Discussion
Hi.
I'm 29 (30 tomorrow eek!) always been tough on my body with sport etc. Had bad neck and back for as long as I can remember. Usually use sports massage or the Physio from local hospital runs night sessions.
Rightly or wrongly I have always been able to self adjust my neck and back which involves lots of cracking noises.
Back locked up one one side a few weeks back, couldn't sort it myself. Massage made no difference. Ended up walking into a chiropractor's near my office.
From the off it was all very slick, tour etc. Had a consultation, recommended an X-ray. Had first adjustment tonight. While it feels a little better, she would only do so much so that my body had a chance to accept it. She gave me a full going over and while I agree that I I need to look at route cause of all my aches, the slick way they introduced me to an 18 session plan has me wondering. It may be that this is just the business side to a very good service, but would be interested to hear from someone who has went down this route.
From the sounds of it I'm in pretty poor shape, which given now often i am in pain sounds about right.
She asked me to show her how much I can crack my back and neck out and said she had never seen anything like it, so doesn't sound like I have been doing myself any favours.
P
I'm 29 (30 tomorrow eek!) always been tough on my body with sport etc. Had bad neck and back for as long as I can remember. Usually use sports massage or the Physio from local hospital runs night sessions.
Rightly or wrongly I have always been able to self adjust my neck and back which involves lots of cracking noises.
Back locked up one one side a few weeks back, couldn't sort it myself. Massage made no difference. Ended up walking into a chiropractor's near my office.
From the off it was all very slick, tour etc. Had a consultation, recommended an X-ray. Had first adjustment tonight. While it feels a little better, she would only do so much so that my body had a chance to accept it. She gave me a full going over and while I agree that I I need to look at route cause of all my aches, the slick way they introduced me to an 18 session plan has me wondering. It may be that this is just the business side to a very good service, but would be interested to hear from someone who has went down this route.
From the sounds of it I'm in pretty poor shape, which given now often i am in pain sounds about right.
She asked me to show her how much I can crack my back and neck out and said she had never seen anything like it, so doesn't sound like I have been doing myself any favours.
P
MRSNEAK said:
She asked me to show her how much I can crack my back and neck out and said she had never seen anything like it, so doesn't sound like I have been doing myself any favours.
It's always different when an expert does it!As for signing up to a number of sessions, are you being asked to pay in advance?
Until very recently I had been visiting the Chiro for years. Similar symptoms to you and regular tune ups made sure I didn't have an episode. Unfortunately, I need the services of a Neurosurgeon from time to time due to multiple benign brain tumours. Recently I had a seizure and my Chiro was reluctant to make any adjustments, especially of my neck.
During my last appointment with my Neurosurgeon, I asked about rotational therapy of the neck. Now, my Neurosurgeon is also a respected practioner of spinal surgery and he was very cagey about Chripractic. He said that although millions have this treatment and seem to get benefit from it, he was of the opinion that it was actually the manipulation of the affected are that helped and not the adjustment of vertebrae. His main concern was the risk of arterial laceration,where the violent adjustment of the neck causes an artery to lacerate leading to increased risk of stroke. This tends to happen most in the 40 and upward age group (me !).
Medical staff in the US have been told if someone presents with stroke symptoms to ask if they have had any manipulation of the neck in the last month.
Now, as I said, its always worked for me, but he mentioned oseopathy or physio as an alternative. Having talked to a colleague that is also a massage therapist, she agreed that adjustment on its own is rarely enough as the muscles have a tendency to pull your spine put of alignment again - you need to treat both.
Anyway, you pays your money and all that. I would be fine with a chiropractor adjusting my spine,, but not my neck, but that it what you are paying for. I am now planning on trying remedial sports massage and possible osteopathy as well
During my last appointment with my Neurosurgeon, I asked about rotational therapy of the neck. Now, my Neurosurgeon is also a respected practioner of spinal surgery and he was very cagey about Chripractic. He said that although millions have this treatment and seem to get benefit from it, he was of the opinion that it was actually the manipulation of the affected are that helped and not the adjustment of vertebrae. His main concern was the risk of arterial laceration,where the violent adjustment of the neck causes an artery to lacerate leading to increased risk of stroke. This tends to happen most in the 40 and upward age group (me !).
Medical staff in the US have been told if someone presents with stroke symptoms to ask if they have had any manipulation of the neck in the last month.
Now, as I said, its always worked for me, but he mentioned oseopathy or physio as an alternative. Having talked to a colleague that is also a massage therapist, she agreed that adjustment on its own is rarely enough as the muscles have a tendency to pull your spine put of alignment again - you need to treat both.
Anyway, you pays your money and all that. I would be fine with a chiropractor adjusting my spine,, but not my neck, but that it what you are paying for. I am now planning on trying remedial sports massage and possible osteopathy as well
Edited by douglasr on Tuesday 28th September 23:16
MRSNEAK said:
She said I was moving things in the opposite direction to where she would like them. It does give me relief though.
