Ice or Heat

[Buff]

My wife is a physical therapist. She has described it to me in the past the difference between Physios and chiros. I'll have to ask her again to properly explain it here, but knowing how forgetful I am, I'll take a crack at explaining it now and come back later if I remember to ask her.

You see a chiropractor as a "quick fix" to relieve the pain. You have to keep going back because they don't really give you a long term fix for your ailment. Sometimes a quick fix is all a person needs and they don't have to go back.

You see a physical therapist because they work on getting you better so they don't have to see you again once the treatment is over. A treatment usually consists of more than one visit because you can't and shouldn't expect to have one visit completely fix you. Either the treatment works and you don't need to go back unless you reinjure yourself, you have an injury that will never 100% heal, or you need different type of treatment from either the same, or a different physio.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Rerun

Anybody who thinks chiropractors are quacks (I used to think that once too) has obviously never had an serious back pain.

In my case, you're incorrect.

[OilersBaby]

Thanks for all of the information everyone. Since I have a massage therapist Im friends with that works in my building, Ive been seeing her every other day for the past week (and the best part is that it's free since we work for the same organization) but I figured I needed something more than an hour massage. So I really appreciate all of your responses.

From what y'all said, it sounds like I should be icing it for now and then should go see a chiropracter for immediate relief and stretch/PT for long term relief, plus take yoga classes. Sounds good...well I just enrolled in a yoga class at my work (I work for a Wellness Center) that is twice a week, and I will stretch more.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by OilersBaby

Thanks for all of the information everyone. Since I have a massage therapist Im friends with that works in my building, Ive been seeing her every other day for the past week (and the best part is that it's free since we work for the same organization) but I figured I needed something more than an hour massage. So I really appreciate all of your responses.

From what y'all said, it sounds like I should be icing it for now and then should go see a chiropracter for immediate relief and stretch/PT for long term relief, plus take yoga classes. Sounds good...well I just enrolled in a yoga class at my work (I work for a Wellness Center) that is twice a week, and I will stretch more.

Don't see a chiro and a physio at the same time. Not that I needed to tell you because they'll tell you as well. Something to do with liability or their insurance or something like that. My wife has told me that she had to stop treating somebody because they were getting treatment from another source for the same injury.

[OilersBaby]

Originally Posted by Buff

Don't see a chiro and a physio at the same time. Not that I needed to tell you because they'll tell you as well. Something to do with liability or their insurance or something like that. My wife has told me that she had to stop treating somebody because they were getting treatment from another source for the same injury.

Oh I had NO idea that was the case, thanks for the info! I guess Ill see the chiro first so it stops hurting short term and then make a PT appt after that. Gracias!

[Tower]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

When my back hurts I don't use heat or cold. I try to just keep my back straight. Stand up straight or sit up straight.

Chiropractors are a farce.

While you generally seem intelligent you have to know how off base this entire statement is... Don't believe in them, fine. However to outright call them a farce is below you.

To say some are out right idiots - hell yes. I've met some. But I've met many idiots in all types of health practitioners. We need to celebrate all the great practitioners out there and not focus on the negative.

[Buff]

I would skip the chiro and just go see the physio. Physical therapists also have methods to help treat pain. Goes part and parcel with the whole getting you better routine.

[Titan]

Don't mean to get into it with Buff but there is a lot of disparity between Chiros and Physios and what they do. To be clear they are complementary. My wife works at a place with physios and athletic therapists. There has been a lot of misinformation about chiros spread by MDs and Physios as they are either not aware of what the education and scope of practice of chiros are or they are concerned about intrusion on their "turf".

A Chiro has 8 years of post seconday education and is licenced as a primary care giver. This means they are qualified to provide diagnosis. A physio generally has a 4 year degree. It is never a good idea to go to one or the other without telling the other that you are being treated elsewhere. Whoever is treating you needs to know all of the relevant info, including other treatments you are receiving. A chiro does not provide a "quick fix". They diagnose the problem and set a course of treatment to cure the problem. This can include modalities and stretching, not unlike what a physio will provide. Sometimes, they can provide a large degree of immediate relief for some things. For example I find if I have a headache coming on and my wife treats me it usually goes away. However, often treatment will include several sessions or differing treatments, not unlike what happens at a physio.

