Enlighten me about chiropractic care

[pblair38]

I don't want to start a huge debate, but could someone please tell me how chiropractic care helps anything not having to do with the spine or joints? 

I posted on another forum about the possibility of my son having PE tubes inserted in his ears.  He has had numerous ear infections (he's 9 mos old).  Of the people who responded, probably 25% of them recommended chiropractic care.  One lady said that her chiropractor cured her of her seasonal allergies and her heartburn.  I'm having trouble buying it. 

Since I have medical personnel in my family (my FIL is a doc, as is my aunt, and my SIL is an ICU nurse), maybe I'm just too entrenched in Western medicine.  I do have one friend who goes to a chiropractor, but she has scoliosis - I can definitely see how that would be someone appropriate to see. 

It just seems like the effects on "other" ailments would be psychological, at best.  But these ladies swear by it.  No, I don't want my baby to have to have surgery, but I don't want him to have hearing loss from having one ear infection after another. 

Penny (who has probably seen Jacob's Ladder one too many times)

[Twik]

Chiropractic is "western" as well. It's just based on a theory that is not accepted by "regular" medicine (in my humble opinion, for some legitmate reasons).

I've heard that responsible chiropractors will NOT recommend their treatments for anything more than muscular-skeletal issues, and even then there can be problems. There's been at least one case recently in my area where an incompetent chiropractor caused his patient to have a stroke during treatment. Not that regular doctors can't mess up as well, but many people assume that "alternative" means "completely harmless", which is assuredly not so.

[Gwywnnydd]

I don't want to start a huge debate, but could someone please tell me how chiropractic care helps anything not having to do with the spine or joints? 

I posted on another forum about the possibility of my son having PE tubes inserted in his ears.  He has had numerous ear infections (he's 9 mos old).  Of the people who responded, probably 25% of them recommended chiropractic care.  One lady said that her chiropractor cured her of her seasonal allergies and her heartburn.  I'm having trouble buying it. 

I can offer an anecdote about how chiropractic care helped a seemingly-non-related problem.

A woman was having problems with nausea (sp?), dizziness, had trouble walking. Over the course of time (and countless consults with doctors, trying to figure out what the problem could be), and having reached a point where she *couldn't* walk, as standing made her so naueous she'd vomit, she (in desperation, and not expecting it to help) consulted with a chiropractor. Who adjusted the Mandibular joint, which had been pressing on the nerves for the inner ear. She went from being unable to stand, to walking out of his office unsupported.

While the plural of 'anecdote' is *not* 'data', there is one example of how it can help something that doen't seem spine or joint related. 

[Evil Duckie]

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[hgd2]

I listened recently to a radio program about the efficacy of inserting these plus - which I didn't even know about before.  The links are below  if you are interested.

http://www.abc.net.au/health/library/glueear_ff.htm#a
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/stories/2007/1843075.htm#transcript

[GotSquatch]

I had the same thing as your son when I was a child.  Unfortunatly for me the doctor broke my eardrum removing the tubes and I had to have surgery to fix that (I was about 5 years old...1985). 

I see a chiropractor and it helps me with lower back discomfort and has helped keep my fingers from going numb.  I'm not sure how adjustments would help keep bacteria out of ears which is what causes infections.  I will ask next time I go in, probably next week. 

[Sandi Papaya]

I do have one friend who goes to a chiropractor, but she has scoliosis - I can definitely see how that would be someone appropriate to see. 

Don't take that for a given, though. There are people (ie, me) for whom chiropractors would do more harm than good. It depends on the degree of severity of the condition.

Even for musculoskeletal issues, I'd probably consult an actual orthopedist or sports medicine practitioner before I would a chiropractor. I don't actually place much stock in chiros, but that's because nothing they could do would work for me. As far as an issue that would seem to have more to do with bacterial infection than any actual nerve/spine/musculoskeletally-related cause, I'd consult an actual specialist before a chiropractor. YMMV, of course.

