Chiropractors ? Diagnosis ? My Wife

[mitchelt]

I don?t know how I feel about this, and I?m curious as to what you think.

My wife had surgery 6 days ago, and all was going fine. She could not lay down on our water bed because it did not give her enough support. She decided to sleep on the couch which is more firm.

4 days after surgery she tried to get up from the couch and she felt a sharp pain, she thought she pulled something and took some aspirin and I applied some Icy- Hot. The next day is was still hurting a lot, I was not home and her mom was watching her. Her mom decided to take my wife to her Chiropractor to see what they could do.

The Chiropractor checked her out and concluded that my wife pulled a muscle and some how shifted some of her ribs and bruised them.

Later that evening the pain was really bad and I took her to the hospital. They did some blood work and performed a cat-scan. They came back and told her she has a blood clot in her left lung and that they needed to admit her. She is now on blood thinners and morphine for the pain, she will be in the hospital for at least three days.

What bothers me is how does the Chiropractor come up with such a radically different diagnosis. She knew my wife had surgery a few days back. The nurse at the hospital took down our info and within a few minutes guessed at what the problem was.

I don?t know if I should be angry at the Chiropractor or not?believe me I have no intention of calling her or making any problems/waves.

I look forward to hearing your comments.

 

[flyboy84]

Chiropractors are not licenced doctors, no?

 

[rsd]

Go to a real doctor next time

 

[jme5343]

Diagnoses like that are a large reason people call them Chiro-quack-tors. I truly believe they're good for some things. I've no doubt I've felt better after a visit to the Chiro, but only for certain things. I went to one that said he thought he could cure my asthma, but I had to go twoce a week for like 3 months. Ummm, no.

Regardless, I hope your wife gets better.

 

[DnetMHZ]

Shouldn't the surgeon be checking her out at this point?

 

[CollectiveUnconscious]

Chiropractors are quacks. I would never, EVER, go to one again. I still have no feeling in my left pinky, ring, and middle fingers. It's been that way for 2 years.

 

[NatePo717]

A Chiropractor is ment for joints and bones and such. Not for internal organs and stuff like that. The Chiropractor just gave a diagnosis of what they specialize in so you shouldn't be angry at them.

 

[NL5]

You took her to a Chiro right after surgery - while having complications. Wow. I dunno whatto say. That was not too smart.

 

[43st]

As others have said... Chiropractors are modern snake oil salesmen.

 

[Ameesh]

chiropractors are stupid, they can shove their subluxation up their ass. for something serious like this you should always see a docotor and not some clown who pretends to be a doctor.

 

[dullard]

Chiropracters are excellent massage therapists. But many times they attempt to go outside of that realm into areas where they have no training and no expertise (exactly what happened here). Those who do that are quacks. I bet 80% are quacks. But there is still a small core of chiropracters who don't go beyond the true skills and then they are very good at what they do.

 

[mitchelt]

Originally posted by: NL5
You took her to a Chiro right after surgery - while having complications. Wow. I dunno whatto say. That was not too smart.

I did not tell you the whole story, I was 100% against that move and told my wife to call the surgeon and ask his opinion. But you know what happens when the wife and mother in-law talk...they no longer listen to the husband.

 

[eits]

in the chiropractor's defense, your wife could have been bad at describing what was wrong and the kind of pain she was having. based on the information the chiropractor was receiving, it could have lead her to come up with a completely different differential diagnosis. also, if your wife said she took aspirin, the chiropractor might have completely ruled out a blood clot because aspirin's an anticoagulant... it unstickifies your platelets and helps break up little clots (which is why you take it when you feel like you're having a heart attack).

where did your wife have surgery? that might have also come into play with the dc's differential diagnosis.

honestly, i don't think you should be angry with the chiropractor... i think if you took her to a general practitioner or family doctor, you might have come up with a very similar diagnosis. i think the only reason you ended up getting the pulmonary embolism diagnosis was because the cat scan revealed it.

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: CollectiveUnconscious
Chiropractors are quacks. I would never, EVER, go to one again. I still have no feeling in my left pinky, ring, and middle fingers. It's been that way for 2 years.

it's because the nerve roots in the bottom of your neck are pinched up.

 

[CKent]

Chiropractors are bullsh!t. They may as well tell your fortune while screwing your back up. Don't forget to buy some snake oil on your way out after your visit!

 

[Eeezee]

That was like asking a massage therapist. Chiropractors are good for massages and nothing else. If you're in pain, you should see a doctor first.