Can pay £40 for what I'm told will be a ten minute two stage adjustment. Or up front works out at £35 a go. Thought I would just pay as I go.
Makes my £40 for a 30-40min session with my Osteopath seem good value then. Hooks me up to a massage machine with pads on my neck and back for around 15mins to loosen everything up, then a massage, then adjustment, he has often said a chiro would just go straight in for the kill, guess he is right if you're only in there for 10mins.Can pay £40 for what I'm told will be a ten minute two stage adjustment. Or up front works out at £35 a go. Thought I would just pay as I go.
I'm only 28 but am starting to suffer with neck trouble, the main cause I think is sitting at a desk all day , I've adjusted my seat as best I can and take regular breaks but still need a tweak every 6 weeks or so. I hate to think what state I'm going to be in when I'm older.
Matt_N said:
MRSNEAK said:
She said I was moving things in the opposite direction to where she would like them. It does give me relief though.
Can pay £40 for what I'm told will be a ten minute two stage adjustment. Or up front works out at £35 a go. Thought I would just pay as I go.
Makes my £40 for a 30-40min session with my Osteopath seem good value then. Hooks me up to a massage machine with pads on my neck and back for around 15mins to loosen everything up, then a massage, then adjustment, he has often said a chiro would just go straight in for the kill, guess he is right if you're only in there for 10mins.Can pay £40 for what I'm told will be a ten minute two stage adjustment. Or up front works out at £35 a go. Thought I would just pay as I go.
I'm only 28 but am starting to suffer with neck trouble, the main cause I think is sitting at a desk all day , I've adjusted my seat as best I can and take regular breaks but still need a tweak every 6 weeks or so. I hate to think what state I'm going to be in when I'm older.
Withg regard to you neck problem, my issues started at 18. I'm 44 now and they are not much worse - commensurate with age I would say. That's after 10+ years of heavy gym work up to my mid 30's (shoulders are a different issue however !) and 10 years of marriage !
OP your situation sounds very similar to my own. I am 27 and after 10 years plus of heavy weight training and playing Rugby my back is in abit of a bad way. It is nearly always my lower back that hurts. I wake up early most mornings due to aches in my lower back (not helped by the fact i sleep on my front which apparently is the worse position to sleep in). When i get out of bed i too can crack my back and my neck by tilting it from side to side.
I eventually decided to give a Chiropractor a go and after the consultation i had an x-ray and the Chiro showed me how my lower back was worn, hence the pain (this obviously scared me alittle as i'm only in my mid twenties) so she went to work and did 4 adjustments. 2 for my neck (tilting it side to side but with a sudden movement) and then she had me lay on my side with my knees raised and adjusted my lower back. I felt alittle better after but was told i would need something like 18 appointments and again the price worked out at being 40 quid a pop. She also said she wanted to see me 3 times a week.
I wasn't sure if i was being ripped off and taken for a ride so i didn't follow it up. My back is still no better but at the same time no worse.
It's a tough one to call, i hope i don't regret not following up on the appointments but £40 x 18 isn't cheap.
Can you get Chiropractor treatment on the NHS?
I eventually decided to give a Chiropractor a go and after the consultation i had an x-ray and the Chiro showed me how my lower back was worn, hence the pain (this obviously scared me alittle as i'm only in my mid twenties) so she went to work and did 4 adjustments. 2 for my neck (tilting it side to side but with a sudden movement) and then she had me lay on my side with my knees raised and adjusted my lower back. I felt alittle better after but was told i would need something like 18 appointments and again the price worked out at being 40 quid a pop. She also said she wanted to see me 3 times a week.
I wasn't sure if i was being ripped off and taken for a ride so i didn't follow it up. My back is still no better but at the same time no worse.
It's a tough one to call, i hope i don't regret not following up on the appointments but £40 x 18 isn't cheap.
Can you get Chiropractor treatment on the NHS?
3 times a week at £40 each, do they really expect people to be able to pay nearly £500 in a month for treatment?
As I said, my Osteo is £40 for 30-40mins, you could go as often as you want but he recommends return visits at around 6-8 weeks, I tend to go around every 6 as I can feel my neck and shoulders tensing up and the discomfort setting in.
The types of adjustments he does sound similar, I dont know the technical terms, but he gets me to lay on my back with my knees up, he'll use both his fists inbewtween my kness and asks me to squeeze, this aligns the hips. He sometimes rolls me onto my side and will do a few things with each leg, pulling my knee up to my chest whilst I look back over my shoulder for example.
As my main troubles come from my neck, he uses my arms to check the alignment of my vertabrae. Laying on my back, he'll pull my arms up then lay them down so I'm in a sort of cross layout, he'll then pull them back up to see where my fingers meet and can tell if the alignment is out. He then folds one arm over the other with my palms resting on my shoulder blades, uses his fist under my neck/back and uses all his weight to straighten things out, that produces a few cracks I can tell you! But the relief is instant. He'll also sometimes crack a few bones with me laying on my front and pushing down on my spine.
