Vertabrael wizardry - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

kerry · #1 07-07-2009, 03:16 PM

Saturday, while painting a floor with a roller and extension I did something to my back. The pain knocked me to my knees, breaking the roller in the process. Afterwards I could hobble around. Sunday morning while reaching for something in the freezer, some ice cream fell and I made a quick move to grab it. Something worse happened to my back and the pain took me to my knees again. I couldn't stand back up and ended up crawling to my bed. I had to cancel a raft trip I had planned this week. Yesterday morning I needed to go to the doctor but couldn't walk. Any weight I put on my spine was excrutiatingly painful. My wife picked up a pair of crutches for me and I was able to hang my body on the crutches enough to get to my doctor. He examined me and prescribed painfillers, muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatories. He then told me he knew a really good chiropractor and would try to get me in there immediately. I was skeptical but went along with the plan because I was in such pain and desperate.
My wife drove me to the chiropractor and I hobbled in on the crutches. He looked at me, analyzed my stance and gait, felt my back and told me I had herniated the disc at L5-S1 on the left side. He told me he was going to put the disc back in place. He laid me on my side and gently pushed on my lower back. After some further massage and some ice packs for about 5 minutes he told me I wouldn't need the crutches any more.
I'll be damned if he wasn't right. Been a little stiff since then but no pain and I've been walking around ever since. I've taken the anti-inflammatory. Having had lower back pain for many years I would have thought it impossible to cure such excrutiating pain with a simple back manipulation. Hats off to the medical doctor who recognizes the value of chiropractors and to the chiropractor for fixing my problem (apparently) in very short order.

mgburg · #2 07-07-2009, 03:24 PM

Thank you Kerry for a "First Person" perspective on Dr.s and Chiropractors...

Your comments just might persuade me to visit one now...

MTI · #3 07-07-2009, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerry

He looked at me, analyzed my stance and gait, felt my back and told me I had herniated the disc at L5-S1 on the left side. He told me he was going to put the disc back in place. He laid me on my side and gently pushed on my lower back. After some further massage and some ice packs for about 5 minutes he told me I wouldn't need the crutches any more.

First, I have to say that I do believe that chiropractic care can be beneficial for the treatment of pain and facilitate the healing of various neuro muscular pain in the body.

For the sake of argument, I'm going to assume that what is quoted is close to verbatim of what the DC said. The issue I have with such a diagnosis is that it is more of an "educated guess" which would have to be verified by diagnostic imaging to show the actual location, extent and degree of herniation.

Then there's the issue of performing a chiropractic adjustment without knowing the full extent of the insult to the disc.

Chiropractic adjustments cannot fix a herniation or dessication of the intervertebral discs.

Dee8go · #4 07-07-2009, 03:32 PM

Thanks, Kerry. I, too, have had my doubts about the value of Chiropracters even though some people swear by them. Since I have had a lot of back pain over the years, maybe I'll go see one, too.

Glad you're feeling better.

kerry · #5 07-07-2009, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTI

First, I have to say that I do believe that chiropractic care can be beneficial for the treatment of pain and facilitate the healing of various neuro muscular pain in the body.

For the sake of argument, I'm going to assume that what is quoted is close to verbatim of what the DC said. The issue I have with such a diagnosis is that it is more of an "educated guess" which would have to be verified by diagnostic imaging to show the actual location, extent and degree of herniation.

Then there's the issue of performing a chiropractic adjustment without knowing the full extent of the insult to the disc.

Chiropractic adjustments cannot fix a herniation or dessication of the intervertebral discs.

Agree with virtually all of that. There still remains the issue of whether additional imaging would ever have moved the diagnosis out of the realm of 'educated guess'. But in the final analysis I was going to a doctor to get a problem fixed and he (apparently?) fixed it without x-rays or MRI's simply by observation and examination with his hands in less than 20 minutes. I'm curious as to the long term outcome. My neighbor thinks that my previous back problems may have been caused by vertabrael misalignment and the chiropractor simply took care of a longstanding problem. No way to know without the pictures but at the moment, I'm a happy guy.

R Leo · #6 07-07-2009, 04:02 PM

As a child, I had a dachshund that 'slipped a disk' and was paralyzed from the mid-back down. She went to the vet, he said 'put her down', so we took her to the family chiropractor for a second opinion. Three adjustments/week for about 2 weeks. She was hobbling with limited use of her hind legs immediately after the first treatment and had pretty good control of the hind end after the series of treatments.

I believe there are good and bad ones...just like medical doctors.

75Sv1 · #7 07-07-2009, 04:08 PM

It was about '96 or so. I had a pinch in my neck for at least a year or more. Sometimes the pain would shoot down my arm. I was bowling once a dropped the ball, while squaring up to the lane. I did see a chiropractor for an evaluation. It was from a health fair I went to and they were an hour away. They wanted to have me visit for adjustments over several months. That was just to much travel time and money.
I was in Indonesia for a few weeks. One of the guys in the group I was with was a general practioner docotr. I think homopathic. This let him study various paths of medicine. I told him of my problem. He said he did study and practice some chiropractitian stuff. He had me lay down and and ran his fingers down my neck and spine. He said one of my vertabrea has slipped over or in back of another. He worked his magic and there was a 'pop'. Instantly, my body relaxed. It took a few day for the tingle to go away from pinched nerves.
I think chiropractors and other alternatice medicine does have its place. There are some, like regular doctors, that aren't very good. Others are great.
Tom

Mistress · #8 07-07-2009, 04:24 PM

Kerry- glad your on the mend and everything went well. I have been to a chiropractor and he did me a world of good.

tankdriver · #9 07-07-2009, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerry

There still remains the issue of whether additional imaging would ever have moved the diagnosis out of the realm of 'educated guess'. But in the final analysis I was going to a doctor to get a problem fixed and he (apparently?) fixed it without x-rays or MRI's simply by observation and examination with his hands in less than 20 minutes.

Yeah, technology doesn't eliminate guesswork, or is necessarily more valid than other means of diagnosis.

LUVMBDiesels · #10 07-08-2009, 08:08 AM

I love my chiros. The good ones do not need X-rays. They can tell from running their hands over your back and from the way you stand. Mine looked at my stance and said that the problem was how my pelvis was situated in relation to my spine. She went to work on me and the pain in my knees went away. There are various types of Chiropracty from the traditional 'spine crackers' to the guys who use mechanical aids (I went to one of those and did not like it) to what is caled Network Chiropratic. This is a newer method whhere they really only touch the ends of your spine and by doing so release the tension in your entire spine and fix it's relation to your pelvis and head. I love this type. They go slow doing a very slight adjustment then waitinng a few minutes before doing some more. I have had the best results with this type. and the Doctors who practice it had NOTHING to do with it...

All I know is I FEEL MUCH BETTER after a session