with the chiropractor and it took him about a month to start noticing improvement. Mom did a lot of accupuncture, and is now doing quite a bit of yoga.

Stick it out. :thumbsup:

markc · Jan 1, 2007

Gah. I hope you are feeling better soon, Dimitri.
I think this is just one of those things where it feels worse before it feels better. It reminds me that I have to make another appointment soon.
But if you don't see an improvement after several visits, or if you are comfortable with this one, I'd try another. Their experience and skill can vary, just with everything else.

Lol999 · Jan 2, 2007

I've tried chiropractor, osteopath and physiotherapy for my back. The best I have found is physiotherapy, followed by osteopath and trailing last chiro. With the chiropractor it was a case of " I need to see you 3 times a week for the firts 3 weeks, then twice a week for a month, then once a week thereafter until your'e better. At £40 a session in 1998!" Thing I like about physiotherapists is in the main they can correct problems through direct manipulation in the short term and provide you with the knowledge to "treat yourself" through daily exercises and stretching routines. Much better and cheaper. Regardless of where you go it will hurt like hell to start with. If it doesn't they aren't actually moving anything back to where it should be!

Cheers, Lol

Mitica100 · Jan 2, 2007

Thanks all, I feel better just by reading your replies...

I'm on my way to another session with the chiropractor. Hopefully I'll start feeling better soon, I hate being good-for-nothin'...

lostprophet · Jan 2, 2007

I've had bad backs for the past 10 years, its been so bad sometimes that the pain from just standing up makes you pass out.

I've only ever seen one doctor and he was not a great help, the only thing thats helped me is applying heat pads to my back and laying down for a few days, that and being careful when picking things up etc

markc · Jan 2, 2007

Two words: memory foam

I don't have a bad back, but I have other issues. I bought a memory foam mattress topper, and oh my! What a difference it makes in getting a good night's rest. I'm not nearly as stiff when I get up in the morning. I've heard that it can make a big difference for people with back problems, too. You can get a full mattress of the stuff too, like Tempur-pedic.

Corry · Jan 2, 2007

markc said:
Two words: memory foam

I don't have a bad back, but I have other issues. I bought a memory foam mattress topper, and oh my! What a difference it makes in getting a good night's rest. I'm not nearly as stiff when I get up in the morning. I've heard that it can make a big difference for people with back problems, too. You can get a full mattress of the stuff too, like Tempur-pedic.

Heh....those are nice. I've slept on one once when a certain friend was nice enough to take the couch and let me sleep on it while I was there. I sure wish I could afford one!

photogoddess · Jan 2, 2007

Sorry to hear that you're hurting. Sometimes it does hurt more before it gets better and a good chiropractor is a great thing but a bad one is worse than bad. I had to switch chiros a few years ago as I started to get worse, not better. Turns out the "good doc" had developed a drug problem and had lost his touch.

Malachite says that if you switch chiropractors, see Dr. Walker in Phoenix. He's on the corner of 40th St & Greenway. He saw him several times and said that he's really really good.

Mitica100 · Jan 3, 2007

photogoddess said:
Malachite says that if you switch chiropractors, see Dr. Walker in Phoenix. He's on the corner of 40th St & Greenway. He saw him several times and said that he's really really good.

Thanks PG and M for the advice, I will look dr. Walker up. Sorry to say but the pain has not gone away much. Perhaps a little. So, today I'm seeing the dr. (chiro) one more time and tomorrow I'm going to get my physician to recommend an MRI. Taking the week off from work since I can't sit on a chair. Darn, this sux...

hobbes28 · Jan 4, 2007

Mitica100 said:
Thanks PG and M for the advice, I will look dr. Walker up. Sorry to say but the pain has not gone away much. Perhaps a little. So, today I'm seeing the dr. (chiro) one more time and tomorrow I'm going to get my physician to recommend an MRI. Taking the week off from work since I can't sit on a chair. Darn, this sux...

If and when you do get an MRI, make sure to request that they get an image of the entire spinal cord to make sure to not miss anything. Normally, they will only image the area you are complaining about. The nerves from your spinal cord run along the spine for one or two vertebrae before branching off so a lot of times, the problem goes undiagnosed because the actual problem isn't scanned. I know when I got my first one, that's what I was told to do and they found the blown discs but not where I felt the pain. The Dr. told me they would've missed them had I not done the entire back.

I know your pain and am so sorry that you're having to endure it. Hang in there.