Chiropractors...dangerous??

I have been having some neck, back pains for years now until recently for about 3 weeks or so i couldnt handle them no more and having no insurance the cheapest thing to do for me was going to a chiropractic, everything went fine he took some x-rays of my neck and back and said i have 2 "subluxations" on my neck and 4 on my back and told me he could fix me. So i went with it and i paid and then i sat in a little chair and he told me relax and as soon as he said that i hear !!CRACK!! he graved me by the neck like a chicken and as soon as he was finished i felt something different like a head rush or something it felt good but then i got home and started reading about the neck cracking causing strokes on some people....is this a scare tactic by anti-chiropractors or should i be worried? and do you guys recommend them? thanks.

[edit on 6/10/2009 by Aztek87]

Well, do you feel better? I've heard that after an "adjustment" there will be some soreness. My experience with a Chiropractor happened when I was 8 months pregnant and had just been rear-ended on the freeway. The Chiropractor said "Relax". I couldn't. So there was no adjustment for me. He got very frustrated with me because as soon as I thought he was going to twist my neck, I'd freeze up. I guess I just couldn't trust him enough to relax. When I left, even the receptionist was annoyed with me.

My father has had back issues and eventually had surgery. But before surgery, he visited a chiropractor for many years. The chiropractor made his back so much worse.

I have had back issues too, which also resulted in back surgery. You could not pay me to visit a chiropractor.

I would never ever suggest anyone go to one.....but like everything else, you will get pros and cons and yeahs and nays.

If you have back issues - you need to see a regular doctor (IMO) and have them look at the xrays. I ended up having to work with a neurologist - since my issues involved my spine.

Here is some info on them and their training, etc.
www.bls.gov...

[edit on 6/10/2009 by greeneyedleo]

Well i feel kinda sore yeah but i can finally look to my left without it hurting, i would like to see what more people think about them. The only thing that worries me its the stroke thing im going again today ill ask him what he thinks about that.

[edit on 6/10/2009 by Aztek87]

A good, credible chiropractor will make you feel much better! You are sore at first, but they can do a lot of good.

I never go for "routine" adjustments. I have heard of chiropractors putting something out of whack on one visit only to fix it on the next. That is a pretty good racket!

Personally, all my experiences have been great. My lower back got twisted and it hurt for over a year. My guy found it, and fixed it over three visits for a cost of less than $200 total! Of course, he recommended I come back once a month, which I ignored. He also cracked my neck once, and he almost got his cracked right back! We came to a quick agreement that he would never do that again.

I have been back a couple of times when something feels messed up, and it has always helped.

I also have a great success story from an acupuncturist doing what my team of burn surgeons could not, but that is a whole different story!

My Chiropractor as been a life saver over the years.

Like regular doctors (I have a great one too) there are good Chiropractors and bad Chiropractors.

Medical doctors are great for prescribing drugs. Surgeons are great for slicing and dicing.

Chiropractors can help readjust things in the body that drugs can only mask the symptoms of and surgeons can only slice into and basically remove.

The reality is that as we age, and if you live a relatively sedintary lifestyle of too little exercise then over the course of time, there is only so much any kind of medical professional can do.

If you have a back braking job working in a warehouse, or on cars, as you age, there is only so much any kind of medical professional can do.

Walking I have found is absolutely the best elixer for the health there is.
Walking works every muscle in the body, and works them gently.

A good chiropractor can do a lot more than just align things that are out of place. They can provide natural health remedies, things like enzymes and vitamins that can really help keep you in top shape, they can give you tips on posture, exercise, and how to break up bad routines that lead to problems.

There are some real quack chiropractors, doctors and surgeons out there.

There are some real good chiropractors, doctors and surgeons out there.

It pays to ask around, and my specialist (I have a good one too) has a chiropractor and physical therapist on staff at his regenerative therapy office that he runs as a medical doctor that people travel from all over the world to visit. People see a value in him to do that, and he sees a value in chiropractors and physical therapy too and the last resort he ever goes to is slice and dice.

Surgeries typically can't be reversed.

