a) whats the difference
b) how do i chose one
c) amyone know a good place in Reading to get my back fixed (sliped disk amongst other problems)

Chiropractor = snake oil salesman

Chiropody = removing ingrowing toenails.

Chiropractor = snake oil salesman

really, why do GP’s recommend them now then? or do you think that medicine in general is just a myth and you can heal yourself with the power of your mind?

I’ve no idea why GPs recommend them, beyone any placebo effect, but the assumption that spinal manipulation can cure ALL illnesses (yes that is what chiropractic states) plus the fact that they are anti vaccinations makes me very suspicious. The lack of any evidence that it works is also a bit of a giveaway.

Some GPs offer accupuncture and that doesn’t work beyond any placebo effect either.

so you a research scientist then gonefishin? as the general medical community seem to disagree with you, so it might be worth letting them know your findings about this conspiracy.

Also have you had chiropracty or acupuncture? as for a placebo it seems to work very well.

Am I a research scientist? No.

Have I had Chiropracty? No.

Have I had Acupunture? Yes (it didn’t work by the way)

Since you are so convinced of it’s efficacy can you point me in the direction of the clinical trials that prove that it works as I for one am always prepared to change my mind when presented with evidence.

ok back on track,

I’ve sliped a disk in my lower back, my GP told me to go see a chiropractor which I’d have to pay for.

If theres a better way I’m all ears, as as far as I can tell it aint cheep!

Acupuncture does have some weight of evidence behind it now; but the studies are limited by the inability to perform double blind trials, however it does seem to improve chronic pain conditions.

Why a GP would ever recommend a chiropractor I’ve no idea. I tell the patients I see they are more than welcome to seek one out if they wish to try it but would never recommend they see one. Little to no evidence that they make any difference in well controlled studies. Lots of anecdotal evidence, but that is exactly what it says, anecdotal.

p.s. get your GP to refer you to a decent physio, evidence based and available on the NHS…..

dunno, my mum was sent to one to sort her back out, £80 lighter, and 2 months later she was pain free. Sounded blooming uncomfortable though, lots of cracking noises and the definate feeling of beign 2″ taller walking out.

Might try and see her’s, if it doesn’t work at least I can go back saying I tried.

“my mum was sent to one to sort her back out, £80 lighter, and 2 months later she was pain free.”

Not wanting to dismiss your mother’s treatment but if it took until 2 months after the visit before she was pain free then I’d suspect that she would have gotten better al by herself without the visit to chiropractor.

How about finding an osteopath? can you get them on the NHS yet?

gonefishin, I think you are splitting hairs £80 wouldn’t be for 1 session would it.

Personally I have had chiropracty, as I did my back in carrying a heavy object up some stairs (being bloody stupid) and the next day I could barely get out of bed (I had to do the grit your teeth, brace yourself and move quickly just to get out of a seat let alone my bed).

I went to see my GP, and he told me he could give me some tablets which would mask the pain, or a number for a chiropractor who could more than likely be able to treat it. 5 sessions later (2 weeks) I was pain free and it seems to have been fixed.

and to pre-empt the whole it could have got better itself in 2 weeks, well considering after the 1st session went from unable to sleep due to the pain, to just being in discomfort it worked for me.

Personally when I spazz my back again I would see one again. If you don’t believe in it and want to live with back pain fair enough, personally I would pay to get it sorted so I could live a normal life again.

edit: The main difference I believe in Osteopaths and Chiropractors is Chiropractors can take and read Xrays, which helps/speeds up the diagnosis of problems. Whereas Osteopaths have to use more basic methods to try and work out whats broken/wrong.

not entering the debate about whether chiro works but when I was referred for a prolapsed disc, the advice from the consultant was to try physio first; then osteopathy, and finally if all else fails a chiropractor. And after that surgery.

On the basis that they are by stages more interventional, and some conditions you want to resolve the problem as gently as possible, not necessarily as fast as possible.

