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Has anyone used a chiropractor to get rid of a headache?

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SparkyJJO said:
OK then, explain why a chiropractor, who went through the years of schooling, testing, certifications, etc is not a doctor. What makes them NOT doctors?

You don't have to be a drug pusher to be a doctor.

You're right, there is a measurable and quantifiable world of difference. My chiropractor doesn't make my wallet near as light as many other doctors do, nor am I in the waiting room for an hour because they actually know how to schedule appointments there 😛
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Yes, and the doctor went through years of vastly more rigorous schooling, rigorous testing, and do not even start on certifications.

It's called Medical. School. And that's just the beginning.

That's really all that needs to be said.

Chiros have their place and this is not a dig, but there is simply a gulf of difference when comparing a "good" chiro education to that of a "good" doctor education. It's just not in the same stratosphere.

And sorry about your scheduling difficulties, but that is not the MD's fault. There are entire departments and clerical staffs devoted to scheduling as many patients per day as possible.
 
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A better question would be, what could physically have caused you this pain? It's possible it's very serious condition like a tumor. So unless there is an external, physical cause like trauma, strain, dehydration etc. you may need to get your head examined literally.
 
Ns1 said:
I'm approaching day 5 of the worst headache I've ever had - it basically feels like a giant knot where my neck meets the skull. I'm calling it the "cul de sac of pain".

I've been uh, self medicating for the past 5 days and now I'm desperate enough to seek "professional" help. I've recently discovered that my insurance covers chiro visits, so I'm looking! At this point even a chiropractor that's a front for a massage office would be the second coming of christ.

But back to the point of this post - has anyone dealt with a headache via chiropractor? Did it work?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaTO8_KNcuo
 
You don't go to a chiro to "crack" your neck. Cracking any knuckles or gaps is only popping air to begin with. You go to a chiro to re-align your vertebrae. The science of chiropractic is pretty simple. Your spinal cord (the highway to your nerve center) runs down through your spine. If the spine is misaligned it can easily cause discomfort by applying pressure to that highway.

Sorry, but over the counter medicine only masks the issue. See a chiro.
 
I've gone to chiro's for years. I've also kept up the same activity level, and not gone for years at a time. My back and health felt no different. Furthermore, my girlfriend who is a DPT said chiropractic manipulations don't really "fix" anything. At the most, it offers temporary relief. You need to relieve the stress in the muscles, if that's what is causing the problem. If it's not muscular related, than you need to see a doctor... a REAL doctor.

I can say now after having gone to the chiro 3 days a week for months and months at a time, then stopping cold turkey and not going for over 1.5yrs, that chiro is basically BS. If you have muscle issues, any amount of chiro work is not going to help you long term. The problems will come back.
 
I don't know. If I get a bad headache day 5. My initial reaction is to go to doctor.

Why would a chiro pop in your mind first? Yes they may be able to adjust it, but a day 5 headache can be something serious & internal/neural/whatever. You know, get MRI or screenings like that done.

Go see a doc.
 
Ns1 said:
oh my god Excedrin Migraine is the second coming of christ
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You do realize that pain medication is only masking the symptom and not addressing what could be a serious underlying cause that may be treatable now but may become untreatable later and that you might end up regretting not going to a physician sooner at some point down the line provided you actually survive long enough to have such a regret right?
 
I've never gone to one and never will. I have had a physiotherapist help me before though; de-knotted some muscles in my right shoulder which were giving me problems and causing headaches. Was really helpful.

KT
 
CPA said:
You don't go to a chiro to "crack" your neck. Cracking any knuckles or gaps is only popping air to begin with. You go to a chiro to re-align your vertebrae. The science of chiropractic is pretty simple. Your spinal cord (the highway to your nerve center) runs down through your spine. If the spine is misaligned it can easily cause discomfort by applying pressure to that highway.

Sorry, but over the counter medicine only masks the issue. See a chiro.
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Excuse me but speak for yourself. I go to a "chiro" to crack my neck and for no other purpose. I don't even have any pain I just go there to hear my body produce cracking sound effects.

It all started when I was but a small child. While the other normal kids were playing twister, or the budding young pedophile kids were playing doctor on each other, I was off laying down mats of bubble wrap to stomp on repeatedly because I enjoyed popping sounds, much to the chagrin of my parents who chastised me as much as English teachers did about my run-on sentence structure, for which I might add there is no cure. To the chastisement my typical response was something along the lines of "screw you, just be glad I'm not loudly banging pots and pans together and stfu with your idiotic insolence." I was promptly sent off to boarding school where I learned proper Lindy dancing and mathematics. To this day I cannot complete an integration by parts problem without dancing up a storm which got me promptly booted from exams causing me to fail and my ultimate downfall into a resident ATOT rodeo clown rather than the finding incredibly large primes in my head without the aid of a useless calculator genius I was meant to be.