[kathrynne]

I saw a chiropractor for about 15 years and he did wonders with me, but I might as well have been a crash test dummy for a decade or so. It seems my car was a magnet for lousy drivers.

I'm no longer allowed chiropractic. The neurosurgeon who put the titanium plate in my c-spine doesn't want me getting "popped" anymore.

But the problem wasn't with the chiropractor. He did plenty to keep me relatively painfree for many years.

[IndianInlaw]

Mom of Boys, my son was born at the U of I Hospitals & Clinics.  Right there in the shadow of Kinnick Stadium, right after Homecoming Day.

Go Hawks!

[StaciNadia]

As someone who's gone to a chiropractor for about 2 1/2 years, perhaps I can answer your question.

The way I see it, problems can be caused by there actually being a problem with an organ (which chiropractic can never help) or by nerve interference making it SEEM like there's a problem.  The nerves go down the spine and then branch out between bones of the spine to go to the specific organs.  If there is pinching of a nerve because of pressure between out-of-place bones, chiropractic can provide relief.  This can result in non-back problems being solved by chiropractic! 

Might be TMI, but I had a lot more constipation before I went to my chiropractor, and now I hardly have any.  Considering there had been a lot of misalignment in my lower back, where the nerves to the intestines come from, it's probable that the chiropractor was the cause.

[Evil Duckie]

Mom of Boys, my son was born at the U of I Hospitals & Clinics.  Right there in the shadow of Kinnick Stadium, right after Homecoming Day.

Go Hawks!

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[pblair38]

Thanks, everyone, for the information.  I know from what I've read that when children are babies, their heads are "round", causing their eustachian tubes to be somewhat horizontal, which doesn't make for good drainage.  As they age, their heads elongate (around age 3), and their eustachian tubes grow more slanted, making for better drainage and therefore less fluid in the middle ear to get infected.  Some children are just going to have problems (and will have their first infection before 6 months, usually), and I can't imagine that there's anything a chiropractor can do about it.  And I'm not taking my baby to someone who would claim otherwise. 

Anyway, I feel better.  Not that I felt I had to justify my decision to NOT go to a chiropractor. 

Penny

[Gambitgirl]

I don't want to start a huge debate, but could someone please tell me how chiropractic care helps anything not having to do with the spine or joints? 

I posted on another forum about the possibility of my son having PE tubes inserted in his ears.  He has had numerous ear infections (he's 9 mos old).  Of the people who responded, probably 25% of them recommended chiropractic care.  One lady said that her chiropractor cured her of her seasonal allergies and her heartburn.  I'm having trouble buying it. 

Since I have medical personnel in my family (my FIL is a doc, as is my aunt, and my SIL is an ICU nurse), maybe I'm just too entrenched in Western medicine.  I do have one friend who goes to a chiropractor, but she has scoliosis - I can definitely see how that would be someone appropriate to see. 

It just seems like the effects on "other" ailments would be psychological, at best.  But these ladies swear by it.  No, I don't want my baby to have to have surgery, but I don't want him to have hearing loss from having one ear infection after another. 

Penny (who has probably seen Jacob's Ladder one too many times)

My father (actually stepfather, but the only one i have ever known) is a chiropractor, has been for over 30 years. As far as I know he has never treated anyone for anything other than spinal, back, nerver, joint, etc. problems. I have never heard of hism curing anyone of ear problems, heartburn, or anything unrelated to the spine, back, and nerves. But I swear he's a miracle worker for my sciatica and a pinched nerve i have in my shoulder.

But my dad is only one man and the only chiropractor I have any contact with. I would suggest you take the word only of people you know personally on what a chiropractor has done for them or their immediate family/friends directly. When it comes to health care I stick with either my own first-hand knowledge or that of my immediate family/social circle. I have recommended my dad to several people at work and friends and he has helped them with their back, spine, nerve, etc. issues...but I wouldn't send anyone to him who had a problem that wasn't in his immediate realm of expertise. Your health is too important to take second or third hand info.