OT: opinions of chiropractic treatment?

[glamgal]

I think that chiropractic might be able to offer you some relief. If you feel anxious about informing your chiropractor that you want minimal sessions because you feel they want you to come in on a regular basis, then it might be time to find a new chiropractor. I, too, have felt pressured to sign onto some sort of 'treatment plan' by a few chiropractors in my past. Luckily, my chiropractor now is nothing like that and I only go in to see him when I need to, which is about once or twice every few months.

For me, my issue was a rib that was popping out of place. It started out as a general soreness in one particular place in my back and, over the course of about a month or two or three, it became a constant pain which was sometimes sharp and was exaggerated by breathing (i.e. I would feel a twinge sometimes on deep breaths). When I first went in, I believe I was going 2 - 3 times per week. I maintained this schedule for 3 weeks before I finally told him that I wasn't making any progress and the at-home exercises were not working (because I wasn't doing them...however, we also worked on the exercises in his office, too, so it wasn't like I was doing absolutely nothing). I am lucky enough that my chiropractor has a massage therapist on duty in his office. Within a week of doing the manual adjustments from chiro + massage from therapist, my rib was staying in place. Now it only pops out once every six months or so. In my opinion, the massage really helped those muscles to start keeping that rib in place.

Regarding your questions, if you are not opposed to manual manipulation adjustments, I would encourage you to ask for those. I, too, never get any relief from the 'adjustment gun.' However, I know some people who do prefer that type of adjustment, so it just depends on what you are comfortable with. Also, I would strongly urge you to consider massage therapy right after your adjustment. It really helped in my case.

As far as the possibility of receiving adequate treatment in just 1 - 2 sessions, it just depends on the severity of your issue. However, I would think that you would at least need to try 3 sessions within a week and see if that helps you. If not, maybe 1 - 2 more sessions the next week and then see where you are with your pain level. With my situation, as I mentioned earlier, it took me 3 weeks with no progress and only 1 week once I added the massage therapy to the adjustments.

Hope that helps!

ETA: If you are concerned about time spent in the office, you might let your chiropractor know that you prefer to do heat/ice combo at home as opposed to in the office. Everything costs money and that just adds to the time you are in the office + money to your total bill. As long as you are good about treating the area with alternating heat and cold at home in the evenings, you should be able to skip this process in the office.

[Annie S.]

Beth, you sound like me several years ago. Except mine was in my left shoulder. A massage therapist cured me literally instantly! She did something with my left shoulder blade, and the nagging ache (which I had been putting up with for probably a year or two) completely went away. You might want to try massage first. I think it would be less expensive, plus it's a great treat for yourself.

[ellaenchanted]

I think chiropractors can be good if they offer relief. But, I would never, ever get a neck adjustment. It is not worth the very real risk of injury or stroke. FIL's coworker had this happen and was in intensive care for a week.

[Juli]

Beth - I used to get the same pain all the time. I would go in for a neck adjustment about every 6 weeks and then be fine for a while. I haven't been back to the chiro for almost 2 years now. Once I started sleeping on my back (due to my back injury) the pain has gone away. If for some reason I feel a little tightness in the same spot I make sure I lay on my back while going to sleep and it's usually gone the next morning. It's really hard to learn to sleep that way but the relief is worth it to me. Hope this helps!!

[cdayley]

Beth, I no longer go for regular chiropractic treatment. Once my injury was manageable, I started going only when I need to go. I go maybe twice a year now. I go for massage therapy all the time, though.

Chrys Dayley

[Peggy T]

I had debilitating SI joint pain despite 8 months of PT. My chiropractor fixed me in 3 visits. I always thought they were quacks, but I am a true believer now!!

[toaster]

Thank you so much for all of the great replies!

Jennifer, it's not that I didn't find my chiropractor to be approachable. She never pressured me to come in before, and she was fine with giving me exercises that I could do at home. I guess that I just don't want to come across as cheap! I also don't want to pay money for 1-2 sessions if it's not going to do anything.

Part of the problem I've had with going to both a chiropractor and PT in the past is that although it has felt nice at the time, I have never had the wonderful, immediate effects that some people describe, so I have never really been sure if it was "working" or not. That is part of the reason that I am reluctant to go back. (And I did go to PT a bit more ongoing; in the fall of 2008, I believe I went every other week for about 8 weeks while also doing daily exercises on my own.)

