# Has anyone tried chiropractic?



## TooSick (Apr 7, 2009)

I was talking to someone at work today about chiropractic and they swore by it for clearing up their chronic sinus problems.  So many people swear by it for everything, it seems, that I couldn't help but wonder if any Crohn's patients have had success with it.  I've only been to a chiropractor a couple of times (for back pain) and wasn't able to determine if it was effective or not from those visits.  What do y'all think?


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## jed (Apr 7, 2009)

i've3 heard about it been great for many things as well, as well as acupuncture.

just wish i wasnt so lazy to go try these things out


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## Colt (Apr 8, 2009)

Chiropractors are pretty messed up. All they do is pop your back. Something you can do yourself by stretching a little bit, or just as well with a friend or family member to do it for you. The trick is that they take a rather mundane thing, attribute magical properties to it, and then charge you completely insane amounts of money for it. It's a lot like someone charging you to pick your nose.


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## Guest (Apr 8, 2009)

i've only had one chiropractic appointment and that was for a bad back.. he made me worse - ended up in A&E. but i have also heard very good reports about chiropractors so i guess i may have just been unlucky.


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## Jeff D. (Apr 8, 2009)

I have tried chiropractic and it has worked wonders for me.  Maybe not exactly in how my disease is but in how I feel and function in every day life.  I had before I went to the chiropractic doctor a chronic headache which went away as soon as I went to him.  I also had constant lower back pain and he has helped me fix that as well.

Colt:it's not just about cracking backs.  It's about keeping the spine in alignment so that the nerves can work as they should.  Chiropractic does not work by magic and any good chiro will tell you that. 

 I have never felt better since I started going.  I don't have active Crohn's so I don't know how it helps with that but if you have a good chiro and you can stay relaxed while they do it then it can make you feel better physically and mentally.

I would seek out some of the top chiro's in your area and try one.

Good luck just make sure you stay loose, that is the most important part.  you must trust them.


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## Cookie (Apr 8, 2009)

My mother used to see a chiropractor to relieve her menstral cramps and she said it worked wonders.  She also had massive headaches which turned out to be caused by her jaw being out of alignment and putting pressure on her sinuses, which was also fixed by the chiropractor.

In general, I would say that if you discomfort can be attributed to the way things are aligned within your body, then they may be able to help. Not sure how that applies to most people's woes with Crohn's.

On a side note, a friend of a friend is being treated for colitis with accupuncture and said it has had great results for her..


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## danman (Apr 8, 2009)

I've been to a chiropractor for my back. It was as a last resort, but he helped me recover. I'd been to physio's, doctors and any one else, but the chiropractor did help me in the end.

Everyone on here knows, I'm a sceptic when it come to alternative meds, (just give me the drugs), but he certainly helped my back.
I don't know how he could help Crohn's though.


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## Kev (Apr 8, 2009)

I have been seeing a chiropractor whenever needed for my back for the past 11 years.  At first, when a friend suggested I see one for my chronic back pain I was extremely sceptical.  But the 1st treatment worked wonders, and it convinced me. My back had been bothering me on occasion for over 40 years, and no doctor had been able to do anything except ply me with pain pills, and muscle relaxers, and of course fry me with x-rays till I practically glowed in the dark.  but the chiro discovered EXACTLY where the pain was without me telling them..  he felt the trouble spots in my back and then fixed them.  And, here is an interesting tidbit. Before my crohns became symptomatic, my chiro asked if I was having any GI troubles. At the time (a few months before I even realized I was sick) she said she felt like there was trouble brewing in my GI system.. just from feeling my back.
And when I had the reaction to AZA, my chiro really helped with the pain.  But I've never heard of anyone seeking treatment for crohns from a chiro.


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## TooSick (Apr 8, 2009)

Thank you everyone for your input.  I may look into chiropractic in the future (if it can be used to treat Crohn's).  Earlier tonight I went to an acupuncturist for the first time.  It was very relaxing.  The acupuncturist also has Crohn's, so she has a really good understanding of the disease.  Hopefully it will help.  I'll keep y'all posted. 

Thanks again for the info!


