To ask your opinions on Chiropractors

[chellochello]

I have been suffering with pretty bad lower back pain for over a year now - I have contacted my GP on a few occasions but have been pretty much told there is nothing they can / will do to help (although no one has ever actually looked at my back!) So I decided to see if a chiropractor could help. I've started seeing one twice a week for the last couple of weeks and can feel no noticeable difference to the pain

A couple of people have told me they are basically quacks and I am paying them for nothing so was wondering if anyone had any positive outcomes of seeing one?

I have a relative who is an orthopedic surgeon. They tell me to avoid chiropractors like the plague. They have seen too many people who originally had a slight strain end up with cracked vertebrate following an appointment with a crunch/crack quack.

It's basically a pseudo-science. If they do any good then it's not because they are acting as chiropractors; they are doing the kind of exercise that a good physio would do; if they are following chiropractic theory then they won't do any good and could actively do harm.

The theory behind it is completely batshit.

As the legend goes, chiropractic medicine was born on September 18, 1895, when Daniel David Palmer, a magnetic healer in Davenport, Iowa, met a deaf janitor named Harvey Lillard. Palmer claimed they had a conversation about how Lillard’s hearing could be repaired by adjusting his spine, and with a crack of the back, the janitor’s auditory woes were cured. This was the launching point for the pseudoscience of chiropractic (how the practice of chiropractic medicine is commonly referred to). From there, Palmer continued to work on his theories, eventually opening up chiropractic schools that still exist to this day (yearly tuition at the Palmer College of Chiropractic in Iowa: $34,000. Acceptance rate: 100 percent), and the field of chiropractic medicine emerged. It’s possible that Lillard never consented to the procedure Palmer performed on him; some re-tellings speculate that Lillard was not fully deaf. But it’s more likely that, because there are no nerves in the back that can actually affect hearing, Lillard’s condition was not fixed with a back adjustment.

Palmer held séances to contact a dead physician named Jim Atkinson, and said that those séances helped him develop chiropractic. As he wrote in his 1914 book The Chiropractor:

"The knowledge and philosophy given me by Dr. Jim Atkinson, an intelligent spiritual being, together with explanations of phenomena, principles resolved from causes, effects, powers, laws and utility, appealed to my reason. The method by which I obtained an explanation of certain physical phenomena, from an intelligence in the spiritual world, is known in biblical language as inspiration. In a great measure The Chiropractor's Adjuster was written under such spiritual promptings."

It's rubbish because it's not backed up by good science. Worse than that, it's actually dangerous. There's evidence that it's responsible for some severe injuries and even deaths. Science Based Medicine has examples

When I listened to the Behind the Bastards podcast episode, they played a clip from a video of a baby being manipulated. It was upsetting just listening to it, without having the visuals.

I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. Much better to go to a proper physiotherapist and to strengthen your back with pilates. Yoga could help as well.

I have seen one quite a few times over the years and she’s incredible. I have literally crawled in and been able to walk out. It’s the gentlest treatment ever and involves no twisting or cracking but it’s close to a miracle at times

The one I've been seeing did come recommended and is qualified and part of the regulated body.

All she has basically been doing is pressing my spine and bit and turning my neck around to 'adjust it' it has been quite painful in different areas than the one I originally went in about but this fades quickly after the session. I haven't been given any exercises to do nor has she suggested what may be the cause of the original pain.

I think I will take the advise and look into finding a Physiotherapist instead - Thanks

I had horrendous back pain , woke up couldnt walk . It took a few sessions but the chiropractor worked wonders . I had coccyx problems which caused me issues with how I sat etc and led to the back problem

My Chiropractor has had extensive training and works for Oxford Uni Sports teams

I bloody love mine (McTimoney), I saw her originally for migraine which is sorted but also saw her in pregnancy and had the easiest pregnancy and birth (and I’m old!).