I did meet some fine upstanding friends of mine in boarding school though like Harold Bentworth who is now a successful priest with the Holy Order of Anthropomorphic Religious Divinity or H.O.A.R.D. in Salem, MA. Incidentally he started out as pre-med but his bedside manner left much to be desired as the patients at the mental hospital where he did his residency didn't take too kind to his tendency to break out into Lindy dancing while diagnosing and performing medical procedures. He had always wanted to be a doctor since he was a little boy playing doctor on other little boys as a hobby but he had to give that up to be a priest. Such a shame.

In any event I don't see why you or anyone else has any right to sit in judgment of anyone who merely enjoys the many sound effects the human body is capable of producing through any one of hundreds of manipulations at our disposal.
 
I had one of the most painful headaches ever several years back that deadlined me. I'm usually a bit skeptical, but decided to go to a chiropractor and after the work was done the headache was gone.

I don't believe chiro can fix everything like they might say, but they can certainly fix certain issues that relate to that area.
 
Yes. The pain was in the skull, at the base, to the left. He said the top vertebra was off. That one hurt when he snapped it but it was fixed.
 
SparkyJJO said:
OK then, explain why a chiropractor, who went through the years of schooling, testing, certifications, etc is not a doctor. What makes them NOT doctors?

You don't have to be a drug pusher to be a doctor.

You're right, there is a measurable and quantifiable world of difference. My chiropractor doesn't make my wallet near as light as many other doctors do, nor am I in the waiting room for an hour because they actually know how to schedule appointments there 😛
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A "doctor" is shorthand slang for a professional degree. Historically, it would actually refer to a phD where a doctor is highly specialized in their field in addition to a broad general knowledge and ability to independently advance and research it, and that would exclude an MD. Medical doctors generally don't have the same type of training or background in research (unless they actually are going into research), but it's still a very advanced degree that requires a very broad base of knowledge and years of practice and learning. I suppose someone who gets a doctorate of chiropractic is a similar expert in their field, but their field is not medicine and they do not have an MD. A doctor of chiropractic would be on par with a dentist or a psychologist, but most chiropractors don't have doctorates.

I'm not familiar with a doctor of chiropractic's training, but I'd imagine it's similar to a psychologist (ie, "soft" science) rather than an MD which actually does receive advanced training in various scientific fields.

Anyhow, if a chiropractor makes you feel good, then do it, it doesn't really matter if their training is academically less rigorous so long as it works for you.
 
Nutella gives me a headache everytime, as does lots of peanut butter, or forgetting to drink my coffee.

What have you been eating/doing the last 5 days?

And yes, ibuprofen around the clock (or whatever NSAID works for you best, surely you know by now?) will dull a headache like that tremendously you stubborn nancy. Whatever you are 'self medicating' with is probably making it worse.
 
skyking said:
my mom had these horrible migraines that would send her to bed. She worked at the hospital, had access to all sorts of doctors who basically had nothing for her in the way of treatments or suggestions.
She went to a chiro, very skeptical but out of options. Long story short she had been in a car wreck a year before and held on to the wheel hard enough that she hit her head on the roof. He found it in her neck, and two treatments late she never had one of those migraines again.
That's all I have, one anecdotal story but it did the trick for her.
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I was very skeptical before my first visit - chronic headaches - 7 days a week. Advil always took care of the headache, but I really didn't enjoy having to be in pain and losing my concentration a couple of times a day. So, reluctantly, I went to the chiro. Ditto reason for the headaches - rear-ended in a car twice.

Chiro also said, "you must be having a lot of tingling in your right hand." "Uh, yeah, how'd you know?" "Your C-(some number or another) vertebra is compressed." After the treatment, headaches were gone for a few days. He told me I'd have to get a few treatments before they'd stay gone - the muscles would slowly pull things back to headache condition again. About 6 weeks later, problem solved. And, the occasional tingling in the right hand stopped (glad it wasn't carpal tunnel, which I had assumed was starting.)
 
I lifted my boxspring/mattress yesterday and felt a pop in my lower-back. First time I've ever experienced that and now my lower back is sore. I hate getting old.
 
Never had a headache that didn't go away in 1/2 hour, never had a severe one. My headaches are extremely rare. Never been to a chiropractor, but have seen a few physical therapists.
 
OverVolt said:
Nutella gives me a headache everytime, as does lots of peanut butter, or forgetting to drink my coffee.

What have you been eating/doing the last 5 days?

And yes, ibuprofen around the clock (or whatever NSAID works for you best, surely you know by now?) will dull a headache like that tremendously you stubborn nancy. Whatever you are 'self medicating' with is probably making it worse.
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the same things I do everyday. I never get severe headaches, so this is a first for me. My wife gets massive migraines though which is why we had the Excedrin on hand...

disappoint said:
You do realize that pain medication is only masking the symptom and not addressing what could be a serious underlying cause that may be treatable now but may become untreatable later and that you might end up regretting not going to a physician sooner at some point down the line provided you actually survive long enough to have such a regret right?
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yes. had 2 more excedrin, chiro or doc later.
 
Mayne said:
I lifted my boxspring/mattress yesterday and felt a pop in my lower-back. First time I've ever experienced that and now my lower back is sore. I hate getting old.
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Don't get old, stay fit. It takes work and dedication but the dividends are so well worth it.
 
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