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## Colt (Apr 14, 2009)

Jeff D. said:
			
		

> I have tried chiropractic and it has worked wonders for me.  Maybe not exactly in how my disease is but in how I feel and function in every day life.  I had before I went to the chiropractic doctor a chronic headache which went away as soon as I went to him.  I also had constant lower back pain and he has helped me fix that as well.
> 
> Colt:it's not just about cracking backs.  It's about keeping the spine in alignment so that the nerves can work as they should.  Chiropractic does not work by magic and any good chiro will tell you that.
> 
> ...


Actually, it is just about cracking backs. Your back pops because it is out of the joint's socket. That crack is the bone slipping over tendons and bones back into the socket. If a joint is in place you will have full range of motion and be unable to pop it in a healthy and painless way.

It's not just backs, it's every joint in your body. The human body still hasn't really evolved to a point where our special joints like the spine and fingers can efficiently handle the stress of the crazy things we do to them like walking upright, sitting in chairs, and typing. These awkward positions and unusual motions allow joints to become mildly dislocated.

As anyone can tell you reseting any dislocated joint is very helpful. But, again, you don't need a specialist to do it. If you know the proper techniques you can just pop your own back. Pretty much any pop that isn't painful is a good one. It's as simple as that. Aligning your spine doesn't take any special skill. If it's aligned you won't be able to pop it, and if it isn't aligned you'll be able to pop it. Again, paying someone insane amounts of money for a personal daily body maintenance thing.

If chiropractors charged just a few dollars it wouldn't be a problem because it is kind of difficult some times to get a joint that needs it to pop. But, $100-$250 per visit is just silly. They would need to see you twice a day to keep your joints popped. A good masseuse will charge you $30 to do the same thing and even get your muscles while they're at it. But again, if you've got a significant other you can get all of that good stuff for free, and maybe a little more still.


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## Jeff D. (Apr 14, 2009)

My chiropractor does not just crack my back though.  I get ultrasound on muscles when I need it as well.  

I'm not saying you need a chiropractor to crack your back but some of the techniques a chiropractor uses cannot be duplicated at home unless you have a drop table at your immediate disposal.  You also need to know which part of the back needs to be popped back in place.  I understand the physics of what goes on in a chiropractic visit, I'm very much thinking about becoming one myself, but some spots especially near the neck and near the hips are hard to get back in place without someone who knows what they are doing and have the right tools.  

My hips are one of my worst parts of my body.  I have a hunch it has to do with how my Crohn's is building scar tissue in my rectum which causes me to have unequal tension in my hips but I digress.  If you relocate spots in the neck yourself with no experience then you can do damage.  Even if you have learned to do it you can do damage.  It's not very hard to pop your neck out of socket, I have seen it done, and that is why I don't advise anyone to relocate their necks unless they know what they are doing under all circumstances.  If you twist to hard then...well you know and that will involve a trip to the ER.  

Chiro's are completely worth it to me and I feel that I have been feeling on the whole better since I have been going.  Without it I have had terrible back pain and headaches that left me feeling completely lifeless but now I feel like I can move again and once school is out and it stops storming I'm going to start doing Parkour and aggressive skating once again.  I don't think that would have happened without the help of a chiro.

Also, I don't pay a dime to go.  My insurance covers it and because I have payed my deductable for the year already I don't pay for chiro visits. (= I can't wait to go next Monday, it will help relieve the stress of finals.

I'm not saying it cured me as it has done nothing with my Crohn's but it has made other parts of my life better such as back aches and headaches.  I have also had less knee trouble since going.


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## Agent X20 (Apr 15, 2009)

I go to a Chiropractor every 3 months now. They must be a lot cheaper over here as mine charges me £26 for a session. Before my hip operation he did quite a bit to stop the pain... worked for a good while, but nothing could stop the eventual degeneration of the joint...


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## D Bergy (Apr 15, 2009)

Every once in a while a Chiropractor can come up with what seems to be a miracle type treatment.  A person I worked with had a grandchild that could not keep food down after birth.  No one could figure out why so out of desperation they brought the baby to a Chiropractor.  The Chiropractor found that the neck of the baby was slightly dislocated, probably from the birthing process.  He adjusted the neck and the baby was fine after that.

