Yeah, the whole "let me crack your back and neck, and give you a quick massage with my $500 dollar massager" is pretty lame. The chiropractor I go to is a sports therapist, and while he does a pretty good job at recommending what you should do to fix it. Which is what a chiropractor should. Find the problem, and help fix the problem.
I usually find for most people, a massage therapist is better for relief, even if it tends to hurt more. Especially one that is good at it.
There are widely documented cases of chiropractors doing neck manipulations and seriously hurting someone. That is why I refuse to let them touch my neck area. Besides, I can fix most of my problems on my own.
After fracturing my sternum two years ago and constantly going to a chiropractor for help, and he never did a damn thing, I'm of the opinion that if its a muscle problem, I can fix it on my own.
What exactly is a chiropractor supposed to do? Release pressure? How is that supposed to help? At least with a massage therapist they massage your muscles to help increase blood flood to the 'sore' areas, so that the good blood cells can come in and rebuild the broken down muscle tissue. That is why most athletes get massages right after a sporting event. It is also why they take cold showers or sit in tubs full of ice water. When your body temperature drops, your body naturally tries to save the essentials organs, most notably your heart. So that is where most of your blood goes. Get out of the tub full of ice and into a hot shower, and all the blood goes rushing away from your heart to the other parts of your body. There is no 'science' behind it, but I've felt noticeable relief doing it. Better than paying a chiropractor $50 every single time because he makes you feel better.
You can also get massage mats that have little rollers in them that move around. Sit on one of them for 20 min, and it'll kill your back. Especially if you put pressure on. Hell, by a lacrosse ball, and roll around on it for 15 min every single morning. It'll help release the myocardial tissue and increase blood flood to 'sore' areas. A foam roller is also a good idea. Most of them run $50, and from experience they are worth every single penny. Even if you have to buy a new one every year. Yoga is also great. Sounds feminine, I know but it can really help increase flexibility and make you more mobile. If you have hamstring and hip flexor problems, which the majority of people do considering MOST of us sit around all day, your back tends to pick up the slack and usually over compensates, and guess what is sore at the end of the day?
Hell, start lifting some weights to strengthen your back muscles. You don't need to go big. But strengthening the stabilizer muscles that support your body all day will is a huge benefit to someone who has back problems.
Will a chiropractor tell you any of this? The one I went to for years said that weight lifting is the REASON people come to him. What a load of crap that is. Obviously if you do it wrong you'll only hurt yourself. If you do anything wrong it'll turn out crappy. But if you do it right, you won't need to see another chiropractor for the rest of your life, and that is something that he obviously doesn't want to see happen.
To me, they are borderline a farce. The ones that are good are usually sports therapists, or just physical therapists in the first place, and help recommend exercises to strengthen your problem areas. Anyone that has had re constructive knee surgery knows how important it is to do the exercises that your physical therapist recommends. I know Jiri has talked about this before when he had his knee surgery done. They give you a program to follow, and you follow it in order to get better. Nothing about popping this out, and this in, get this a good wretch, push here, squeeze there....and boom, come back next week and you'll feel better for sure.
If your chiropractor does that, go somewhere else.
There are three reasons to see a 'therapist' IMO.
One, you are an athlete, and need help with constant soreness that comes with the job.
Two, you have major surgery done, like repairing the ol' ACL, and need to rebuild your strength.
And three, you have 'problem' areas that need to be addressed. Usually the result of flexibility issues. Therapist gives you program to follow, you follow and fix it. A good massage can also help.
If those 3 don't apply to you, the chiropractor is just ripping you off. And I know that probably covers everyone, but if you need to know the difference between soreness and 'pain.' If you have pain, you need to get checked out by a real doctor. If you're ALWAYS sore, you need to stretch more and do mobility exercises. The chiropractor won't help.
As you can tell, I've dealt with a lot throughout the years.
/rant.
Chiropractors (any success from CP'ers?)
), called her son and explained symptoms and suggested he come pick her up. The son (not a Dr.) suggested he call 911 and get an ambulance. I'm not sure she's recovered fully and that was likely 5+ years ago.
