Thoughts on chiropractors for hip/back pain

[4horses]

I had a fall off my young horse over a year ago. Landed on right hip/buttocks. It seemed to improve over time. I did request some x rays and an MRI which all came back normal. Came off again this summer and landed on the same spot. Not nearly as bruised but I feel like everything is slightly out of alignment. Minor residual pain. I really doubt anything is seriously injured and I think repeat testing will just come back as normal.

Same with my back pain- rhomboid pain. I had an MRI and x rays and all looked normal. Suggested physical therapy which I did. I did get a new referral to a different doctor for a second opinion.

I wonder if I just need to look into a good physical therapist and maybe a chiropractor? As my doctors really don’t have any answers.

[SBrentnall]

I depend on my chiro once a month to keep me riding. She levels my pelvis and hips, and my horse always goes so much better the day after I’ve had an adjustment.

[LCDR]

Take some time and read this review to aid you in deciding whether to proceed with chiropractics. The debate around efficacy of chiropractic therapy can become emotionally charged and full of distractions with personal but non-scientific anecdotes.

Clinical Effectiveness and Efficacy of Chiropractic Spinal Manipulation for...

[luvmyhackney]

So my son was having extremely painful leg pains. Like couldn’t sleep or eat pain, just cry with a heating pad on his legs. Doctors prescribed 4 different meds, all pain meds. Took him to a Cairo that fixed a misalignment in his neck area, pain was gone instantaneously.

Do they fix everything, nope. But used in conjunction to PT and regular doctor, they have their place.

[Red_Dust]

I once woke up with a pinched nerve in my neck. I could not turn my head, it hurt just to much. I was lucky to get an appointment for that morning, I think it was even Saturday! A quick snap, all was well.
He also detected one out of alignment further down (T6 I believe) a little work there, and all was better. I tend to have some discomfort, usually on the I think that physio or exercise needs to go hand in hand. For most people the issues arise from a sedentary lifestyle.
In your case a massage might work as well.

[PaddockWood]

I have a story like yours. Fell off my horse which started hip issues. What I remember the wierdest was an urge to crack my back. Several times a day I’d get on the floor and take one leg over and twist and crack. Had to do it and then the urge would slowly come back. Went from doc to doc - xrays, MRI, told I needed injections, then surgery etc.

Had a friend suggest her chiro who put all the images up on her lights and said, “wow, I don’t know where this starts but you are off all over the place.” My seat bones were off and she gave me an ischial lift and said, start sitting on this and let’s see if everything calms down. Right then and there all the tightness and pain stopped.

I sat on that lift for some time and everything calmed down and it all went away. That was 15 years ago. She did point out a bad disk and said watch that. Never lift and twist. Take care of your back.

I would also suggest Kelly Starrett’s mobility website. He’s all about using hard rubber balls to release tissue. One of the DO docs I saw suggested his work and it always releases whatever is bothering me.

Just heard on the Huberman podcast interview w Dr. Stacy Sims she mentioned Kelly Starretts work too.

[PaddockWood]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBHzXF-mVjY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DoBJLEp7jM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_713h6iug30

Why You Should ‘Smash’ Your Hips With a Lacrosse Ball For 10 Minutes Today

[HorseLover65]

I honestly believe I wouldn’t be riding today without my chiropractor. Neck, low back, hip pain are chronic without regular chiropractic. I have a disc that bulges on occasion and she has helped resolve that situation every time. I also wholeheartedly support the use of a tennis ball and a combination of physical therapy and massage therapy as needed.

[PaddockWood]

My experience with western medicine docs is never once has anyone suggested bodywork or chiro. 30 years ago I rode roller coasters all day and couldn’t turn my neck the next day. Grew up riding and gymnastics. They suggested surgery. Freaked me out. Found a good bodyworker - massage - and she got me totally released in one treatment. Never went back to OSU Sports Med.

Then years later with my hip it was all recommendations for injections and surgery. Never did it.

