Nervous Guy Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 About a week and a half ago I was doing a bunch of yard work on Saturday and Sunday, chopping down trees, spreading mulch etc...about 8 o'clock Sunday night I went to sit down on the coach and read the paper and I felt a click in my back and then a bunch of pain...I messed up my back before but this one is different...pain is still there and now I think I have sciatica...I have pain going down my right leg and a slight numbness in my foot...anyway, both my wife and boss think I need to see a chiropractor...now being a scientist I am pretty skeptical about this chiropratic voodoo and might be content to continue taking ibuprofen and waiting it out...does anyone here really think these guys do any good? I just don't want this to get any worse...but this discomfort is really starting to piss me off! Opinions please.
KRC Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 About a week and a half ago I was doing a bunch of yard work on Saturday and Sunday, chopping down trees, spreading mulch etc...about 8 o'clock Sunday night I went to sit down on the coach and read the paper and I felt a click in my back and then a bunch of pain...I messed up my back before but this one is different...pain is still there and now I think I have sciatica...I have pain going down my right leg and a slight numbness in my foot...anyway, both my wife and boss think I need to see a chiropractor...now being a scientist I am pretty skeptical about this chiropratic voodoo and might be content to continue taking ibuprofen and waiting it out...does anyone here really think these guys do any good? I just don't want this to get any worse...but this discomfort is really starting to piss me off! Opinions please. 359128[/snapback] Yup. Chiropractors do work. I was in a car accident a while back and the chiropractor worked wonders on my neck pain. Of course, there is always Reiki.
taterhill Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 works good for me in moderation...when they start talking about it curing everything, and that you need to come every other day, run the other way
KD in CA Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 I think so. I hurt my back two years ago, was in significant pain for a couple of months and started seeing a chiropractor. She took X-rays, ID'd the issue and treated the injury, as well as the spine in general (since an injury in one area can impact other areas if you start to compensate for the injury). You should at least have it looked at and talk it over with the chiropractor. Few things can ruin your quality of life like a bad back.
Mark VI Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 Yes it does. I've been through so-called Physical Therapy before, which was the biggest waste of time. I received much faster and better relief through the Chiropractor. I've had sciatica and know the symptoms well. They know what the hell they are doing. You should listen to my advice because... I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany !
Rayzer32 Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 I see a chiropractor regularly and she does great work. I was skeptical at first with the "adjustments" they do, but she does a great job and they work awesome to loosen me up. I would see one in your case.
Beerball Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 anyway, both my wife and boss think I need to see a chiropractor359128[/snapback] If T-Bone says go to a chiropractor---go to a chiropractor. My wife swears by her's. I have always taken your route--ibuprofen and time and 1 week to 10 days later I have always been fine. If you don't want to go the chiropractor route right away...see your doctor.
IDBillzFan Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 Of course, there is always Reiki. 359134[/snapback] Lake? (Sorry.) Nod, personally I don't care for them because aside from him bending and snapping a few things while he presses his body against yours in some cases, I hate sitting in some room with a stupid machine (tines, or something like that) hooked up to me. Also, they're not a quick fix. You likely need to go back every week for a while. But I'm the chairman of the He-Man-Immediate-Gratification Club when it comes to pain, so don't go by me.
Fezmid Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 About a week and a half ago I was doing a bunch of yard work on Saturday and Sunday, chopping down trees, spreading mulch etc...about 8 o'clock Sunday night I went to sit down on the coach and read the paper and I felt a click in my back and then a bunch of pain...I messed up my back before but this one is different...pain is still there and now I think I have sciatica...I have pain going down my right leg and a slight numbness in my foot...anyway, both my wife and boss think I need to see a chiropractor...now being a scientist I am pretty skeptical about this chiropratic voodoo and might be content to continue taking ibuprofen and waiting it out...does anyone here really think these guys do any good? I just don't want this to get any worse...but this discomfort is really starting to piss me off! Opinions please. 359128[/snapback] Well, my mom had sciatica about 15 years ago. She was in excrutiating pain, could barely get up and move. She SHOULD have had surgery, but was too afraid... Anyway, my aunt finally convinced her to go to a chiropractor and it was amazing -- she was fine after a few visits. Of course he recommended that she come every few weeks or whatever for "maintenance," but she didn't. The last couple of years it's been getting bad for her again, so it's not a permanant thing. I think that a lot of it IS based in science to be honest, and that a few quacks have ruined it for everyone (sort of like used cars salesmen - they're not ALL slimy). If you don't want to go, I'd recommend going to get an MRI done to see what that looks like. CW
KRC Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 Lake? (Sorry.) 359145[/snapback] I say do both (Reiki and Chiropractics). He already knows a good Reiki practitioner, so what could it hurt.
