“Spinal stenosis?”
I have intense pain and limited range of motion. I was severely abused as a child and only found out the condition of my spine after a severe car accident in 2015. I have herniated disks and stenosis at c-4, degenerative disk disease at t10, and lumbar scoliosis with a tipped pelvis. I’ve always done chiropractic care, and I also get massages. I tried acupuncture and cupping and PT back in 2015 and I felt better for a while. In March I was in another SEVERE car accident (way worse than the first one). Chiropractic care is too painful, and I’m having a really hard time with the pain. I’m trying to get back to work, and as tough as I am (trust me I can handle pain) I’m just not recovering. Who can help?
Female | 35 years old
Complaint duration: 7 months
Medications: Ibuprofen
Conditions: Spinal stenosis; herniated disks
8 Answers
There are numerous chiropractic techniques, ranging from full manual adjustments to light force, to instrument adjusting. I'm not sure the method you were receiving. If your pain is severe, and you have been fully examined and diagnosed, speak to your Chiropractor. Perhaps they can try another method and/or refer you to pain management to be able to assess whether or not they may be able to suppress the pain via potential epidurals or other methods in order to allow you to complete chiropractic care and/or physical therapy. When professions work together, the patient benefits most. Speak to your Chiropractor and find a way to have several professions work together to help you.
It seems you have a bunch of injured bricks, but the mortar is what seems to be lacking here. Meaning, your bones and alignment and discs have been traumatized, but if you can bring integrity to the surrounding tissue making up the joints (ligaments, muscle, tendon), you will have a better prognosis and healthier structure for not just now, but into the future. I would start taking joint supplements including if your body has no allergy to them: HA, MSM, Glucosamine, Chondroitin, Turmeric, Boswalia. And consider physical therapy with your chiropractic care. Perhaps a low force or instrument adjusting technique would be more amiable to your injured body.
Hope I helped, got your back!
Dr. Todd Gewant
Hope I helped, got your back!
Dr. Todd Gewant
Re: Spinal stenosis. As a chiropractor for conditions like yours we would perform a digital foot scan with the intent of balancing your body from the ground up. For chronic pain like yours we utilize Alpha-Stim microcurrent electrical therapy. In my opinion this works better than anything else for chronic pain. It is also FDA cleared for not only pain but also insomnia, anxiety and depression. More info available at alpha-stim.com and drmcirvin.com Good luck!
There are many types of Chiropractic which include non-force techniques. This may be your best option until you can tolerate other adjustments. Physical Therapy may also be a good option for you.
You should be able to go back to your chiropractor or a different one and just have less aggressive treatment. More stretching, muscle work and mobilization with less aggressive manipulation. If the treatment is too painful, then the provider needs to back off the intensity and be gentler. There is no better treatment. it just needs to be performed differently.
I hope this information helps. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon.
Take care and be well,
Dr. Eric Miller
I hope this information helps. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon.
Take care and be well,
Dr. Eric Miller
Many chiropractors may offer techniques that don't involve a direct hands-on approach. They may use an instrument. This eliminates a lot of the big "twisty" movements. This may be helpful for you. You may consider supplementation designed to strengthen ligaments and tendons. A more medical route would be to consider injection therapy. This could be trigger point injections, facet blocks, or ESIs. You may also look into a stem cell injections. These procedures can be expensive, and it is difficult to say if they would work for you, but it is something to look in to. Physical therapy may help, massage therapy may help, and a combination of all the above therapies would probably yield the best results.
I am sorry to hear of your misfortune. It sounds terrible.
I am sorry to hear of your misfortune. It sounds terrible.
A chiropractor who does applied kinesiology may be able to help with additional techniques they have to offer.
At this point, I’d recommend you see an orthopedic surgeon for a thorough evaluation. There are some cases where chiropractic is no longer effective and it sounds like you’ve exhausted the alternative therapy route. You definitely should have a recent MRI, and surgery may be necessary for the spinal stenosis condition at least.