My advice would be to go to the chiro, have the problem diagnosed and then decide on the proper course of treatment, which may in fact include a referral to a physio.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Tower

While you generally seem intelligent you have to know how off base this entire statement is... Don't believe in them, fine. However to outright call them a farce is below you.

To say some are out right idiots - hell yes. I've met some. But I've met many idiots in all types of health practitioners. We need to celebrate all the great practitioners out there and not focus on the negative.

Fair enough, I apologize if it came across as too harsh.

[Buff]

Physios need a degree in a related field before they get accepted into the Phyiscal Therapy program. Which is 25-28 months long.

[Titan]

Originally Posted by Buff

Physios need a degree in a related field before they get accepted into the Phyiscal Therapy program. Which is 25-28 months long.

I did not know that. My wife's best friend is a physio and she got in right out of high school and did a 4 year degree at the U of A. This was about 10 years ago though. Obviously things have changed. Thanks.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

When my back hurts I don't use heat or cold. I try to just keep my back straight. Stand up straight or sit up straight.

Chiropractors are a farce.

Not if you get a good one. As some others have stated, the key is getting a good one who gives you stretches/exercises to help your back out.

[cyclone3483]

Some Chiropractors ARE a farce, but you just have to sit in their waiting room long enough to figure out whether they are a good one or not. If you have to wait a good long time, that's a good chiropractor because they are taking the time with each patient that they need. If you were the pateint in the room, would you want the doc to rush through or give you the time you need for good treatment? It's a small price to pay to wait for good treatment.

My wife worked for a chiropractor that insisted on getting people in, treated, and out, all in 6 minutes. Hmmm, was he giving good service? Was he really treating the patient or trying to get rich? He had two brothers and a wife, all chriopractors, all doing the same thing.

When you find a chiropractor who is willing to spend more time, they can do a great service for what ails you. I've had a couple. Better yet if you can find one that also does ART (Active Release Technique). It works on the muscles to support the skeletal re-alignments they do. Painful, but VERY effective.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by cyclone3483

Better yet if you can find one that also does ART (Active Release Technique). It works on the muscles to support the skeletal re-alignments they do. Painful, but VERY effective.

I don't know what ART is, but....

My wife went a couple of times to the same chiropractor I use. She was having problems with lower back pain and the muscles there. She was all knotted up. He got in there with his fingers and really dug to separate the muscles and get the knots out.

Needless to say, what he did was quite painful and she ended up crying. She refuses to go back to him.

[Titan]

Originally Posted by Rerun

I don't know what ART is, but....

My wife went a couple of times to the same chiropractor I use. She was having problems with lower back pain and the muscles there. She was all knotted up. He got in there with his fingers and really dug to separate the muscles and get the knots out.

Needless to say, what he did was quite painful and she ended up crying. She refuses to go back to him.

I think this exemplifies the difference between a good chiro and a less good one. Clearly your wife did not understand and consent to the treatment and a less invasive method should have been used. This is likely a matter of an overly aggressive treatment without the necessary communication. It is too bad to hear stories like this.

[troutman]

I'm generally quite skeptical of Chiro:

http://www.chirobase.org/

http://www.chirobase.org/01General/controversy.html

Although it has existed for nearly 100 years, the chiropractic health-care system has failed to meet the most fundamental standards applied to medical practices: to clearly define itself and to establish a science-based scope of practice. More disturbing is the fact that chiropractic has made no contribution to the worldwide body of knowledge shared by the health sciences and continues to isolate itself from the mainstream of the health-care community.

http://www.chirobase.org/01General/skeptic.html

Chiropractic is the most significant nonscientific health-care delivery system in the United States. As a result of their high level of organization and aggressiveness, chiropractors are licensed to practice in all 50 states and several foreign countries. Although a minority of chiropractors offer rational treatment, chiropractic's cultism is so well entrenched that the profession should be viewed as a societal problem, not simply as a competitor of regular health-care.

Spinal manipulation can be useful, but chiropractic's theoretical basis rests largely on a strange and never-demonstrated notion of "subluxations."

In the final analysis, the validity of chiropractic is not a medical controversy as much as one of the basic biological sciences. Medicare reimburses chiropractors with millions of taxpayers' dollars each year for removing "subluxations" allegedly demonstrated by X-rays. Basic biological scientists have a public duty to objectively test a theory as radical as chiropractic's to determine whether it is valid. The failure to require scientific validation of an entire healthcare delivery system provides a disturbing precedent for other nonscientific systems to lay claim to the public purse. Chiropractic and other nonscientific forms of health care will survive until the public demands that scientific justification become a primary qualification for legalization and reimbursement.

