Chiropractic Care - How Often?

[Alex]

I trashed my knee in early June during a century and have been doing all manner of things to get better. I went to a physical therapist for exercises that I do daily, I went to sports doc/bike fitter who adjusted the number of shims under my cleat, I got custom footbeds, I started taking a boatload of supplements, and I started chiropractic treatment with someone who comes highly recommended by one of my cycling buddies. I also happened to need a new bike and I bought a custom frame that I've been on for a couple of weeks now. I switched to longer cranks, too. I've been going to the chiro since the beginning of July and I feel absolutely amazing. I'm also drinking a lot more water and have stopped eating refined sugar, dairy products, and wheat products, at the chiro's suggestion. I have never in my life felt as good as I do now. My neck is no longer stiff, I don't wake up with numb hands, and my knee feels better than it did even before I trashed it at the century.

So, here's my question. If you have had chiro treatments, how often do you go? The chiro believes I should continue to see him. He's an athlete himself and works on a lot of cyclists, runners, skiers, etc. He believes that continued treatment will actually increase my performance and make me stronger. I'm training for a 206-mile race that I plan to do as part of a 2-person relay team. The race is in early September. I'm a bit reluctant to continue, but only because of the time and money. He certainly hasn't steered me wrong yet and I wouldn't have believed that I could feel as good as I do right now. It seems impossible that I could reap even more benefits.

I should add that he also told me about quercetin, which acts like a natural antihistamine. So, now I'm off of pharmaceutical antihistamines, too. (I'm a bit annoyed, honestly, that not one of my allergists during my life bothered to tell me about that stuff!)

One more thing, he does also practice energy healing and acupressure, which he does after the adjustments. So, we're not talking all hard science here. I really shouldn't lump energy healing with acupressure, but I'm sure you get the point I'm trying to make.

Alex

[makbike]

The big question is does you insurance company pay for your visits? If so, how many visits are you allowed in a year?

[wolfak]

I go in for adjustments once a month. I've regained range of motion in my neck from an old endo that had me knocked out for 12+ hours. It can be an expensive habit however.

[Mr. Bloom]

I'm a FIRM believer in chiropractics...others on here are not.

Unfortunately, chiropractors also have to make a living...and repeat business is important. So you have to be discerning.

Personally, I'd go as long as you feel a benefit. If you're not seeing a benefit, go in for a periodic adjustment every now and then.

[Iris616]

Has your Chiropractor talked to you about a plan of treatment? I love my chiropractor, and still go see him once a month or so. On my second visit with him we discussed a plan of treatment, so that I would know what to expect. He did the same thing when I took my 2 yeear old to him for chronic ear infections.

I like to know what to expect from any Dr that I go to.

[KnottedYet]

And your chiro should be teaching you how to do the adjustments and maintain yourself, to gradually wean you off of his skills and onto your own.

If you feel you've learned enough from him to manage yourself, it could be time to quit. Chiros are happy to have you come back for tune-ups when needed, or when you feel you need a bit more help.

All of us who do "bodywork" have the ultimate goal of making ourselves obsolete.

This is a quote from an old paper, and it's about PT, but it's one of my guiding thoughts: "No physical therapist can ever match the work of an educated patient." -James McGavin

The other one I really use to keep me on track with my work is: "If you have to do the same thing every time you see a patient, then you haven't improved anything." - John McWilliams

[tulip]

When I started going to my chiro to help with my hip problem a few years ago, I was going 3 times a week at first. I had all kinds of issues. Then I started going twice a week, and then once, and then twice a month, and finally once a month. It was all part of the plan of treatment, and it worked. Luckily, the chiro office was just around the corner from where I worked.

Then I moved and have not been to one. But my condition has improved and I can actually make the adjustments myself when I'm stretching.

He also recommended Pilates, certain stretches, encouraged me to ride my bike more, tips on good posture, and suggested getting a better workspace set up. I have been able to continue all of those, except I couldn't bring my super-sweet ergo chair with me when I left my old job! But I'll get another one eventually.

