Calling all medical types

[TexKan]

I have been told this was easy but didn't want to speak when I haven't had it done myself. Sounds pretty easy tho.

[Bound]

Hubby has had the epid. and it helped him some. I think you could do both that and a Chiropractor (not sure). I felt the same way as you and had never gone to one before last month, I went to Shanda Koehn and she is awsome. No herky jerky crap. You should try her.

[K C Muffin]

Originally Posted by wordsmythe

oooh for me Chiropactor = witch doctor.

Yep, I did too for a while. For the first back surgery (when I was a young'un), I actually went to the chiropractor first hoping that would take care of it. Several visits later, he shook his head and told me I should consult a surgeon. Ya gotta know it's bad when they turn ya away! I wouldn't go to one now simply because I get better relief from daughter-in-law, who just finished her training as a massage therapist. Aaaaah. Now THAT's relief!

I agree with Bound - the epidural ought to ease the pain enough to allow your muscles to accept the chiropractor's adjustment. It's definitely a personal choice, though. I feel for ya. Try not to be tense if you decide to do the epidural - that'll make it hurt. Aren't you glad I told you?

[ksgrainman]

Never had this done or really care to, but have 2 friends that have major back probs. Know it is NOT fun. Wish you good luck and hope it works.

[Detector]

oooh for me Chiropactor = witch doctor.

Couldn't agree more. The one time I saw a Chiropractor I felt much worse after I left. I will never go back.

I've always heard once you start using a bone cracker it's hard to stop. The cartilage goes bad from being "popped" all the time and it becomes a necessary process from then on.

[BroncoFan]

All will be well, Wordy. I have had this done, myself, but with no real effectiveness. I work on people every day that have same issues as yourself. In most cases, you should start feeling relief in the first 24-36 hours. I always encourage people to have the full series of epidurals, even if they feel it is not working. They usually inject a streroid that will decrease the swelling. Effects are never immediate.

For what it is worth, I finally found relief from my severe back pain with leg pains without having surgery and without the aid of epidurals. I'll tell you later if the epidurals aren't effective.

[K C Muffin]

No, you have to tell now. Nosey people wanna know!

I thought the only choice in that condition was whether to have the surgery, have the shots (and hope they work) or just have the damn leg cut off and live on pills the rest of your life! Just kidding, really - but I didn't know there was an effective alternative. I'd be interested in knowing. I'm told I'll be facing it again in the next 7 - 10 years. But by then, I hope they have a nonsurgical alternative. They leave scars! No more bikinis!!!

[Highwayman]

Originally Posted by wordsmythe

oooh for me Chiropactor = witch doctor.

The medical profession hope$ you continue to think that way.
Personally I wear a clove of garlic around my neck and carry a cross when I go to an MD.

The key word in your first post was displacement. I’m interpreting that as alignment. Addressing pain is fine but it probably won’t fix the issue if it is in fact alignment. That’s what chiropractors do. If you kill the pain and still have an alignment issue the disks will continue to compress at a faster than normal rate. When they get too far gone you will probably be looking at back surgery. I worked with a woman that ended up in a wheelchair because of a back surgery gone bad. Scary shit.

If you decide to go, pick one the same way you would pick any doctor. Get copies of the reports on the MRI and any x-rays to take in. Here’s what to expect. He will take back x-rays before doing anything else. It will take more than one treatment and there will likely be follow-up maintaince. How many treatments and how often you go in for maintaince will depend on your individual situation. Treatments often hurt at first because he is moving bones around. Generally bones can’t be pushed as far as they need to go all at once. The muscles will try to pull the bones back until they are retrained to accept the new position. The idea is to keep the bone in place until the tissue around it firms up and holds it there.

My treatments now are done setting down with a small spring loaded plunger to tweak L5 that keeps slipping out. No major bone crunching on the drop table. My compressed lumbar disks have expanded slightly since I started going to this guy which is a sign of healing.

[Jolly Rancher]

I my Chiropractor. Those who don't believe, don't deserve.

[Bubba]

Originally Posted by Detector

Couldn't agree more. The one time I saw a Chiropractor I felt much worse after I left. I will never go back.

I've always heard once you start using a bone cracker it's hard to stop. The cartilage goes bad from being "popped" all the time and it becomes a necessary process from then on.

The Chiropractor was the only one who could help me! Around 8-10 years ago, I suffered severe headaches where I couldn't even sit or stand, the only thing I could do to tolerate the pain was to lay down. After numerous trips to the doctor, to the ER, having x-rays, CT Scans, shots of Demerol, prescriptions for pain pills, and muscle relaxants (ie-Lortab, Hydrocodone, etc.) doctors kept telling me they could find nothing wrong.

One day I got an appointment with Dr. Pick, he x-rayed me, then popped my neck and instantly my headache was gone. He told me that my neck had gotten out of place and was applying pressure to a nerve that was causing the pain. He also said that since it was so bad(out of alignment) and that the muscles had gotten used to holding the neck in that (out-of) position that the pain would return and I needed to come back until the muscles got retrained to hold the neck in the proper alignment. I went back every day for a week, then dropped to 3 times per week for a couple of weeks, then once a week for about a month, then once a month for quite awhile. Now I only go a few times per year when I feel I need an alignment. He worked wonders, after all the medical doctors were clueless.

Don't believe everything you hear about Chiropractors. Find a good one and he or she can work wonders.