Straightens me out for a weeks anyway.
He's a really nice guy and I'd recommend him to anyone in the Bristol area.
As I said, my Osteo is £40 for 30-40mins, you could go as often as you want but he recommends return visits at around 6-8 weeks, I tend to go around every 6 as I can feel my neck and shoulders tensing up and the discomfort setting in.
The types of adjustments he does sound similar, I dont know the technical terms, but he gets me to lay on my back with my knees up, he'll use both his fists inbewtween my kness and asks me to squeeze, this aligns the hips. He sometimes rolls me onto my side and will do a few things with each leg, pulling my knee up to my chest whilst I look back over my shoulder for example.
As my main troubles come from my neck, he uses my arms to check the alignment of my vertabrae. Laying on my back, he'll pull my arms up then lay them down so I'm in a sort of cross layout, he'll then pull them back up to see where my fingers meet and can tell if the alignment is out. He then folds one arm over the other with my palms resting on my shoulder blades, uses his fist under my neck/back and uses all his weight to straighten things out, that produces a few cracks I can tell you! But the relief is instant. He'll also sometimes crack a few bones with me laying on my front and pushing down on my spine.
Straightens me out for a weeks anyway.
He's a really nice guy and I'd recommend him to anyone in the Bristol area.
ukwill said:
I've had the similar thing with neck/top of back near neck. Each time it's been fixed within 3 sessions. Similar to above - 15m with the Tens machine to loosen the muscles, then around 15m of manipulation. I think 18 sessions is taking the piss. Royally.
I share your thoughts. She claims she can fix the route cause so that I won't have as much trouble in the future. No way am I paying up front. Got a second session tomorrow and will see how that goes. I understand it is two adjustments per session so your body can cope...but as she is looking at my ankle too I assume I will get my back and ankle looked at. If not I won't be paying. People were in and out in ten minutes when I was waiting, good business plan 6x £40x 8 5 days a week ...I was seeing a Chiropractor for about 18 months for minor back ailments, which seemd to be posture related from sitting at a desk all day.
I did generally feel better, but must of had an average of a session every 6 weeks at £32 for 20 minutes. He also stated at the start that it was a long term treatment that needed to be continued.
Anyway my back go worse and worse, (I played a lot of squash and was telling him about aches and pains that were getting worse). Eventually I had a breakdown and could hardly walk. The chiro told me I had inflamed ligaments. 6 days later I was diagnosed with a prolapsed disc by a very good Physio, who has managed to rehab me without surgery.
I am now struggling with Piriformis syndrome which was there during the build up to the prolapsed disc but not spotted by the chiro at all.
Needless to say, I don't see the chiro any more and feel my money was wasted as he did not prevent these nasty injuries.
Also, my wife is seeing a client that is a chrio (she does her tax returns), but this chiro will only treat for 4 or 5 sessions and if that doesn't reap results she will stop. She says no chrio should have to go on treating over and over again.
@ OP, SHORT ANSWER IS THEY ARE TAKING THE PI$$
Cheers,
Steve.
I did generally feel better, but must of had an average of a session every 6 weeks at £32 for 20 minutes. He also stated at the start that it was a long term treatment that needed to be continued.
Anyway my back go worse and worse, (I played a lot of squash and was telling him about aches and pains that were getting worse). Eventually I had a breakdown and could hardly walk. The chiro told me I had inflamed ligaments. 6 days later I was diagnosed with a prolapsed disc by a very good Physio, who has managed to rehab me without surgery.
I am now struggling with Piriformis syndrome which was there during the build up to the prolapsed disc but not spotted by the chiro at all.
Needless to say, I don't see the chiro any more and feel my money was wasted as he did not prevent these nasty injuries.
Also, my wife is seeing a client that is a chrio (she does her tax returns), but this chiro will only treat for 4 or 5 sessions and if that doesn't reap results she will stop. She says no chrio should have to go on treating over and over again.
@ OP, SHORT ANSWER IS THEY ARE TAKING THE PI$$
Cheers,
Steve.
I'm seeing a Chiro at the moment for lower back pain, going every 2 weeks or so, had about 4-5 sessions and was told I need to strengthen my core muscles and then hopefully I won't need any more help.
Unfortunately my lower back started aching again so went in for a session and the Chiro managed to loosen it up and stop the ache, said they'd treat me again on Monday with no charge.
I don't think they're all trying to rip you off, my back has been much better since going.
Unfortunately my lower back started aching again so went in for a session and the Chiro managed to loosen it up and stop the ache, said they'd treat me again on Monday with no charge.
I don't think they're all trying to rip you off, my back has been much better since going.
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