What Do You Think of Chiropractors?

What do you guys think or know about Chiropractors? Any chiropractors in the house? How can you be sure they’re telling you the truth?

The one suggestion I have would be to find a chiro that does ART as well. I have only been to one, but it was a very positive experience.

[quote]The Student wrote:
How can you be sure they’re telling you the truth?[/quote]

How can you be sure that any medical professional is telling the truth? (rhetorical question)

How can you be sure any professional is telling the truth? Chiropractors are just like any other professional - there are good ones and bad ones. I personally have found that ones with a sports medicine background have produced the best results. Finding ones that have treated collegiate to professional athletes is generally a good route to go. Ones with specialities in other manual therapies (ART, Graston, MET, etc) have a well rounded approach as well, but just because they have extra credentials or certs doesn’t mean they are automatically a good practitioner.

Chiropractic care is great, but isn’t the complete solution to the problem. After adjustments, the chiro should either put you through specific corrective exercises or walk you through some corrective exercises to be done on your own. Adjustments alone will not solve the problem.

Why are you looking to see a chiro?

I have one that does ART and he had a chiro friend who does Graston. I go to whichever one I think I need at the moment. They have done more for me that a regular doc. The regular MDs always want to treat the symptoms instead of finding the cause and alleviating that.

[quote]LevelHeaded wrote:
How can you be sure any professional is telling the truth? Chiropractors are just like any other professional - there are good ones and bad ones. I personally have found that ones with a sports medicine background have produced the best results.[/quote]

TRUE, TRUE, and TRUE.

I can say this because, well, I will BE a chiropractor a year from now! There are a lot of morons who do practically “spiritual” things in this profession, but you will seldom find that among sports DCs. Getting certified in ART or Graston are both expensive and timely endeavors, and not specific to chiropractic. Not always, but normall this is a good indicator that they are NOT going to be anti-medicine or full of crap. They normally want to work with the musculoskeletal system to optimize it, not just speak chiro-babble to people to scare them into continued care.

As with any medical profession, there are the complete kooks, and there are people who can change your life.

I have seen four different chiropractors over the last few years due to moving around. All have aided my lower back problems, however I have heard a fair bit of what a would call chiro-babble. None have ever advised I stop weight-training (until today), which in all honesty is probably not great advice but is guaranteed to keep them in business.

Currently I believe I have sciatia caused by a bulging disc, although this has not been formerly diagnosed via MRI, etc. I am still able to train around it but clearly the longer it goes on the more chance I have of long-term damage.

Today, since I am on holiday visiting home, I visited my old chiropractor. He advised for the first time giving up the iron for a while until it heals. At the same time he performed the usual lower back manipulations, which elicited major crunching sounds! I hope this may ease the pressure on the disc and aid recovery meantime.

My best friend is a Chiro, without him I’d be in trouble. He hooks me up with top of the line orthodicts, supps & all around outstanding care. If your in SW Fl. you should look him up. PM me.
AND, if your around Vero Beach, Fl. I have another good friend who is a GREAT Chiro.

His name is Steven Short. He’s the man, great athlete, surfer. One of the best athletes I’ve ever been around. 4.3 forty, 38 inch. standing vert, strong as an ox. He’s a great guy.

But you gotta do your homework, there’s good & bad with every profession. Find the right one and
you’ve got it made n’ the shade.

There are many flavours to chiro: one’s who crack the spine; ones who don’t - one’s who are also experienced athletes; ones who aren’t.

and as noted, ones who are great and ones who aren’t.

May i rephrase the question a little bit to ask about manual vs active approaches to pain and rehab and performance?

If the approach is always passive, there are potential weaknesses in rehab.
If the passive position worked is always on a table and you live standing up or sitting, there are potential weaknesses in the approach

With active approaches where you’re doing the work, there’s many ways this is neurologically and functionally more effective faster.

So i guess my question is less about good or bad chiros, but good or better models for care/performance

best
mc

As mentioned, great and horrendous, just like any other profession.

Be wary if they start trying to hard-sell you a pair of custom foot orthotics though. In Canada anyway this is where they make a lot of their money, and quite a few will literally put ANY patient into a pair.

[quote]PimpBot5000 wrote:
As mentioned, great and horrendous, just like any other profession.

Be wary if they start trying to hard-sell you a pair of custom foot orthotics though. In Canada anyway this is where they make a lot of their money, and quite a few will literally put ANY patient into a pair.[/quote]

I have seen this one in action in Canada and the US. It is a money maker for some, and often shows a lack of understanding of foot mechanics or lower body mechanics for others. It can be a great tool if you need it, but there are other steps to be taken far before it.

OP- have you been to one and are questioning what they told you, or is this just a question for future reference? In chiropractic there is quite a wide range, and as one, I have to echo the sentiments that other posters have mentioned- ART certified docs tend to be better than a chiro drawn out of a hat, but not always.

If there is a lot of talk of “the power that made the body heals the body,” other spiritual type talk, having you prepay for more than 10 visits or a major focus on “subluxations” then you might want to try to find another chiro. Very much a mixed bag, but so is anything, from MDs, to accountants, to financial advisors to restaurants.

[quote]Theface wrote:
If there is a lot of talk of “the power that made the body heals the body,” other spiritual type talk, having you prepay for more than 10 visits or a major focus on “subluxations” then you might want to try to find another chiro. Very much a mixed bag, but so is anything, from MDs, to accountants, to financial advisors to restaurants.[/quote]

Completely agree with this as one way to sort out the good & bad chiros. Some of the schools very much teach a business & philosophical model for their treatment, which tends to detract from the schools that use a scientific model. Hard one to discriminate really, and this a very real split in the profession of chiropractic worldwide.