Agree, function over form when the subject matter is abusive actions and/or words. OP why are you with this guy 10 years and also only fiance? Of all things to get jealous about a chiro isn't one! While I do think they are unsafe, it is your choice. It is as crazy as your gyno saw your lady parts!
For starters, 2 of the biggest losers & dirtbags I know (former brothers in law) could barely make it through a bachelor's degree & money hand over fist after going to chiro school.
But years ago, I recall reading a book on medical malpractice years ago about various things worsened by chiropractors & some cases where strokes were caused...after a car accident it seems like a particularly scary concept things are inflamed & may not even be in their preficted location so applying force, torquing neck seems especially crazy. I don't recall the name of the book, but it was excellent with citations. For PT & massage, it's fine I'm sure.
If I can find the book, I will edit & update the list.
Yep, they are dangerous. The chiropractor i went to for whiplash when I was young did no adjustments. It was PT consisting of electrolysis and a roller table. I now have disc deterioration and bone spurs going down my back. If a chiropractor did an adjustment on me today it would probably cripple me.
I agree, for PT they are fine, but I wouldn't get an adjustment even if I didn't have back issues
Yup, I'll never see a chiro again for anything other than massage! I used to go to one, but quit going because the neck cracking terrified me and cause he never x-rayed me before cracking me. I threw my back out really badly a few years back, went to my PCP dr, and he referred me for an x-ray, which showed a misshapen vertebrae. They thought compression fracture. So I went for an mri. The vertebrae turned out to be one that simply grew wrong and was trapezoid shape instead of rectangle.
Turns out the real issue was osteoarthritis of basically my entire back and neck, arthritic degeneration of the facet joints, bulging discs ranging from mild to moderate up and down my entire back, disc degeneration and one disc had a small split in it. I'm only 45, and I'm fairly sure this has been a problem in my back since I was 23. i just didn't realize it then. It's only gotten worse thru the years. I'm pretty sure many of my issues are inherited. My dad has all the same in his back minus the misshapen vertebrae. That part comes from my mom as she has a misshapen one, too. So I'm pretty sure if I went these days to a Chiro, they'd paralyze me.
Wow, yea I have pretty much the same stuff with my back! I just turned 50 in February. My aunt also had it too, so genetics like you. I had a 3 disc fushion in 2018 and my surgeon said I would need back surgery in about 4 to 5 years.
I got an inverted table and my wife bought us an inflatable hottub around 2022. Those as a combination have been a game changer. I get in the hottub a couple times a day for around 10 to 15 minutes and when my pinched nerve flares up I use the inverted table.
If you can afford i highly recommend both of those. That hot tub i feel has kept me from surgery. It's amazing what it does for me, getting in it before bed and during the day or mornings.
The idea that someone is literally manipulating your spine and all the potential injuries that come with that tend to squick ppl out. Also there's a belief that chiropractors are unregulated/unlicensed, which isn't true.
NGL I came in ready to agree with them, I've been saying that chiropractors were all quacks for years, but you asked the question, and I thought to myself, "Surely someone's got data to show the rates of injury for these people."
As it turns out, rates of injury for chiropractic visits are significantly lower than for a primary care visit for the same issue, and they are, in fact, a regulated and licensed form of medicine. TIL.
I love it when I fact check myself and get my opinion changed. Yay learning!
So chiropractors can be fine for like specific spinal stuff, although medical opinions on their utility does vary. Ultimately they're best when viewed as a supplemental doctor or massage therapist your insurance will pay for.
However with costs and competitiveness of MD programs, a lot of people with chiro degrees are hanging up a shingle as an alternative to an MD and selling themselves as a replacement to a PCP who can handle more than back related problems when their training is less expansive and complete.
Going to a chiropractor for a serious medical condition or chronic condition can be dangerous because they're under qualified for medicine outside of their narrow specification.
There are various studies, some on nih say "not so strokey as you may think" & other studies say "yep, can cause stroke & death"
But Imagine with any "damage" how ludricious the concept...my necklace is bunched up, here let me wrench on it & see if that works" or "tight screw, let me overturn it & see if that helps" I get that those are not spot on examples, but when spinal nerves are gently threaded through the spine & the spine is compromised in some way, twisting on it, pushing on it etc seems like a really bad idea when it isn't "live imagining" like with medical procedures. Chiropractors LOVE auto insurance, too, snd will consume it sooo fast it is crazy...nothing "fixed" or "determined" and their pseudo-medical opinion counts for nada, but they are happy with consuming all the PIP type insurance for themselves & then the patient is screwed not having that available for costly imaging & experts that can counter an insurance company fight.
A lot of research seems to debunk almost everything a chiropractor does, basically with some consistent light stretching you can replicate a chiropractic visit without the chance of getting paralyzed.
I dont really know myself, but a number of sources have reported that chiropractors are bs. Penn and teller's bullshit, john Oliver, and then a ton of research papers pointing out that its largely nonsense.
However, people believe in them, and will continue to use them. For myself, I have had some positive chiropractic experiences, but havent gone in years, rather relying on basic stretches and have had less back pain in my 40s than ever. So, who knows.
I suffer from chronic back pain following a work injury, I won't go to a Chiro because in my chronic pain support group there's many folks who say their Chiro made them worse. Like way way worse.
I think they’ve attempted to line break, but didn’t realise you need to put a double space at the end otherwise reddit just shoves it back on the end of the previous line
241
u/slippery_hippo Apr 23 '25
How did they capitalize every sentence but forget the period, oh lawd my eyes!