Chiropractors don't even need a 4-year degree

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: NatePo717
A Chiropractor is ment for joints and bones and such. Not for internal organs and stuff like that. The Chiropractor just gave a diagnosis of what they specialize in so you shouldn't be angry at them.

well, chiropractors can come up with a differnential, but if it isn't in their expertise or scope of practice, they need to refer out. in this case, the chiropractor did her tests and felt that it was a musculosckeletal problem.

the thing that makes me think that your wife probably wasn't providing the proper information or that the doctor wasn't asking the right questions is the fact that visceral pain is different than somatic pain. a pulmonary embolism doesn't feel like a strained intercostal muscle or a bruised rib. the doctor can only go on what the patient gives them.

your wife could have been sent out for a ct, but it would have had to have been to confirm her differential diagnosis. an x-ray wouldn't have shown anything.

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: Ameesh
chiropractors are stupid, they can shove their subluxation up their ass. for something serious like this you should always see a docotor and not some clown who pretends to be a doctor.

why do you think chiropractors are stupid? what basis do you have for saying that?

 

[NL5]

Originally posted by: eits

Originally posted by: NatePo717
A Chiropractor is ment for joints and bones and such. Not for internal organs and stuff like that. The Chiropractor just gave a diagnosis of what they specialize in so you shouldn't be angry at them.

well, chiropractors can come up with a differnential, but if it isn't in their expertise or scope of practice, they need to refer out. in this case, the chiropractor did her tests and felt that it was a musculosckeletal problem.

the thing that makes me think that your wife probably wasn't providing the proper information or that the doctor wasn't asking the right questions is the fact that visceral pain is different than somatic pain. a pulmonary embolism doesn't feel like a strained intercostal muscle or a bruised rib. the doctor can only go on what the patient gives them.

your wife could have been sent out for a ct, but it would have had to have been to confirm her differential diagnosis. an x-ray wouldn't have shown anything.

The Chiro should have immediatly sent her to her doctor - period.

 

[NL5]

Originally posted by: eits

Originally posted by: Ameesh
chiropractors are stupid, they can shove their subluxation up their ass. for something serious like this you should always see a docotor and not some clown who pretends to be a doctor.

why do you think chiropractors are stupid? what basis do you have for saying that?

You don't happen to be a chiropractor do you???

 

[BoomerD]

IME, chiropractors can do a very good job in their field. They kept me moving for about 20 years, till things finally got too bad. (some damage a simple adjustment isn't gonna help)
OP, you don't say what kind of surgery your wife had, but it seems odd that your wife would go to a chiro that soon after surgery, unless it was something minor. That seems to have been a brain-fart on the wife/MIL's part. No way (based on the info you gave here) that he should have expected an blood clot...sounds like a pulled muscle...sudden sharp pain? muscle pull...BUT, given the recent surgery...she should have gone to a medical doctor anyway...

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: Eeezee
That was like asking a massage therapist. Chiropractors are good for massages and nothing else. If you're in pain, you should see a doctor first.

Chiropractors don't even need a 4-year degree

you're right... they need a undergrad degree and go through 5 academic years of medical education, not to mention 4 national board exams and a state board exam, in order to get their doctorate.

it amazes me how many people are quick to talk smack about a profession they know little to nothing about.

 

[Tiamat]

Modern Medicine > Alternative Medicine

 

[djheater]

Originally posted by: NL5
You took her to a Chiro right after surgery - while having complications. Wow. I dunno whatto say. That was not too smart.

Agreed, it was also the chiropractor's responsibility to say, "Go to your primary care physician, you just had surgery. When you've completely healed from that, come to me if you're still having issues"

If I was having trouble speaking following troat surgery, I wouldn't go to a proctologist.
That being said the medical and chiropractic communities are complementary, and we should endeavor to use them as such.

 

[hehatedme]

Originally posted by: eits
in the chiropractor's defense, your wife could have been bad at describing what was wrong and the kind of pain she was having. based on the information the chiropractor was receiving, it could have lead her to come up with a completely different differential diagnosis. also, if your wife said she took aspirin, the chiropractor might have completely ruled out a blood clot because aspirin's an anticoagulant... it unstickifies your platelets and helps break up little clots (which is why you take it when you feel like you're having a heart attack).

where did your wife have surgery? that might have also come into play with the dc's differential diagnosis.

honestly, i don't think you should be angry with the chiropractor... i think if you took her to a general practitioner or family doctor, you might have come up with a very similar diagnosis. i think the only reason you ended up getting the pulmonary embolism diagnosis was because the cat scan revealed it.

He said that the nurse took down some info and made the diagnoses herself before the catscan. The chiro was probably in over his head, and should have refered the patient to someone that could have helped