My latest was a trigger thumb and has it injected twice and doc said need to do surgery. Had a friend suggested acupuncture and do you know, oh yes, in 4 treatments and it took a month later but all resolved and has never come back and that’s a couple years now.

Then had my other hand start to lock up - middle finger area - got acu and it all went away.

The American system is so broken because most docs want to cut on you or inject because that’s where the money is. PT and bodywork and acu are viable alternatives but you would never know it short of doing that legwork on your own.

So sad.

[Willesdon]

I see a McTimony chiropractor fairly regularly, every six months or so, “even when I don’t need it”. However, every time I have a fall I immediately book a treatment. She treats humans X2 days a week and horses X3 and as a rider she obviously understands what it does to our bodies. I can walk in unsound and walk out sound. My cousin, my neighbour, a friend also now see her regularly.

[HorseLover65]

My chiropractor is an endurance rider. She has never once told me to quit riding; however, she has asked me not to fall

[ClearDonkey]

I do monthly massage and chiro, in back to back appointments. I struggle with chronic neck pain, tight shoulders, and lingering hip issues from a similar fall where I sprained my hip, and it makes a huge difference in how I feel. Many of us readily provide our horses whatever they need to help them feel their best, and I think most of us probably have a tough time doing the same for ourselves.

[Simkie]

A good chiro might be worth a visit but it’s always so tough to find a good one.

Don’t discount, too, taking the imaging you have to different experts. I was told my imaging was normal for years by various (well respected) surgeons. Finally got to the one guy who had the experience to diagnose what was wrong, and he called that same imaging so text book and clearly abnormal he would use it in a paper. Just because one doctor says there’s nothing there definitely doesn’t always mean there’s actually nothing there.

[S1969]

@luvmyhackney

Do they fix everything, nope. But used in conjunction to PT and regular doctor, they have their place.

This is good advice. If you know exactly what’s wrong with you (and it’s specifically related to joints being stuck) then a chiro by themselves might be the perfect solution. But it’s more likely that chiro + PT (and/or massage or other alternative treatment) would work better.

Most athletes have some muscle imbalance that causes issues that chiros can fix, but without changing the underlying imbalance they just keep reverting.

[foursocks]

Yes, I think it is so individualized that it is impossible to say what will work until one goes down a few different paths. I have scoliosis and spondylosis and what has worked for the last 30 years to keep me feeling good is chiropractic work.

The problem is that, as someone mentioned above, you have to find a good one. I’ve never been adversely affected by a chiro, but I have used one or two who just didn’t help. My guy now is great- I go to him every 3-4 weeks when things are good, and if I fall off or hurt my back in some other way, I see him every few days until my back settles down to its usual level. I have stretches that I do that he assigned to me years ago and those help keep things stable in between, as well.

I’ve been to regular western medicine doctors, been through PT, used acupuncture, used massage, and nothing works as well as my chiro. He keeps me in the saddle. I had a great acupuncturist who got rid of my tinnitus (I think we were both surprised by that!), and I always feel better after a session, but after 30 years of trying different things I have accepted that nothing is going to make the mechanics of my back feel better except (proper) manual manipulation.

[FitToBeTied]

I have back and neck problems. An inversion table really helps. It’s basically passive traction. I’d try that before going to a chiro.

[RMJacobs]

My rheumatologist is very anti-chiro. He said he won’t fire me as a patient if I go, unless I allow them to work on my neck. He thinks RA patients are too fragile for chiro. I haven’t been tempted to try it.

He said if I felt my lower back problem needs an adjustment, to have my osteopath do it instead of a chiropractor. I saw an osteopath for 20 years when I lived south of Denver, and now I see one here in northern Colorado. Although I’m not sure if my current one does adjustments. I feel all my pain is RA related, so I haven’t bothered going down the adjustment path.

Rebecca

[Bogey2]

My Chiro saved my riding career! She also gave me great exercises to maintain the work she did.