did a stupid thing

irishh_bob

hard to believe how naieve i could have been but i genuinly thought a chiropractor was a recognised medical practice

i had an accident three years ago and have suffered from chronic pain ever since , have had a few nerve blocks which didnt work and of late have been seeing a consultant who is proposing i have a spinal cord stimulator fitted , i should mention that my pain is in my rib area , not the back ( although my back is occasionally sore too )

anyway , i have a neighbour who is always banging on about this chiropractor he sees on a regular basis , he is aware of my problem and has been advising me to see this guy for a long time , i never get it any thought and kept reminding him that my problem was not with my back , three weeks ago i went on holiday to scotland and cumbria for a short break , one night while staying in a B +B , i bumped into a couple from london ( who were stayin there ) and the conversation turned to my chronic pain problem , turned out the wife was a chiropractor and within a short time had persuaded me to make a booking with a chiropractor when i got back to ireland , when i returned home , i rang my neighbour and got details of the guy he regulary sees , phoned up the guys ( surgery ) and made an appointment for a few days later , when i arrived at the surgery i was asked to provide infor re my accident , after that the chiro walked out and asked me to walk ahead of him into room down the hall , he had read my file and within a minute , he informed me that my spin was crooked and that he had come to this conclusion by having observed me walking ahead of him into his surgery , he went on to explain that my nerve problems were caused by a twisted spine and that he was certain he would be able to fix me , he was one of the most charismatic people ive ever met , a super cool , confident salesman who made me feel i was signing up for the right deal for me

having suffered for three years with no relief , i felt hugely optimistic for the 1st time in a long time , he then asked me to lie down on a leather coated like bench and proceeded to push down on my back aswell as asking me to raise my leg every so often , anyway , this happened repeatedly for the next few sessions untill yesterday when he pressed down extremley hard on my back , i litterally heard a loud crack and felt a weird sensation throughout my body , he then asked me to get up and told me the session was over untill the next day , i drove home and since then , my back has been killing me , the top of my back ( below the neck ) is stiff and sore , this part of my back has never been sore before , my lower back has been sore at times since my accident but never anywhere above the mid section

last night i spent three hours looking up info on chiropractors , i was shocked by what i read , i had no idea that it was an alternative medicine , that it has no basis in science , research has shown that thier is as much evidence of it doing harm as thier is of it benefiting people , as i said at the begining of my post , i genuinley ( goose that i am ) thought theese people were legitimite medical practionioners like othopedics or physios , i had no idea that thier is no governing body who regulate them or that they provide no insurance in the event that things go wrong , it was only afterwards that i realised the whole cock and bull story id been fed by this smooth talking chancer , how could someone conclude that a persons spine was twisted by merley walking behind them down a corridor , the guy never even saw an xray of my back and those who have xrayed me in the past have never once commented on the straightness of my back , in hindsight , it was all so clear what a crock of **** i had been told

im now seriously concerned that this chancer has done irreperable damage to my back and am unsure as to what steps to take , im not btw looking for advice but i would like to hear from people who have had their back cracked by physios and who were in a lot of pain for days after

5live

I have discs out in my back(3) and neck(2). I go to a chiropracter about every 6 weeks to, i suppose, get them realigned. If i dont go regularly then one will slip and i will be barely able to work. Something as small as pulling a chair out from the table can cause a spasm and i am toast. If i dont go i might be ok for 6 months then ,bang, im gone. Sorry that it didnt work for you but there is huge variation in ability of chiros as i wont go if the woman who usually does it isnt there. Did you consider a different chiro or possibly a physio? Most problems can take a good while to sort if it has been there a while

irishh_bob

5live wrote: »

I have discs out in my back(3) and neck(2). I go to a chiropracter about every 6 weeks to, i suppose, get them realigned. If i dont go regularly then one will slip and i will be barely able to work. Something as small as pulling a chair out from the table can cause a spasm and i am toast. If i dont go i might be ok for 6 months then ,bang, im gone. Sorry that it didnt work for you but there is huge variation in ability of chiros as i wont go if the woman who usually does it isnt there. Did you consider a different chiro or possibly a physio? Most problems can take a good while to sort if it has been there a while

let me guess , the chiro told you it will take time to fix your back , also , how can you be sure the chiro is not the cause of your problems

Tabnabs

I spent hundreds at a chiropractor trying to get my back sorted. It was only ever short term relief. I finally saw sense and saw a physiotherapist for 3/4 sessions (physio and acupuncture in tandem and no-one was more sceptical that me about that one) and have had no problems since. Chiropractors are excellent salesmen as you say and convince you they are the answer to all your prayers. Sadly it's never so easy.

newmug

Hi Irishbob. Sorry to hear about your situation. I can never understand how these people get away with it. Where is the HSE or the guards when it comes to conmen like these? Every little thing like this should be governed, at least to the point where you have to display a license or qualification, especially when it comes to health. If you set up a feckin tea stand you have to have hygene certs, follow H&S rules etc. All this "alternative" medicine crap should be banned.

NUTLEY BOY

In short, I sugest that you start again from scratch with a conventional ( i.e. properly qualified) medical doctor and follow it from there. There are various options for treatment and management of these problems.

I am not a medic. I have a lumbar disc problem. On the basis of what you say I think that you have probably not been hurt in a permanent way !! Please go see a proper doctor.

In general, I avoid "alternatives" like plague as there are good ones and some very bad ones but it is so hard to distinguish them.

irishh_bob

NUTLEY BOY wrote: »

In short, I sugest that you start again from scratch with a conventional ( i.e. properly qualified) medical doctor and follow it from there. There are various options for treatment and management of these problems.