[cyclone3483]

Originally Posted by Rerun

I don't know what ART is, but....

My wife went a couple of times to the same chiropractor I use. She was having problems with lower back pain and the muscles there. She was all knotted up. He got in there with his fingers and really dug to separate the muscles and get the knots out.

Needless to say, what he did was quite painful and she ended up crying. She refuses to go back to him.

ART consists of the practitioner putting pressure on the sore spot while having the patient move their arm (or leg or...whatever) through a range of motion. As they move, the practitioner slides their thumb or hand along the muscle affected.

It hurts, no doubt. But it works...with the right practitioner. If your wife just hurt and felt no better, then I would stay away too.

[Titan]

Originally Posted by troutman

I'm generally quite skeptical of Chiro:

These are extremely biased sites. They take potshots and rely on anectdotes. They are run by people that have a personal agenda.

Surely you would review the evidence presented by both sides before coming to a decision, right?

There have been many international studies that demonstrate the effectiveness and cost efficiency of Chiro.

http://www.ccachiro.org/Client/cca/c...s?OpenDocument

http://www.nptf.ualberta.ca/ Notice the panel on the left of this page.

The executive summary of the actual report: http://www.spinejournal.org/pt/re/sp...&nav=reference

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Titan

These are extremely biased sites. They take potshots and rely on anectdotes. They are run by people that have a personal agenda.

Surely you would review the evidence presented by both sides before coming to a decision, right?

There have been many international studies that demonstrate the effectiveness and cost efficiency of Chiro.

http://www.ccachiro.org/Client/cca/c...s?OpenDocument

http://www.nptf.ualberta.ca/ Notice the panel on the left of this page.

The executive summary of the actual report: http://www.spinejournal.org/pt/re/sp...&nav=reference

And you are not biased?

Tell me - what would be the "personal agenda" of Chirobase?

Isn't the information on Chirobase unbalanced?

The key consideration should be whether the information is accurate, which it is. We provide many links to chiropractic Web sites to enable browsers to explore the full range of prochiropractic viewpoints. We also invite individual chiropractors to furnish comments that we can post. If you would like to suggest additional sites to which we should link, please notify us.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiropractor

Opinions differ as to the efficacy of chiropractic treatment; many other medical procedures also lack rigorous proof of effectiveness.[13] Many controlled clinical studies of spinal manipulation (SM) are available, but their results disagree,[85] and they are typically of low quality.[86] Health claims made by chiropractors about using manipulation for pediatric health conditions are supported by only low levels of scientific evidence.[87] A 2008 critical review found that with the possible exception of back pain, chiropractic SM has not been shown to be effective for any medical condition, and suggested that many guidelines recommend chiropractic care for low back pain because no therapy has been shown to make a real difference,[88] but a 2008 supportive review found serious flaws in the critical approach and found that SM and mobilization are at least as effective for chronic low back pain as other efficacious and commonly used treatments.[89] Most research has focused on spinal manipulation (SM) in general,[90] rather than solely on chiropractic SM.[12] A 2002 review of randomized clinical trials of SM[35] was criticized for not distinguishing between studies of SM in general, and studies on chiropractic SM in particular;[91] however the review's authors stated that they did not consider this difference to be a significant point as research on SM is equally useful regardless of which practitioner provides it.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by Titan

I did not know that. My wife's best friend is a physio and she got in right out of high school and did a 4 year degree at the U of A. This was about 10 years ago though. Obviously things have changed. Thanks.

When my wife got into physio it was an incredibly hard program to get into. They accepted 66 applicants each year. In her class only 3 or 4 were accepted right out of high school, and those seemed to be the average numbers each year. My wife actually is one year away from an undergrad degree because it took her three tries to get accepted, which is common. There were many in her class who weren't accepted before having completed undergrad degrees. It is (was) a hard program, I think just under 60 people in her class graduated.

They changed the program after my wife got in, I can't remember if it was the year after she got in or the year before she graduated. Kinda curious now. When do you know when your wife's friend graduated (or got into school)?

Interesting tidbit.... My wife's 1st roommate at U of A was also taking Physical Therapy (two years ahead of my wife), she was in the same class as Jarome Iginla's wife (girlfriend at the time).