“gonefishin, I think you are splitting hairs £80 wouldn’t be for 1 session would it.”

Why not, I’ve no idea how much chiropractors cost. I’ve paid over £30 for a 20 min(ish) session with a good physio so I wouldn’t have thought £80 would be too OTT.

£80 was 4 sessions at about £20 each time i think, once every fortnight. she could have gone back sooner but was told to wait for everything to stretch out/feel a bit more normal between treatments. Would it have got better with time, anythings possible, but would be a bit of a stretch to presuem a back problem lasting months woudl sudenly clear up on its own coincidentlay after getting it treated.

From what I’ve seen, its £40-£45 for half an hour, then £30-£40 for 20 minute sessions thereafter (down south, guess the price drops as you head north). Which as far as I can tell is about the same as a physio and they do seem to do similar jobs from what i’ve read/seen/heard .

thats around what I paid, which also included a couple of xrays (checked by a consultant radiologist) and free access to a rehab gym.

physios never worked for me, as they just seem to give you a shitload of exercises which most people don’t do so don’t actually work.

Seems to be a funny attitude in the UK about them, whereas in Europe and the US/Canada they are pretty much everywhere and seen as an essential part of the healthcare system.

Was weird sat in a waiting room full of polish builders though, who apparently don’t even bother with GP’s for back pain as they don’t want tablets they want the problem sorted and Chiro’s (according to the chiropractor I must add) treat the problem quickly and effectively.

Because I was sceptical, and a bit cheap, I went along to the local osteopathy school where I only had to pay £10 for an hour. One of the qualified people examine you and then you are assigned to one of the 4th year students who are in their final term to treat you.

I went because I had tendonitis in my achilles and my hamstrings were tight, I had already had an operation where the arches of my feet were cut open and the tendons lengthened and i was put in plaaster from my toes to my knees for 6 weeks. The next operation was lined up where the consultant said they need to do the same thing to my achilles tendons, before presumably doing the same to my hamstrings.

The osteopaths clicked my neck around and adjusted my posture so i was standing up straighter and after about 8 sessions all the problems with my legs were fixed and i didn’t need any further surgery. As an additional bonus the change in posture also opened up my shoulders and chest and the throat infections and tonsilitis i used to get every few months also disappeared. This was about 15 years ago when osteopathy was still in the same category as voodoo as far as most people were concerned. Cant recommend it highly enough.

Steve

“Would it have got better with time, anythings possible, but would be a bit of a stretch to presuem a back problem lasting months woudl sudenly clear up on its own coincidentlay after getting it treated.”

Actually it is entirely possible that this would have happened. People seek advice/treatment when they are feeling at their worst then whichever treatment they have been using gets the credit for any improvment whether or not it had any impact. It’s precisely this sort of confirmation bias that blinded clinical trials seek to eleminte. I’d guess that it would be very difficult to do a double blinded trial on this sort of thing but single blinded trials would certainly be possible.

Fact fans: John McTimoney, developer of the McTimoney chiropractic method, is my grandad’s uncle.

Two years trying to diagnose/treat iffy vertabrae in my neck with no joy.
Two sessions with a back cracker, sorted.
To answer the OP. I’d ask for recommendations as you have or Google local ones as I did when I moved. They all have to be qualified (non-fans will point out that their qualifications aren’t ratified by the medical establishment but I wouldn’t let that put you off) and I’ve never come across a bad one in the five I’ve had to visit.

yep I would add that you need to check they are registered with these people:

http://www.gcc-uk.org/page.cfm

That way you know you are getting someone who knows what they are doing, rather than someone pretending to.

My local chiroproactic sorted out my back / leg / shoulder problems which had more-or-less incapacitated me. It did involve some heavy pelvis realignment, as my legs previously had more than an inch difference in their lengths. Now down to a quarter inch-ish.

Chiropractor worked for me, diagnosed the problem when no other professional could. Spent six months in constant pain, unable to do much. After one visit, including X-ray, felt much much better.

