Chiropractic - AMA

What questions do you have about Chiropractic? Chiropractors?

I've been in practice for about 2 years now. Ask away.

 

Where did you go to school?

 

California, in SF.

 

Life or Palmer? I want to apply for this spring but don’t like the idea of online/hybrid schooling

 

I'm a Life West guy. The hybrid thing is pretty awesome for the small town folks with a job for a DC or something going on as a lot of the first 6 quarters was basic science learn and regurgitate stuff. The anatomy labs are pretty cool with the digital tables they've got going, but having to commute to the campus a few times in a 10 week quarter can be logistically daunting.

 

two years is a bit short to stand up and represent IMO. but appreciate the enthusiasm. what's your practice: traditional/diversified, gonstead, etc? insurance work? wellness? do you have a focus yet?

 

Is chiropractic just another word for witchcraft?

and I’ve got a nephew with a back that needs to be cracked.. he’s 4 months old. Can you tell me how to do that?

 

Groovy, most chiropractors are unaware of what chiropractic is and aren't well instructed in the schools or continuing education programs.

I do diversified. My focus is education of EM, EMS and pre healthcare, going on about 20 years now.

 

Nope, it's a pair of greek words combined by the guy who came up with it all.

Not sure why a four month old's back would need to be "cracked". An infant would receive an atlas (top neck bone) adjustment or some gentle cranial work to counter plagiocephaly. After a series of checks you'd contact the outer most part of the bone and push with about as much force as you'd use touching the globe of your eye.

 

are you familiar with S.O.C. manipulation?

 

I'm not, are you referring to "Sacro Occipital Technique"?

 

yes.....it works great.not many chiropractors do it.

 

I’m a big fan of chiropractic care. I would be hooked on pain pills and would have resorted to several surgeries if it wasn’t for several awesome chiropractors (bad fall as a kid, mountain biking wreck after college). I’ve been going to my current guy for about 20 years (currently 2-3 x a month) and he’s a miracle worker.

 

i much prefer this to an MD prescribing a bunch of pills that make stomach & intestines bleed out the hole
insurance thinks otherwise
so i continue to suffer as i age

 

First - I'm a believer. Like everything there are some "Quacks" which give the (any) profession a bad reputation. But I've had good luck and go when I'm feeling "out".

But, to turn it around, what is the #1 misconception of Chiropractors you hear that is total BS? And what is your take on the YouTube celebrity Chiro's?

 

Been having lower back issues for some time now.
Went to a cracker earlier this year. I laid on a demcomp table while hooked to a shocker wide open for twenty minutes (the lady mentioned no one had ever done that before). Is it possible it did damage to my lumbar muscles? like fried some receptors or something, bc it seems as tho I've been experiencing spasms or something in the area ever since.

He mentioned I had a compressed disc, not sure how accurate his diagnoses was. Pretty sure there's a couple different things going.

 

The #1 misconception has to be chiropractic being a mechanical intervention for pain management/relief. While there is usually an immediate and often significant reduction in pain and increase in mechanical range of motion, the true impact of the chiropractic adjustment comes from the neurologic input and change that is a more progressive and generally slower process.

I'm not one to trust which has led me to appreciate YouTube as I can get an idea of an experience before heading out for the day. Kinda like the ingrown hair and blackhead extraction channels, there's a degree of educational value from seeing other folks go through the process with your doc and to seeing some of those miraculous adjustments captured on film; sensationalism of the cavitation (sound) fuels misconceptions. Many adjustments do not produce a sound like that, and many more involve adjuncts making mechanical noises you'll hear over any
cavitation sound.

Certain docs use a variety of non-chiropractic tools, mostly Physical Therapy equipment but some such as spinal decompression tables are featured frequently. One doc of note seems to do the same everything to every patient. If a doc is EVER doing the same thing time and time again, and the same thing for everyone, something isn't right. I'm a minimalist, get in and adjust what needs adjusting, having experienced adjustments with far too much input and the downsides thereof. We can always check someone again or wait a few hours after some movement and time if something else needs to be checked.

There are throngs of DC's on YouTube who are making videos where they only seem to have young athletic female patients in clingy sports ware. I feel showing more real folks and real relief, more testimonials from patients who have benefited from care both short and long term would be far more beneficial than a bunch of videos with some nut tucking a boom mic into a girl's armpit before (presumably) delivering a focused adjustment at a moment he is in tune with the patient.

 

I'm really sorry to hear you've got some back problems, and that they're unresolved (at present).

To answer your initial question, totally. Beyond that, we'd have to look at your orthopaedic history and how you "initially" and initially injured your back - as in what caused this flare up/episode, and was there something going on prior to this event.

I have a few things to say on all of the cool toys (see above post involving YouTube vids).

As far as the table and shocker (I presume to be an e-stim/TENS unit) - I'm not big on the decompression tables but know they have great results and benefit for a variety of disc and some facet (joints between the individual vertebra) problems. Decompression (long axis distraction) does not aways provide relief you'd expect. (side note) Certainly the traction table and stim were a lot of neurologic input to an area already in compromise (deviated from "normal" healthy function) which can further complicate things. More input and attention is not always the optimal course of care.

I'd be happy to help you find some resources and directions to explore if you'd like a DM. If you do have a compressed disc, there are a variety of options. I'd love to connect you with a Chiropractor in your area who is upstanding and practices Chiropractic.

Good luck man.

 

went to one once...they said I needed 24 sessions....
Got this instead....cured.

 

I go monthly. I've seen two and both had their own set of techniques. Each started with a focused method that seemed effective but seem to drift into lassiez faire, by-the-numbers visits over time. Perhaps it could be the adjustments were effective and I'm not so "out of whack" these days, so the adjustments do not seem as impactful. I always "felt" different after leaving my first chiropractor's office, like my body was recalibrating. My current one crackles and pops me, gives me some recommendations, and sends me on my way. From time to time he'll hit some scar tissue with a laser wand. I *really* enjoy the clicker tool.