Annie, that is very interesting about the massage! The last time I had a massage was last summer. At the time, I was going through some low back issues for the first time ever--I must have tweaked it through exercise. Anyway, the pain was bad enough that I had trouble sleeping, as I could feel it when I rolled over in bed at night! (My current issue isn't as bad; it's more of a nagging discomfort than a sharp pain.) Anyway, I did a lot of yoga/stretching designed for the low back, but I also did a 1/2 hour massage with a local massage therapist who is also a yoga teacher. I didn't have immediate relief, but my back was better shortly after that. I just sent her a message on Facebook telling her about my current problem and asking what she would recommend.

Juli, I am not sure if I could become a back sleeper. In the past, I have actually seemed to get nightmares when on my back--kind of an odd thing, I know. But more practically, DH reports that I snore if I am on my back, so I'm not sure if that is the solution. However, I do think that sometimes I lie towards DH and overstretch my shoulder, so I am trying to be more aware of that.

Chrys, I would love to go for massage therapy all the time! It's just not in the budget right now though...

Peg, wow, that is great to know. What kind of treatment did your chiro perform?

[Peggy T]

He popped my SI joint back into place!

[GMonkey]

Originally Posted by toaster

Hi all--I posted in this thread several months ago. I am considering returning to the chiropractor I saw several years ago, but I wanted to get some advice first from those of you who use chiropractors more regularly in order to make sure I get the most effective treatment.

My problem is that for the past month or so, I have had a nagging soreness focused mainly in the back of my right shoulder blade that will just not go away. Sometimes it's better, and sometimes it's worse, traveling up into the top of my shoulder and neck. I have done all kinds of self-therapy, from yoga to various stretching to self-massage/acu-pressure (using both Jill's Yoga Tune-Up balls & foam rolling). These things often make it feel better for awhile, but nothing lasts. Finally, I'm not exactly sure what caused the issue; I thought maybe that it was computer mouse use, but I'm not using the computer any more often than usual, and it's never been this bad before.

So, here are some questions I have about going in for a chiropractor visit:

1. Is there anything in particular that I should be sure to tell her?
2. Along the same lines, is there a certain type of treatment that I should ask for? From what I remember from past treatment (it was awhile ago!), I think she usually started by applying heat to my back for a bit, then using something that made a series of little clicking sounds when she pressed it against my back (to be honest, I never felt anything from that), then doing a few manual manipulations.
3. Finally, is it possible to get adequate treatment from just 1-2 sessions? My main reluctance in going is that there will be this expectation that I need to come multiple times in order to be treated, which is just more time/money than I can afford. When I went before, I told my doctor up front that I wanted to mainly work on exercises at home, and she was really good about that, but I still felt guilty. I don't want to make it sound like I am expecting a single-session cure or anything like that.

Thanks for any help you all can give me. I'm really uncertain as to whether I should do anything at this point; I keep hoping that the problem will go away on its own. I also never know how to make a decision amongst the various alternative treatment options out there--i.e., should I just get a massage instead? Should I go back to physical therapy? (I did PT a couple of years ago for a similar issue, although it was more the top of my shoulder/neck. Again, I have similar concerns about the time/money issue, plus that would need a doctor's referral.)

Thank you in advance for the feedback!

Have you considered going to a DO? Some of the older ones still do manipulation, and then you don't have to worry about the referral, etc. Also, if it's an issue that needs medical attention, you're already right there.

My ex's father is an old-time D.O. and he definitely fixed my issues in one session. I was getting pain from getting my then toddler in and out of her car seat and the like, so I kept re-aggravating the issue, but I think that, yeah once can do it.

Kind of a whacky story about spinal manipulation and kids: I don't know how I feel about having babies get manipulations, but my daughter was very colicky and difficult for the first 2 months. Once, when I was picking her up and thought that I had a good grip on her, she was thrashing around so much that I almost dropped her, but I had her supported on her spine and her movement caused her vertebrae to crack the whole way up her spine, much like a chiropractor's adjustment and she instantly stopped crying. I was so scared and I thought that I had accidentally paralyzed her, but she was moving around and responded to tickling, etc. Anyway--she wasn't colicky again and started sleeping through the night after that.

[toaster]

GMonkey, thanks for the suggestion. I assume that if I went to a D.O., it would replace my PCP, and I really like my PCP. Otherwise, I don't think there is any way that it would be covered by my insurance...

I did get a message back from the massage therapist. She suggested that I might have "adhesions" in the shoulder that may have actually been worsened by both the computer and yoga. She also said that she has had good luck with just 1/2 hour massage (even though I said I would go for an hour if needed) and that she could give me some preventative tips for my yoga practice). So, now I am leaning towards trying to schedule a 1/2 massage with her next week and see how that goes; the time commitment/cost would be about the same as going to see the chiropractor.

However, if anyone has any additional suggestions/comments, I am still interested!