I am not a medic. I have a lumbar disc problem. On the basis of what you say I think that you have probably not been hurt in a permanent way !! Please go see a proper doctor.

In general, I avoid "alternatives" like plague as there are good ones and some very bad ones but it is so hard to distinguish them.

pain is that bad today that im not able to go out tonite , i look like the fcuking hunchback , all stooped and extremley uncomfortable , had to drop into my local chemist today for an inhaler and the pharmicist told me that chiros often damage peoples backs so as the patient needs to make return visits , she reckons i may have to go back to him now in order to ( litterally ) snap it back in proper place , sounds obscene but i think she may be right as looking back , the chiro said to me yesterday , thier will be more cracks :eek:

SparrowTown

irishh_bob wrote: »

pain is that bad today that im not able to go out tonite , i look like the fcuking hunchback , all stooped and extremley uncomfortable , had to drop into my local chemist today for an inhaler and the pharmicist told me that chiros often damage peoples backs so as the patient needs to make return visits , she reckons i may have to go back to him now in order to ( litterally ) snap it back in proper place , sounds obscene but i think she may be right as looking back , the chiro said to me yesterday , thier will be more cracks :eek:

can you put some links as to what you read. i did a search and found contradictions. don't want to scare you but there are reports of deaths being caused but as one link said they would claim it is less than deaths caused by 'ordinary' medicine.

Friend of mine had neuromuscular therapy but not sure if that is related to chiro. it helped him for a while but the pain came back. at first it was "i'll cure you in six sessions" then it became "maybe you need a top up session now and then"

Note i am not involved with this or recommending it

irishh_bob

SparrowTown wrote: »

can you put some links as to what you read. i did a search and found contradictions. don't want to scare you but there are reports of deaths being caused but as one link said they would claim it is less than deaths caused by 'ordinary' medicine.

Friend of mine had neuromuscular therapy but not sure if that is related to chiro. it helped him for a while but the pain came back. at first it was "i'll cure you in six sessions" then it became "maybe you need a top up session now and then"

Note i am not involved with this or recommending it

unfortunatley the web pages i read have been delted , a lot of the opinion i did read were from boards .ie , many going back nearly five years , when you read dozens and dozens of different posters experiences , i think you,ve spread the risk of being taken in by people with agendas

Nozebleed

i too wasted a few hundred visiting a chiropractor...a scam artist who kept re-aligning my back week after week to correct a hip/sciatica problem...after €800 or so i realised he was a bull****ter..telling me it will take time but will eventually be fine...so i went to the physio who confirmed the problem was down to muscle tissue/tightness and this had pulled my hip out of position, he had it sorted the problem within a few sessions..heavy streching and deep massage treatment.

i'll never go to a chiropractor again..nor will i advise anyone to attend.

Onthe3rdDay

If I were you I'd ignore most opinions on boards one way or another, That includes mine if you wish. Too many hidden agendas and too many posting on one side of the argument or the other.

My experience for what it's worth is that I've had a bad back for 20 years, Unable to walk at times, Generally given the run around by both some in the conventional medical field and in the alternative.

When I was in America I was told by a chiropractor to come in twice a week for a year and the problem might be eventually solved. Came back to Ireland and went to a chiropractor that was recommended by someone I know and the problem was resolved after a few weeks.

Talk to people you actually know and see if anyone has any recommendations. At least you'll be fairly certain they have your best interests at heart.

irishh_bob

Onthe3rdDay wrote: »

If I were you I'd ignore most opinions on boards one way or another, That includes mine if you wish. Too many hidden agendas and too many posting on one side of the argument or the other.

My experience for what it's worth is that I've had a bad back for 20 years, Unable to walk at times, Generally given the run around by both some in the conventional medical field and in the alternative.

When I was in America I was told by a chiropractor to come in twice a week for a year and the problem might be eventually solved. Came back to Ireland and went to a chiropractor that was recommended by someone I know and the problem was resolved after a few weeks.

Talk to people you actually know and see if anyone has any recommendations. At least you'll be fairly certain they have your best interests at heart.

the guy im seeing was recomended to me by people who,s judgement i would have valued , the problem though is , theese people seem to genuinly believe that chiropractors are legitimite physicians , they are commonly known as back doctors , they are in many ways a respected ( profession ) which is very worrying as the practice of chiropractic is without any basis in science

even those who swear they are getting relief ( from some chiros ) are most likely signing up to short term relief at the expense of long term problems , i understand from what ive read on the subject that twisting someones spine can indeed alter the nervous system and since the root of many peoples pain stems from an irregularity in the nervous system , such crude manouveres , often produce noticable imediete results , i cant explain it but thier is a notible reduction in pain in the original area i got injured , how long this will last is another thing , perhaps the chiro by twisting and pressing the back , did indeed produce a reaction which provided relief in this area , unfortunatley it appears that when one problem was sorted , another was created , a case of shifting the problem from one area to another , i know im not terribley articulate at explaining my situation but from what ive read ( both profesional and personal opinions ) on the subject , it seems chiropactic is a highly vague and non specific means of tackling problems which are focused in one of the most important areas of the body , to me the idea of pulling a few levers here and there in order to tackle a problem elsewhere seems highly experimental and very close to wreckless

5live

irishh_bob wrote: »

let me guess , the chiro told you it will take time to fix your back , also , how can you be sure the chiro is not the cause of your problems

Well irish bob the fact i could barely walk in the door of the office to see her was probably an indication;). If you had a pain along one side of your back and all down your leg and your job involved walking most of the day, I think your would stay with something that took the pain straight away and kept it away for a long time. Im not saying it is thebe all and end all of solutions, just that it works for me. Just wish it lasted longer between visits