Osteopath vs Chiropractor

[NoseyNooNoo]

I have had back or shoulder or neck pain on or off since December 2008. I've seen a doctor or 2 who've said take ibuprofen. I've seen an osteopath about 10 times and this makes the situation better but not totally better. The pain does go eventually but something like staying in a different bed for 1 night or turning around in the car puts me back on square one.

Would it be worth seeing a chiropractor. I want to see someone who after 1 treatment will have cured the problem. Is this realistic?

Have you seen a physio for a proper diagnosis?

Acupuncture may also be of benefit, but I'd go for a medical Western approach rather than a tradisional Chinese one - try the BMAS website

:)

I'm not satisfied that it has been diagnosed. I've just been told that as a mother of 2 I'm doing too much lifting and the original harm is repeatedly exacerbated.

What would a physio do?

I'd second seeing a physio about it if you haven't already - I saw one for a lower back/hip problem and he fixed it outright on visit number 3, plus gave me exercises to help stop me from niggling it the same way again.

I use a chiropractor. He can work miracles but TBH I feel the same as you - a few nights in a bad bed and I'm back to square one. I don't beleive any one treatement can make it all better forever I'm afraid. I think it's down to self-maintenance and good backcare. I never seem to be stick to good habits but I am trying. This last bout has been really bad.

"I want to see someone who after 1 treatment will have cured the problem. Is this realistic?"

In short, no that is unrealistic.

Identifying the cause is important, and most of these are likely to be bio-mechanical or idiopathic in nature.

So nerve to get untrapped or cartilage to be stripped away.
Thus no surgical cure as such.

Osteopathy has a reasonable evidence base for back and shoulder pain and is fairly safe.
However you don't seem to be benefiting from this.

I think your best option would be to ask your G.P. for referral to a physiotherapist (or self refer if this is your local protocol).
They will be able to identify any bio-mechanical unbalance and teach you some exercises to strengthen the weak muscles.

Acupuncture and Chiropracty can't really be recommended.

Acupuncture is, as best we can tell, no more than a powerful placebo.
Now this is not necessarily a deal breaker but the data suggests less positive effect than with back pain (where it manages equivalent relief to standard treatment, i.e. not good.

Chiropracty is also associated with a powerful placebo effect but here this must be balanced with evidence of risk, especially with manipulation of areas other than the lower back.

I saw a different GP today. He says there is a trapped nerve in my neck and that the pain will improve once my DCs are not at an age when they need to be picked up. That's a few years away - I could have cried.

He says physio, osteopathy and chiropractic are a waste of money if I'm looking for a cure but could help to make it feel better in the short term.

What's strange is that he looked at my record and said I'd had the pain for 4 years which I actually now remember. I was pregnant and my rubbish GP at the time said it would go once I'd had the baby.

Nosey, please see a physio. You could self-refer or go privately maybe?

My mum was in pain for over 25 years with what the GP kept telling her was a disc problem, and fobbing her off with painkillers. When she eventually saw a physio she had a proper diagnosis and did genuinely have relief after the first session and with follow-up and exercises she's now able to walk 20 miles through mountains with a rucksack, and has lost tons of weight, and feels so fab she's just got herself a motorbike.

Can't promise all of that for you(!), but really, the average GP knows very little about musculoskeletal problems.

I see a chiropractor, as do many of my friends, and I find it very effective. They will use different manipulations to osteopaths and some people find one works better for them than the other. I'd say if you're still in pain it's worth a try.

But I don't think you're being realistic about the one treatment thing. If you've had this pain for 4 years, then the surrounding muscle, soft tissue etc will also now be involved and it takes time to retrain those muscles. A good chiro should be able to give you stretches and strengthening exercises to help you help yourself, as well as general selfcare / posture advice.

However sometimes it does work immediately. It just depends what's going on. I injured my wrist not long after having my DS; I couldn't hold a pen and was in a lot of pain; GP and physio both just told me to rest it, that it was a bad sprain, but my instinct was that it wasn't a muscular thing but a "bone" thing. One visit to the chiropractor ascertained that one of the carpal bones in my wrist had become displaced and had ridden up over another; a few minutes of manipulation and it was fixed. The pain of the stretched muscles around it took a few days to go completely; but the "bone pain" was instantly gone and I could instantly hold a pen again. So sometimes you can get quick results - other times not. It just depends what's going on in your body.

Hope that helps and good luck

i've been seeing a chiropractor for over 15 years, since being told by G.P that there was nothing wrong with my back whatsoever

i needed a couple of treatments to sort the problem and just needed to go back if it flared up again.
haven't needed to see him for 3 years.

beware of any chiropractor that asks you to keep clothes on, you should keep underwear on and have a hospital type gown so he can examine your back properly, and any chiropractor that demands you make regular appointments.

I have a brilliant osteopath who I first visited after having sciatica following birth of DS.
GP had prescribed bedrest and painkillers- sooo easy with a 6mo baby
I usually needed 'tweaking' once or twice a year now but my poor posture and sporadic gardening has a lot to do with that.
A one off permanent fix is unrealistic, and I have been recommended pilates/yoga to improve my overall back/neck health.
< looks guilty as still not got round to it emoticon>

I suggest seeing a chiropractor(but I would because I am one). If you want know the differences you could go here

I and my husbands family saw a Chiropractor at £25 per visit and was a complete waste of money! I kept going an swear he was doing less and less every week, cricking my neck, clicking a metal thing on my back. all a complete waste. I've never actually met anyone who could say that they have recovered after being under a chiroprator. Once these people draw you in they keep rebooking yr appointments before you know it your spending hundreds.

What about sports massage? They can feel where the problems are.

Could you get an MRI scan?