My mother was having back problems and at the age of 71 went to a chiropractor. He adjusted my mothers spine. Actually he broke her back! Then recommended that she go see her own doctor. I would not trust a chiropractor...

reply to post by Aztek87



I LOVE my chiropractor. She has helped me with all sorts of things. I had ribs separated from my sternum and causing chest pain - the fixed it. I had TMJ in my jaw for over 10 years and she fixed that in 2 minutes flat (and it hasn't returned since she fixed t 2 yrs ago!) and most recently she cured my allergies to cats, dogs and dust. I can't say enough good things about her. She's also cured an unbearable migraine, in about 30 seconds - no joke.

I've been cracked every where - even my ears! She always recommends taking IB Prophen after an adjustment and relaxing for a day or so because the adjustments cause swelling - they will feel like an injury and if you don't keep the swelling down, you might feel worse than before you went to the chiro.

Are some chiros quacks? Of course. But so are some MDs - and they tend to be pill pushers that try to cover symptoms rather than cure ailments.

I got no complaints. I've been to some bad ones who just wants to get everything they can out of you. The one I go to now has a simple office, has the lowest rate in town, down to earth, and recommends I come back when I feel I need to. He has helped me with my back and knee problems for years.

Been to many doctors for these problems, but they only seem to want to push horse pills on me to mask the pain.

People talk about the things that may go wrong with a chiropractor but never stop to think that the medication doctors give you, could do harm as well.

I wonder how many medications out there could lead to a stroke, heart attack or other severe conditions.

I watched an episode of Penn and Tellers BS about chiropracters and watch one guy adjust a newborn babys back and neck.

He held the infant like anyone of us would do and then twisted its neck like a toy dolls an audible crack was heard and then he twisted the babys back until several audible cracks was heard.

The parents were sitting right there and actually condoned what happened. Ever since then chiropracters have sickened me.

An infants bones aren't even fully developed and are very brittle and they are going to adjust them?

So i really shouldn't worry about getting a stroke huh i mean this guy's office is always full of people and its only him so i think thats a good sign hehe hes also very friendly and informative and asked me just to trust him and i will feel better. One more thing so the soreness is normal? any other advice/opinions?

reply to post by Aztek87


I wouldn't worry about a stroke, I never even heard of that before this thread.

I would worry about his honesty/integrity, and then judge by the results. If he seems trustworthy, doesn't try to hound you into more and more adjustments, and you feel better, then everyone is happy!

Dentists are the other profession to watch for "suggestive selling." Some of them aren't much better than car sales people. I haven't had a cavity in 35 years, and then some quack wanted to drill on the back of my front tooth! I went for a second opinion, and the better dentist told me to never go back there, and cancel my dentist insurance, I would never need it! I love the new guy. I save $300 a year on insurance, and I pay him $75 once a year for cleanings!

"Just trust me and you will feel better" Be afraid, be very, very afraid...

Hurt for the first couple visits, afterwords I actually looked foreward to going!


If they are a good practitioner you should be OK.

Babies bones are not brittle, they are soft. The older you get then they become brittle.

Anyways, I had 2 slipped discs and a pinched nerve, when I went to the hospital the doctor told me I had a pulled muscle in my back and that all I needed to do where stretching exercises and take pain killers, he didn't even check my back or take x-rays. I couldn't stand strait, couldn't touch my toes and breathing was unbearable. Well the exercises were impossible to do, and after 2 weeks a friend told me to go see a chiropractor, so I did. After 10 min with the chiropractor I was able to stand strait, breath without pain and could touch my toes again. I could have kissed that man after he helped me, I felt so good.

I should have sued the medical doctor for malpractice but I was young and naive. Had I really tried harder to do the exercises the doctor told me to do I would be paralyzed today.

Yes some chiropractors are bad, you just need to find a good one, and it seems you have a good one by what you say in your OP.

All the dis-info on chiropractors are because they don't prescribe deadly and expensive medication that "big pharma" wants to sell you.

Don't go by what others tell you, go by what you think is right and best for your health. As for strokes, Ive never heard anything so ridicules in my hole life.... how is re-aliening your bones going to give you a stroke? I would think that's just dis-info from the medical field or big pharma.

Well here is some of the stuff i have been reading about the stroke thing...what do you guys think?

www.quackwatch.com...

household-tips.thefuntimesguide.com...

www.chiro.org...

news.ucsf.edu...

[edit on 6/10/2009 by Aztek87]