On the other hand, every once in a while a Chiropractor will seriously hurt someones neck.  I usually do not let them mess with my neck much because I have some permanent damage that they really cannot do anything about.

I have to go in once in a while because L-2 vertebrate slips out of place.  Sometimes I can get it back in myself, but if the swelling is too much I cannot.

I tend to agree that the claims some Chiropractors make are quite unbelievable. Most I know are more reasonable in what they claim they can do for you.

For a bad back it is well worth the $40.00 it costs me for an occasional trip.
Some states are much higher than that.  I have noticed that Illinois is higher compared to most other states.  Illinois also allows more procedures to be done by  Chiropractor and insurance reimburses more for the procedures.   Minnesota is quite reasonable by comparison.  It is a state by state variation, in which insurance reimbursement influences what is charged.

Dan


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## Cookie (Apr 15, 2009)

Jeff D. said:
			
		

> My hips are one of my worst parts of my body.  I have a hunch it has to do with how my Crohn's is building scar tissue in my rectum which causes me to have unequal tension in my hips but I digress.


That's a very interesting theory.  I also have Crohn's in my rectum and I have been experiencing a lot of problems with my hips lately.  My doc wants me to get xrays to see if it might be RA, but I feel like it just might be more of an "alignment" problem.  Sometimes I get shooting pains down my leg and I will walk all crooked for a couple of days and then everything will be back to normal.  My hips also pop a lot.  How does this compare to what you experience?


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## Jeff D. (Apr 15, 2009)

I also dislocated my right hip a few years back playing soccer when I got hit real hard and landed in a hole.  My hips don't pop much but they do come out of joint a bit from daily actvitiy.  I haven't been able to be very active altely which I think may be another cause but I think I may be straining the muscles around my butt from the stress of going to the bathroom.  I also get lower back pain when I get constipated.  I think everything is related to another so the more things are stacked against you the more problems you can experience.


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## kello82 (Apr 17, 2009)

i started seeing a chiropracter last summer, he helped my mom with psyiatc (sp?) nerve problems, and as she shared my condition with him, he wanted to see if he could help.
he xrayed my spine and found places out of alignment. it was the L4 vertebre i think, and my lower lower back, like tailbone. interestingly, i have crohns of the rectum and severe lower back pain when its flaring bad there, and the L4 vertebra corresponds with the GI tract. i guess there is this idea that each region of the spine corresponds with a part of the body, and if that part of your back is messed up, then the area of your body it's responsible for will also be out of whack. ( i dont remember all the details, sorry)
anyways, for me this theory proved true as the L4 corresponds to GI and mine was totally crooked.
i saw him a few times a week to get realigned, but then i abrubtly stopped going cause i was just too sick to even get there, so i cant say that it helped me. i never finished the treatment.

to me, it seems to make a lot of sense. we hear a lot about the vagus(i think?) nerve that runs in your spine which is the mind/gut connection thing. so problems in your back should then correlate with problems in the GI, yeah?


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## seancampbell (Jun 1, 2009)

Chiropractic Seminar in Arizona

Hi,
Are there other doctors here who are attending Dr. Paul Maguire's seminar on June 12, 13, and 14th, 2009?  I'm looking forward to it.   http://www.closemorepatients.com/


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## shanereed09 (Jun 1, 2009)

*chiropractor*

I have been going to a chiropractor for 4 years, it has helped me alot


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## dhanks801 (Jun 2, 2009)

My father is a chiro, and all adjustments over the years has not done a single thing for my crohn's. It did help with headaches and backaches. I do have to say that chiros do think they can cure anything and they cant! With a chiropractor as a dad, I have somehow developed a slump and constant back pain. Some chiro he is. lol


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## shanereed09 (Jun 3, 2009)

*recommendations*

Hello. Can anyone recommend a good Chiropractor in the Los Angeles area?


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## BarryVictor (Nov 11, 2012)

There are also some cases that some chiropractic practice can't relieve all your body pains cause it is still better if you consult on a doctor or good specialist.


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## Susan2 (Nov 11, 2012)

Colt said:


> Chiropractors are pretty messed up. All they do is pop your back.


Certainly not true on the part of the chiropractors that I have used and continue to use.


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