A lot of sports people use him, he’s in Camberley, Surrey – half hour’s drive from Reading. E-mail in profile if you want more info.

Go & see a properly qualified Osteopath, Physio or Chiropractor who is recommended by people in your area. They should have a plausible explanation about what has happened & what they propose to do about it. If it’s not improving in 3-4 treatments seek a second opinion. If they say the disc has slipped out & they are going to put it back in leave without paying – it doesn’t work like that.

@Richc – the majority of those suffering back pain gain nothing other than a dose of ionising radiation by having an x-ray as the problems tend not to be boney and therefore don’t show up (unless there is a history of major trauma or suggestive of cancer). Historically X-rays were used as a sales tool by Chiropractors as much as diagnosic tols.

@Dr death – randomised double blind trails are difficult with physical medicine. Having said that there needs to be more research done (as ever….). IME physiotherapy on the NHS tends to be very protocol driven, which would be fine if thinks such as ‘back pain’ are uniform entities. They are not, so I believe a more personalised treatment plan is better – but then I would, I’m an Osteopath.

they sort my back out periodically. i ought to go more really as it makes a huge difference to how i feel.

there is no way a doctor could sort out what they have with ‘traditional’ medicine.

i dont understand the haters?

do xrays not highlight bad alignment and posture?

“i dont understand the haters? “

I’m guessing that is refering to me. I’m not a hater of anything, besides ignorance, all I want is evidence that it works rather than anecdote (which is all that has been supplied thus far). As I said earlier I can see that double blinded trials would be near impossible but single blinded trial should be possible. This has been done for accupuncture and I see no reason why this can’t be done in this area also.

Of course the main reason I’m skeptical is in this statment.

“they sort my back out periodically. i ought to go more really as it makes a huge difference to how i feel.”

If all that can be done is management of a condition then why is that not stated up front. I’ve had some poor physiotherapy in that past that was effectively the same thing. I am no longer £40 a week worse off.

I’ve had a really bad neck for the last 3 years which two seperate physios have failed to sort out. Probably as others have said because I haven’t followed through with excercises properly. Second physio did seem to loosen it up slightly as a muscle had become overtensed and some forceful stretching did help somewhat, but it didn’t clear up properly (she also tried some acupuncture which I went along with for a giggle but obviously made no difference).

Anyone with experience of osteopathy or chiropracty able to explain what the advantages are and whether they would be more likely to help? I can hear creaking when I move my neck which makes me think it’s a physical problem that should be able to be fixed physically, and sitting up straight all of a sudden isn’t going to solve anything in my view – I just want my neck putting back to how it was before.

Whereabouts in Reading are you thisisnotaspoon?

The Harrison Clinic at Arborfield is run by my bosses missus. She’s a superb osteopath (and understands bikers, given that here husband is one!), plus she has a whole team of osteos, sports masseurs, physios etc. there.

i kow you cant slip a disk back in , mainly because they dont “slip”, they rupture/burst/prolapse etc

I was taught by Vian Neville-Towle (?spelling), he’s good & works in Reading.

When did you work for Vian, Nick? Mel (who I linked to above) worked for him too, before she set up her own clinic.

Porterclough – internet diagnosis is hit & miss. If your neck is ‘crunchy’ you probably hold your head too far forwards (the noise is probably from joints at the back of your cervical spine). This tends to be associated with poor breathing patterns &/or tight pecs. Whoever you go to should at least look at these things.

tb-m: I’ve not worked for him (I live near Chichester) – but he was a good teacher & I would be very happy to recommend him.

nick – that sounds like what the physio said, the excercises (that I probably don’t do enough/properly) are to do with pulling my neck in, presumably to train the muscles differently. What I don’t fully understand is what would be different if anything if I went to an osteopath (or chiropracticator for that matter). After 2 physios made no difference I’d sort of given up (other than self prescribing excercise and beer). Guess I’ll just try an osteo next, cheers.