I go every 8 weeks at the moment as breastfeeding and all the baby lifting is taking its toll (I am carrying some existing injuries from horses). My horse also sees a chiro regularly- it was the horse experience that convinced me there was something in it tbh, as horse had an issue that the chiro sorted and the horse doesn’t understand placebo

My chiropractor (who also does free acupuncture) did in three weeks what my GP couldn't do in ten years. He got me out of pain and suspected a slipped disc, got my GP to refer me for MRI.

I do have a slipped disc, also 30 years + undiagnosed scoliosis and one leg shorter than the other. I now go chiropractor once a month and it keeps me mobile, without pills.

I feel my chiropractor really does help me. Any back pain I have (usually the result of pulling something) goes away much more quickly after she's popped things back into place!

PS: The first time I saw chiropractor my back had "gone", it was in spasm, I'd never experienced pain like it in my life, I couldn't get up off a chair, or roll over in bed without help and was hobbling like a hunchback when walking. It was agony. I owe him for getting me out of pain and mobile.

Plus work referred me occupational health and we're very supportive with a phased return to work and desk adjustments. Which helped a lot b

My mum has severe long term back pain. She saw a chiropractor who did something that put her in such agony she had to go to A&E.

There's a very good reason they aren't endorsed or typically recommended by the medical profession.

OP I've had lower back pain on and off for about ten years (so a lot longer than you). I'm pretty active - I'm a keen runner - but the pain can occasionally be so bad I can't do any exercise and in fact two years ago I even had to have a month off work.

I decided a couple of months ago that I just had to get my back sorted once and for all. Which I have, I am very happy to say. This is what has worked for me, and it's the order in which I went about things (I'm ignoring my running/ weights routine etc):

yoga - I try to do a yoga flow every day. If you're not into yoga, you could instead call it 20-30 minutes of stretching and toning exercises.

physio - I saw a really good physio that had been recommended to me (by numerous people as it happens!) I have religiously carried out the exercises she prescribed me every day (at the end of my yoga session). I had 3 or 4 appointments in total, each time refining or developing the exercises, occasionally massaging my back or ultrasound. The emphasis with her was definitely getting me to help myself as it were.

McTimoney chiropractor - I've had three sessions, the first about 2 months after I started the daily yoga/ physio sessions. I think it was helpful that I'd already been working with the physio and doing the yoga because I had really improved my flexibility and eased a lot of the pain myself. This meant that I did't have a lot of muscle "guarding" and my back and pelvis were more receptive to adjustments.

I feel better in my back than I have for years. But as you can see from above it has taken me nearly three months with a real, daily time comittment on my part to get here.

Just as an FYI, as I understand it a chiropractor uses very gentle, direct and swift movements to realign bones/ joints (someone upthread described it as "tapping" - that's about right in my experience). Osteopaths tend to use long levers (eg deeper twists) to manipulate bones/ joints (when I previously saw an osteopath many years ago he twisted my shoulders/ upper body and then applied pressure to my lower back to get a big crunching, "click". Not a sensation I wanted to repeat and always left me feeling a bit beaten up and very sore. )

After a lot of lower back problems went to a Chiropractors who had his own X-Ray machine. It was a long time ago! His verdict; 20 years previously I’d broken two vertebrae which had fused together. Yes, hit the top of a hurdle at school and came down on my back.

Over the years he's freed my back on many occasions. Certainly no quack and has never suggested he can cure everything.

However, no Chiropractor should give treatment twice a week -that's bad.

Long story cut very short. For nearly 25years I’ve been seeing an Osteopath who arranged for me to see a Podiatrist, who diagnosed severe pronation (recently mentioned it to a physio who didn’t know what it meant) and sorted it with orthotics.

OH sees Osteopath in same practice.

Being elderly I go to the Osteopath three times a year for a service and yearly MoT! Gradually over the years she has added simple exercises and I follow those with religious fervour.

They leave a week between treatments at least.

My original Chiropractor works out of our local GP surgery. They’re not all bad.