Fake-Fat Sunny Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 From what I have seen and experienced the answer is definitely chiropractic can work, BUT like traditional doctors there are good ones and bad ones and one needs to find a skilled and trained person you are comfortable with as a medical professional to have it work for you. My two experiences are these: 1. Way back when in college I suddenly began having shooting back pains. Despite hiking a dozen or more miles in a day with a backpack back when I was young and used to be immortal something weird was going on. I walked to the school infirmary and by the time I got there felt like I might suddenly pass-out from the pain. I saw a traditional doc who had training in chiropractic manipulation. He asked a variety of questions about where the pain was and how it felt, he proded a little bit along my spine. He then gently placed his hands on my back and then informed me he was going to pull my lower back in one direction while thrusting my upper back in another. Before I could object he sharply did this and I screamed like a little baby. He then asked me to roll over, and I sniffingly objected and he then ordered me to roll over and stop being a baby. Sniveling I did so and he once again sharply adjusted my back. He then ordered me to get up and not believing I would ever walk again I gingerly did this. Amazingly (to me) I was fine and felt no pain. I resumed my life hiking and dancing in no time. Since he had the credentials of a medical doc and was confident I think he had no problems doing stuff I considered radical, but what he did took no special instruments and just training any good chiropractor has and it worked. 2. I merely witnessed this but as the "victim" was a skeptic retiree who was treated at a cocktail party by an alternative healer he clearly did not know I think this was real. This fellow and I were talking sports and he and I were both from Chicago long ago and the conversation turned to him lamenting the fact that he could no longer play golf 3-5 times a week as he loved to do as a retiree. He could no longer raise his arms above his head to swing without excruciating pain. One of the folks I met earlier through the party through a friend was a woman who did alternative healing an massage (even the up above maligned Reiki). She really talked an interesting game in the cocktail party conversation we had before and i decided to push through a real test to assess how she sounded with a skeptic and introduced the two of them. I had expected that they would arrange an appointment and I would listen in. However, this fellow loved golf so much and was desperate he clearly wanted immediate help and was willing to try almost anything. On a couch at the cocktail party she asked him questions and prodded and poked his spine in an eerily similar manner to my youth experience. She also had him assume the position after her cocktail party exam and wrenched his back and muscles firmly and then asked him to raise his arms. he skeptically said he could not do this but tried it gingerly to see if this manipulation had done even the smallest thing. He looked like Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove yelling he could walk as he got out of the wheelchair. He suddenly had full range of motion in his arms and clearly his golf game was back. You want someone good for chiropractic and it is hard to really assess this because as it was not formally accepted unitl the last 15-20 years, there are not the same schools, degrees and standards that at least give some objective guidance as to quality (though even in traditional medicine it is a gurantee that 50% of doctors finished in the bottom half of their class). However, I have seen and felt it work wonders I wouldn't have believed until I saw and felt it.
Kelly the Dog Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 I have had sciatica twice, once on either side. If it is minor, a chiropractor will definitely help you. It will take a while, and several adjustments, and you won't necessarily be fixed immediately but it will almost certainly speed up the process. In the meantime, just walking a lot will help you greatly. If it is bad, you will know it, because it's really bad. That time I got acupuncture and it totally took it away in a week, never to return (now 10 years later). I was extremely skeptical about the acupuncture but it worked amazingly. Good luck. I would recommend a no frills kind of chiro that just gets you in and out and gives you a simple adjustment, 3-4 times a week until it is gone.
Cugalabanza Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 Here's my hasty uninformed opinion of chiropractic... Start with a strong accounts receivable department. Then start making wild promises (pain relief, increased energy, sexual performance, spiritual healing, etc...) to get people interested. Then give 'em the old, "well, this takes time...dedication...many many visits" spiel to keep 'em coming back.
BillsFanNC Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 I aggravated my sciatic nerve last December. It started as just a tightness in my back. I could get around reasonably well for a few days, then it spread down my hip and all the way down to my foot which was numb. On the Sunday the Bills played at Cincinnati I was in excrutiating pain, it was absolutely unbearable. It got to the point where my 8.5 month pregnant wife had to get out of bed and drive me to urgent care. Once there they gave me a shot, some muscle relaxers and wrote me a prescription for naproxen. The shot helped within 10 minutes and the naproxen / muscle relaxers helped get it under control over the next few days. The most concerning part was that even after the pain and discomfort went away my foot was still numb for about three weeks. I went to my doc and was told it was normal and it would eventually subside. It did. So I can't help with the chiropracter, but my doc did give me some exercises to do that probably would be similar to what a chiropracter would suggest. I really hope you are not in as much pain as I was.
VABills Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 Yup. Chiropractors do work. I was in a car accident a while back and the chiropractor worked wonders on my neck pain. Of course, there is always Reiki. 359134[/snapback] But the shots are a pain in the ass.
Crap Throwing Monkey Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 Here's my hasty uninformed opinion of chiropractic... 359165[/snapback] One has to appreciate your honesty, at least... In truth, I've known a few chriropracters. I've never seen a reputable on that claimed to do anything more than fix your back.
\GoBillsInDallas/ Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 I went to sit down on the coach and read the paper and I felt a click in my back and then a bunch of pain.359128[/snapback] You just can't accept the fact that you're getting to be an old fart and your body is falling apart.
Guffalo Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 I have been to a Chiropractor a few times, Last year I had really wrenched my back, I asked her if she could get me back in shape for an upcoming ski trip, she had me in for about 5 visits and I was fine. Prior to the visits I was walking like an 80 year old man with rickets, afterwards I was jumping steps 2 at a time.
KRC Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 But the shots are a pain in the ass. 359168[/snapback] They are not shots. They are very long needles. Stop scaring the guy.
stuckincincy Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 When I lived in the Pittsburgh area, there was a chiropracty call-in radio program on the weekend (chiropractors are the union man's best friend ). A lot of folks I knew swore by them. I think they have merit, but I've never had occasion to have a visit.
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