Chiropractors

[lynnzop[$]]

I am considering going to see a quack, uh, I mean, a chiropractor. Hubby goes to one and swears by it, and I wonder if it could help my TMJ and my persistent neck cracking (I can crack it, but I always feel like there is a crick in my neck on one side.)

Advice?

[taurusmoon]

I've had mixed results with chiropractic. It was a huge success and blessing when I had severe sciatica and lower back problems. It was a bit underwhelming with the herniated discs in my neck.

That being said, my neck felt much better after treatment, but the reason I was going was to relieve the compression symptoms that affected my hand. It didn't help that at all. Neither did OT for that matter.

Advice? Go for it. It may help. Does your insurance cover it?

[lynnzop[$]]

That's part of the problem. Yes, insurance will cover it. However, I'm now having to pay for everything out of pocket because of the inept ENT earlier this year (his treatment, I honestly believe made the TMJ worse).

I've read a couple of things about TMJ that it is not proven to be affected by chiro. I can't imagine someone yanking on my jaw, especially right now when it's so sore.

[emeleel]

I wouldn't think that a chiro could do much for the jaw, but a good one can do wonders for your neck and back! Although, if you can get the neck loosened up, it may help the jaw somewhat, because the muscles close by won't be so tight, so the nerves might get a bit of a break.

Just ask around for recommendations, and don't go to anyone who tries to push unnecessary pills or treatments on folks. You want someone who sticks to their basic job.

[lynnzop[$]]

Hubby has a good chiro, so I'm set there. He doesn't push pills or anything else, and hubby's pretty particular.

I don't know about this though.

[drmomentum[$]]

I'll crack your back for free, and I'm pretty darned good at it. And I promise you won't have any subluxations when I'm done. At least, not any that show up on an X-ray.

OK, not helping. I hope you find some relief for your jaw.

[pippadaisy[$]]

drmomentum said

subluxations

[slick4591[$]]

I went to one for close to two years for chronic neck pain and only received tempory relief. Tracy went too and said he really helped her until she had the herniated disc. That called for surgery.

But I'll say this, correct spine alignment is a joy to have. Been thinking of going back for a tuneup.

[magenta321]

I swear by it.

[Helen_B[$]]

When a new adjustment to my sleep apnea mouthguard nearly dislocated my jaw, my chiropractor used acupuncture and cold laser which took the soreness right away. Of course she also worked on my back and neck and shoulders first. I need to go in again on general principles.

[drmomentum[$]]

pippadaisy said

My main problem with chiropractic is that it's nonscientific, especially when dealing with nonsense internal to chiropractic theory and bad vs. good chiropractors. In other words, they reject a highly successful scientific mechanism for getting rid of nonsense and rewarding good chiropractors. This means it's a crap shoot, in my opinion. There are experts who know a lot more about this than I do.

If you stick to a chiropractor who is dealing with spine problems, you're probably OK enough. But any talk of subluxations or your back causing other problems and I would get away from that person.

Can chiropractic adjustments correct a TMJ problem?

One answer would be "yes." Since some TMJ symptoms will resolve on their own in time, a chiropractor will probably be happy to adjust your neck and take payment now and credit later on for any improvement.

But, good luck to you, sincerely. My wife had TMJ problems, which subsided somewhat on their own, but she still today has "clicking" and pain if she has to have her jaw open for long periods of time, like ast the dentist. She left one dentist when he suggested she see a chiropractor for it. That was about the same time he started to creepily caress her jaw and ask her a lot of personal quesitons that didn't seem to have anything to do with the medical condition.

-JP

[lynnzop[$]]

Okay, well, I don't think I have that problem with my dentist.

My nephew is one of the more modern chiros. He went to Palmer and I should probably just call him up and talk to him about the benefits to TMJ (I'm sure he'll come up with something...he's not only drunk the kool-aid but appears to have traded his blood for it )...he's in SD so I probably don't need to worry too much about him coming over and yanking on my neck immediately. Last time I had him check me out, he said my spine was really in incredible condition...I suppose that can change though.

[lynnzop[$]]

So at the fair, my neighbor again is one of the local quacks, I mean Chiro's. One of his guys is there, and has this zapping thing that they run over your back and neck to see if you have muscle spasms and alignment problems. I decided because business was pretty slow to go over and see what they found.

My lower back is almost perfect. No probs at all.

There are 8 points in the neck that their program evaluates. I scanned at "severe" out of whack for 7 of them.

I coulda told them that.

But he did say absolutely he could help the TMJ. He winced when I told him (and showed him) how I could crack my neck. Said "don't do that!!!"

I guess I'll give them a call. They are running a special where you come in and get evaluated for $25. That seems like a pretty good deal.

[hadassahchana[$]]

I love my chiropractor. She works on back/neck etc. She does not push herbs. She does not cure phobias. She doesn't claim to do anything except relieve pain, and she is very good at it. I like anyone who can make my neck feel better.

[magenta321]

Lynnzop, I'm assuming you have health insurance -- and your insurance will cover your chiro care... mine caps out at 25 visits per calendar year. I dunno how you'll do, but I well surpassed that in my 4 months since my accident. But, when I only had back pain from normal wear and tear, I wasn't coming close to that 25. I'm sure it varries by plan, but, I would be it's covered for you Your copay is probably less than $25 too

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

Not all insurance covers chiro - ours does only because our office manager insisted in the special rider that would alllow chiro. Chiro may be an allowable expense for FSA accounts.

[lynnzop[$]]

It's covered under our plan, unfortunately the quack ENT maxed out my initially covered expenses, so I have to pay out of pocket on everything until I reach a bizillion dollars or something.

But I'm thinking this is getting too bad to wait until January when new ins kicks in.

[emeleel]

A long time ago, the BC/BS plan we were under "kinda" handled chiro care. You could go to the chiro, pay out of pocket, they would file it, and that amount would count toward your deductible. If you ever met your deductible, THEN they would pay for visits for you.

Going to the chiro always cost so much we could only do it for emergencies, and only just long enough to get through the problem, so we never ever managed to meet our deductible that way.

[lynnzop[$]]

Went in for the diagnostic after work yesterday. My neck scans were off the chart. Freaking work stress.

They had big charts on the wall about subluxations, JP...I did think it was interesting that the conditions that are attributed to neck problems line up about 100% with my biggest health issues. Maybe there is something to this after all.

I go in tonite for my first adjustment. They use a zapper thing, not as much manual adjustment to start, so he said I should still be good to play volleyball. When Dan goes in, he's out of commission for the day...Doc Nick said I shoudl be fine. It's also allergy shot day, so I am going to be one crabby person by 9:00 tonite.

[slick4591[$]]

Chiropractic care can also help you with your allergy symptoms. My BIL swears by it.

[lynnzop[$]]

Yep yep yep. I'm going to sound like a complete moron here, but the areas that I scanned at high stress are the nerves that may affect allergies, dizziness, horseness (voice, not neighhhh), tinnitus, and a couple of other things.

Like I said, I found it very interesting. I'm willing to give it a chance, God knows conventional medicine isn't making me any better.

[pippadaisy[$]]

Just a question... did you tell them any of your medical history first?