Chiropractic medicine?

vash · vash's Garage

i had a freaky man follow me around the gym today preaching about his chiro buddy. he noticed me occasionally wincing from a long term rotator cuff injury. (i dont lift crap past shoulder height anymore). he gave me a card, and said i will be 100% in 1-3 weeks. what gives? snake oil? never been to one before. ironically, with all the hell i put myself thru, i hurt my shoulder doing yardwork. physical therapy has done nothing for me, other than teach me not to lift past my shoulders.

Steve Carlton · 07-01-2005, 09:48 PM

Try my guy, Dr. Ruben Ziegler. He's a licensed chiro, but that's not his main thing. He's really more of a healer, and a really good one. He's in Berkeley. 510-665-6099. Chiros are hit and miss, IMHO some can do you harm.

RoninLB · 07-01-2005, 10:12 PM

it seems that the chiros around here all take a different approach. And if your needs are in tune with that then party hearty. The key is to keep looking until prob addressed to your satisfaction. PD & FD guys are an encylopedia of info on suggestions. Any FD over 40yr old should have at least 2or3 suggestions.

that said my guess is that there is routine shoulder joint calcification sic from whatever reason.. if so it'll need a laser blaster to clean up the joint.

Rikao4 · 07:04 AM

Agree with Roni,my Lady went thru this .Got worse,and more.Brother in-law is a chiro..X-ray=there it is..in on thurs/out Friday..back to work on Monday. she can now backhand me with no problem...

speedracer · 07-02-2005, 08:03 AM

When you have an injury it seems everybody and their dog try to give you advice even when you aren't asking (gym). Take it all with a grain of salt. What works for one person doesn't mean it will work for you. But if you have tried everything else it may be worth a look.

BlueSkyJaunte · 07-02-2005, 09:49 AM

Chiro's not going to fix injured tissue, plain and simple.

As a guy with f*cked up shoulders, I don't let my chiro touch 'em. He doesn't try to either. My back, on the other hand, has been helped significantly.

Try to find a chiro who's athletic and works with athletes. They know how to NOT hurt people.

89911 · 03:23 PM

I have rotator cuff injuries (actually rotator impingement, most likely what you have. Your rotators have loosened up over time allowing the head of your humerus to move around, pinching nerves or rubbing in certain situations). I've been back and forth with this with Orthopedic surgeons. My roomate from school is an Orthopod so I'm always bugging him for solutions. There are none. If the very act of working out is the main cause of your problem, work around it and leave it at that. If it bleeds into you everyday life, (arm numbness, trouble lifting your arm with no weight, etc) seek help and advice. Having the surgery is helpful, but not everyone regains the strength and movement they had prior. I don't know of any Chiropracters that can manipulate torn rotators.

Moses · 07-02-2005, 02:19 PM

Shoulder problems usually involve mechanical injury. No chiropractic manipulation will help you. If it's a torn rotator cuff or tendinitis, physical therapy may help strengthen accessory muscles and stabilize your joint.

I have bilateral torn labrums (SLAP lesion). Both shoulders are shot. I've had well meaning but misguided chiropractor friends offer to help. Unfortunately, I've got to make time for surgery and a lengthy rehab. I wish there were a simpler way, but it's just not the case.

vash · vash's Garage

thanks guys. i am learning to be smart and live with it. alot better these days. at the worst, i couldnt reach ahead of myself to adjust the car stereo. now it is just an achy reminder.

Jims5543 · 07-03-2005, 04:45 PM

Find out who the local firefighters use. I use the same Chiro as the local FD and PD and he is GOOD. He will tell you if he cannot help you and will fix you in a few visits. I see mine now about once every 6 to 8 months. Unless I get hurt.

I hated Chiro's watching one drain my dads insurance for every penny for years. He never seemed to get better.

A good Chiro will have you fixed and on your way in a short amount of time. Or tell you he cannot help you if he is honest and good.

Steve Carlton · 07-03-2005, 06:56 PM

That's what Dr. Z would do...

artplumber · 07-03-2005, 10:00 PM

A few notes: Chiropractic is the teaching that all body ailments can be traced to imbalances in the energies of the of the body all of which pass through the neck - hence, they are always adjusting backs - whether it's for kidney stones or colon cancer or heart disease or .... you get the idea.
There are "scientific" chiropracters which do not believe in this basic premise any more, and are really just physical therapists. If a phyical therapist hasn't helped you it's unlikely a chiropracter will. Take the above advice about seeing an orthopod.
Finally, because chiropracters adjust necks rather, shall we say, abruptly the injury rate is not insignificant - there are even reports of torn arteries (that go to the brain) - ouch!

