Last year I was diagnosed with Celiac and lost a lot of weight. It was also the year that I decided to get help with my back. I'd seen the school medical center for my back only to be told I wasn't even allowed to go on the pills they wanted to prescribe because of the medication I was on at the time for an unrelated health problem. It was disheartening and I continued to suffer.
A few people had been recommending chiropractic care for a while, and I unknowingly decided to try it, thinking it was like physical therapy for your back. I was wrong.
As a skeptic, it's hard for me to admit that I've been foolish and trusting. It's also hard for me to admit I didn't really do any research beforehand, and afterward, when I did do research, I was mortified. There have been multiple instances of people suffering strokes after chiropractic care (including the death of former Playboy model Katie May), and I being the worry-wart that I sometimes am was terrified I was going to have a stroke for at least a few weeks after I read about these incidents. Thankfully, the worry has subsided some, as I realize that I’m healthy and my “treatment” was mainly focused on my annoying middle back pain.
I will say that my back felt better initially after treatment, but only for the rest of the day. The next morning, I would be right back where I started. I became worried that the treatments were not doing anything, so I limited myself to a month. After that month was over, I would seek other methods of fixing my pain.
As I write this, I’m experiencing pain in my back. It’s safe to say it didn’t work, and the chiropractor that I used didn’t run my insurance correctly, so I never received an explanation of benefits. All in all, I owe a couple hundred dollars for treatments that didn’t even work.
It turns out that there are databases of people who have been seriously hurt by chiropractors, and the field itself is split into two factions, those who follow the fundamentals of the old 1800’s chiro care, and those who have been trying to introduce science and research into the profession.
The claims of these two groups are widely different. One merely claims to be able to relieve back pain, while the other will say they can treat ear infections and that they should be doing manipulations on babies . If I was a new mother, I’d be terrified if someone wanted to adjust my newborn's spine.
Not only is chiropractic care generally unproven to work by medical researchers, but chiropractors are known for their aggressive advertising and overcharging (there are even resources on how to market). Some chiropractors are even pushing to become primary care providers and in a time when good health care is harder to come by, patients are at risk for manipulation.
I know you might be suffering, but before you call the chiropractor, please try a back specialist first, or even physical therapy. Chiropractic care is almost as faith-based as religion and if I’m being honest, no one should be relying on faith for their medical care. It’s too dangerous. Some of my friends have really been helped (some even work for chiropractors), and I even got my mother involved and she's been helped, but to me, it's just not worth it.
All thoughts in this article are strictly opinion. I am not a medical professor nor do I claim to be. Information from medical professionals about this issue is welcomed and encouraged.