[bluebug32]

I love my chiro too (ok, he happens to be my boyfriend). Even with him around all the time, I maybe get adjusted once or twice a month. I think the best practitioners are the ones who give you the tools (stretches, heat, etc) to manage your own pain. For example, I don't just get adjusted, but he shows me where my trigger points are and how I can work them out myself.

[Alex]

Thanks, everyone. It helps a lot to know how others have proceeded. He has given me stretches and some core exercises to supplement what the PT gave me. They really helped with my stiff neck and my numb hands. I'll have to ask him about adjusting myself. I didn't even know that was possible. What do you do? Attached a bungee cord to your foot, run it through a hook on the wall, and then lie back and yank the cord? LOL!

It's interesting because all of the people I have seen (sports doc/bike fitter/PT/chiro) agree that I have a longstanding muscle imbalance on my left side. Now that I am working to correct that, I have better posture and I feel like I walk and run and pedal so much more smoothly. Very cool stuff.

Alex

[Natural Beauty]

Chiropractors seem like most Doctors. You get a good one and you can be set for life…or as long as they are in practice. You get a bad one….Agh!

I just realized I’ve been seeing my current Chiropractor for over 7 years. He got me through 3 pregnancies with flying colors and helps keep my asthma at bay. I go for tune-ups when I remember or start coughing like a seal.

Self adjusting makes me a little nervous. It is a fine line between adjusting vertebrae in the neck and causing oneself to stroke out. I always wait for those guys who crack their necks to turn purple or something. Yikes.

[OakLeaf]

I've had two different chiropractors (who had no financial interest in me, as I was from a different town and simply met them socially) see me adjust my own neck, and mutter disgustedly, "Self adjusters. More harm than good."

I still do it... but based on that experience I wonder if a chiropractor (who always goes to another professional to have h/h own spine adjusted) would really teach a patient to do their own.

Now, doing simple spine twists to crack the lower spine, I assume is safe?

[KnottedYet]

Chiropractors seem like most Doctors. You get a good one and you can be set for life…or as long as they are in practice. You get a bad one….Agh!

I just realized I’ve been seeing my current Chiropractor for over 7 years. He got me through 3 pregnancies with flying colors and helps keep my asthma at bay. I go for tune-ups when I remember or start coughing like a seal.

Self adjusting makes me a little nervous. It is a fine line between adjusting vertebrae in the neck and causing oneself to stroke out. I always wait for those guys who crack their necks to turn purple or something. Yikes.

Only an extremely irresponsible chiro would teach someone to do high velocity mobs on themselves!!!

If you have a chiro like that, RUN AWAY!!!!

Safe self-adjustment involves using simple "normal" stretches and gentle muscle energy techniques. MET is things like: barely squeezing a pillow gently between your knees while lying on your back to correct an SI joint problem. MET is often done in repetitions of 10, because you are using the firing of the muscles to gently and incrementally restore the alignment of the boo-boo joint. So, what the chiro does in one harsh *SNAP* to completely replace a critter; you do in many slow gentle squeezes to move a tiny bit at a time until it's back where it belongs.

If your chiro is teaching you to snap yourself, please report him/her to the American Chiropractic Association. http://www.amerchiro.org/

[Mr. Bloom]

Now, doing simple spine twists to crack the lower spine, I assume is safe?

I asked a chiropractor who was in my sunday school class...his position on the back is that it's "OK"...his concern came from possibly stretching the ligaments, not clicking the bones.

As a kid, I could self adjust my neck on command...but these days, I guess I'm too tense

[tulip]

I don't do anything to my neck. When I do stretches and Pilates, I find that my spine relaxes and there are some adjustments that happen on their own. It's only when I'm very relaxed. I never force anything, or twist hard.

[bounceswoosh]

I see my chiro once every two weeks, down from three times a week when I started chiro, which would have been 4 or 5 years ago. I experimented earlier this year by not going for a couple of months (although I still got regular massages, one every two or three weeks), and discovered that yes, going to the chiro still helps a lot!

It took me a couple of years before I noticed that, hey, you know, I haven't had back pain in a really long time. I still get it occasionally, usually when I sleep in a funky position or when I am super stressed.

My insurance at the moment doesn't cover out of network chiros, but I don't like switching providers once I've found one I like, and anyway their copay on specialists is higher than his fees ...