I also see a sports massage therapist and a physio for different things. I have a permanent knee injury that the chiro can’t do much with but the physio can, but physio never helped migraine. The sports massage is also fab but deals with all my tension.

My GP uses my chiro too (rural area, everyone knows everyone!)

Snake oil merchants. There is no evidence they are better than placebo,

Another Mctimoney Chiropractic fan here! First saw one after the birth of my eldest son 23 years ago and haven't had a bad back since. My pelvis usually twists and rotates over time making me unbalanced and I go every year for a bit of an MOT and honestly its one of the best £50 I could spend. In the early days I went every month for 3 months just to make sure my back/pelvis was staying put as it had been skewed for a long time. Now my muscles are more used to it being in the right place I only go once a year unless i have a fall or something in which case I get checked out - its amazing how falling downstairs and landing on your knees can knock you about.

BUT - I recommended McT to someone and he went to a different practitioner and I couldn't believe the treatment he got - he got charged £70 for an hour of basically note taking and chatting with only ten minutes of 'treatment' and now has to go back this week for a 'proper' treatment. There are obviously good and bad, as in each profession but if someone recommends someone, its worth it.

when I previously saw an osteopath many years ago he twisted my shoulders/ upper body and then applied pressure to my lower back to get a big crunching, "click".

Mine uses only gentle manipulation like a massage. I had one use the "cracking" thing and I never went back - it was horrible. I thought the "cracking" thing was more a chiropractor thing though.

A chiropractor/Osteopath doesn’t want to cure you and teach you skills for self management, they want you back again and again for your money. A physio will teach you to manage your own pain and exercises, so you will no longer need to see them. You just need to commit religiously to the exercises and the other recommendations

I've seen 3. 2 were useless, just pressing lightly on me and the other did what I can only describe as a gentle body slam. everything crunched and I felt a lot better for it. I think you have to find one that is experienced and not afraid to put a bit of force behind it.

I’ve had a bad back for donkeys years.

I tried a chiropractor which did help at the time, but if you stop going the pain comes back. They are very evangelical about it.

The treatment can appear harsh, but it never actually hurt.

Osteopath yes. Chiropractor no.

Chiropractors are crackers and twisters. Osteopaths are more gentle and treat differently.
Osteopath every time for me.

I see an osteopath and I know she helps me.

I was suffering debilitating tension headaches for years which would practically make me cry with pain. Within a few sessions (thank you free work healthcare!) she'd effectively cured me by loosening all the stiff muscles.

Some 10 years on I see her every quarter to fix my t-rex computer posture! The headaches have never come back.

Never seen a chiropractor, but have have seen an private osteopath monthly (sometimes weekly) for over 5 years, and multiple nhs physios in the same time period. Suffer with chronic back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, hip pain, and sciatica from conditions that are incurable, but manageable. Virtually all of the physio has been useless, as the tendency is to teach you exercises so you can improve/manage pain yourself. But no recognition of the fact I'm actually in too much pain to do the exercises or unable to do them due to weak/stiff joints. Appointments too sporadic to see noticeable difference when you can't do the what they want you to do at home.

Osteopath has been fantastic, and I would likely not have been able to continue working without them. I still get given an exercise program and practice them in some sessions, but they manipulate and massage my joints first, so that I'm actually in a state that I can do them. My osteopath does a mixture chiropractic manipulation, sports massage techniques, physio and the occasional acupuncture- so the treatment is more extensive and we can work out what is most effective.

I wouldn't stop seeing someone, just see someone different, who has a different approach to the problem.

I see a chiropractor. My horses see a chiropractor. I only go roughly twice a year for treatments. Same for horses unless they are showing signs of discomfort

Chiropractors are crackers and twisters. Osteopaths are more gentle and treat differently.

I'm sorry this is definitely NOT the case, in fact it is the other way around. I also had a chiropracter for my horse and I can assure you they used no harder than a gentle tapping pressure!