84porsche · 84porsche's Garage

Chiropractic medicine works phenomally if administered by the right person and properly. A few years ago I hit my left shoulder really hard getting on a fork lift and everytime I lifted weight I could not raise the bar evenly. I thought, no big deal one arm is weaker than the other. So the end of March, I went to see my uncle who is a sports medicine/chiropractor and found out my shoulder had been separated. He adjusted one area of my shoulder and after two weeks of not using my arm (had to keep it tied at waist level and ice it), I had my strength back and I can bench press fairly evenly and consistently. Also found out my back was misaligned and 7 ribs out of place. If you guys need any good/honest refeerals I can ask him next time I talk to him. My uncle has been in this area for over 20 years.

M.D. Holloway · 07-03-2005, 10:45 PM

Used them several times for lower back stuff - worked great. They can't do ***** for my herniated disc or tennis elbow (which soulds like a pussy problem but it really hurts like a sonuvabtch), few have said they could help, the good ones have said they can't.

Best advice I have every had and taken when I had a muscle or tendon/ligiment injury - ice it often and don't use it for like forever. It will start felling better after 4 months...

Halm · 03:20 AM

After 7 years of lower back pain treatments with a chiro, I got a referal to a Physical Therapist specializing in lower back. It took 3 weeks of evaluation and one (1) new exercise and my back has pain free.

Save yourself a lot of money and get your family doctor or PPO to send you to a licensed Physical Therapist. I saw 2 well respected chiro's and both said the same thing: your back is out of alignment and you need multiple treatments each week. Neither looked for the root cause, just more ways to generate income. QUACK, QUACK, QUACK!!!

KCPSG · KCPSG's Garage

I agree w/ Halm 100%, I had same situation here, after going for several chiro sessions (and no relief) I went and did the Dr. shuffle (getting referral after referral) and was properly diagnosed and now pain free. JMHO but chiropractors are "snake oil"
go to a doctor.

gatotom · 07-05-2005, 11:08 AM

After reading some of these posts, I couldn't not post myself.

First off, I am a Chiropractor for the last 23 yrs and very damn proud of it.

There are 2 types of Chiropractors out there, the straight Chiro and the mixer Chiro. I am a straight Chiro that follows the true philosophy of Chiropractic. We correct vertebral subluxation, that is it. The mixer is a wantabe MD, he has enough knowledge to make him/her a very dangerous person to society.

What is vert. subluxation??? it is basically a misalignment of a vertabra that causes a impingment of a nerve. When the nerve is pinched it can cause lots of problems, headaches, neck pain, back pain, pain in the ass, leg pain, can't straighten up, can't turn your head, torticullis, numb fingers, stone burse in the foot, I could go on and on.

We don't fix torn ligaments, muscles, broken bones, my job is to know when to hold them and when to fold them. If I don't refer a patient that is beyond my scope of practice, I am liable.

I get new patients all the time telling me how they were taken to the cleaners from there last Chiro. My belief is that if I can't fix your problem in 3-5 visits, you are either very tough case, you are seeing the wrong Chiro. or you need to see the MD.

If you get too many adjustments in a series, you could become over adjusted which makes you the patient think that you need more adjustments when you really need to get the hell out of the office for at least 2 weeks before getting another adjustment.

PT and Chiro. works very good together, so does massage. In my state the PT assoc. has been lobbying for yrs to be able to adjust there patients, no such luck here, you go to school and get your degree in Chiro.

Yes, people get screwed every day from bad Chiropractors and Dentists and MD's, what else is new??? Now how about talking about getting screwed from your health insurance

legion · 07-05-2005, 11:33 AM

Good post gatotom.

I do some work in the area of medical fraud (usually fraudulent billing). Certain specialties seem to have higher instances of fraud, specifically PT, MT, and Chiro. I know there are a lot of good practitioners out there in each of these specialties, but they seem to have more than their fair share of bad apples. I'd do some research before seeing a chiropractor (or any other medical professional for that part).

I tend to think of chiropractors as being kinda like cell phones and credit cards (for the sake of this comparison): You need to seek out the good ones. The ones that fall in your lap probably aren't the ones you want...

artplumber · 07-05-2005, 12:20 PM

If you want to know more about chiropractic:

http://www.ncahf.org/pp/chirop.html

About as factual as can be.

gatotom · 07-05-2005, 02:30 PM

Thank you, legion.

I also tell my patients that travel or are moving out of my area to look for the Chiro with minimal staff and not a greatly fancy office. These are the ones with high overhead and need lots of visits, instead look for the simple office that will adjust you without x-rays because you are a previous patient with listings.

Word of mouth can be good also, look in the yellow pages and if the person you want to go to have a massive big ad, look out.

I have a good friend who I have know for over 30 yrs that I have never seen in my office and every now and then he shoots a jab or two at me, he is a nurse and so is his wife and daughter. Anyway about a month ago he can limping in my office bent over, I palpated him and adjusted him without x-rays, one visit and he is back golfing. He came to me because he didn't want to spend the next 2 weeks taking drugs.....case closed.