AstroRig57 wrote:
...on the other side of the coin.
My sister-in-law is very fit woman who participates in races on both mountain bikes and criterion (road) racing.
She is also an avid and proficient free climber.
Several years ago she experienced some pain in her neck and shoulder after taking what she thought was a minor spill on her bicycle. She went to see a highly recommended chiropractor in Colorado Springs. This was against the advice of my wife, an RN, who told her to see an MD.
After the appointment, and what she described as very violent "admustments" she was not improved and, in fact felt worse. The chiropractor told her this was not uncommon and said she would find marked improvement after the next appointment.
After the next appointment she felt even worse and was experiencing some light headednesss. In spite of her concerns, the chiropractor told her she was just "sore" from the adjustment, that she would get better in the next few hours, and let her drive home. He never took, or ordered, any imaging beyond his routine xrays.
She got home and subsequently began to suffer from severe vertigo and nausea. Her husband took her to an ER.
Imaging by real doctors revealed that she had "tortuous arteries" in her neck and that the chiropractic manipulation had ruptured one or more causing a bleed. She also had blood in her cerebrospinal fluid. This required surgery and a hospital stay.
Of course, there was no way to prove whether the injury was caused by the initial spill from the bike, and exacerbated by the chiropractic manipulation, or by the chiropractic manipulation alone.
I know some people swear by them, but you couldn't pay me to see a chiropractor. Of course, I've had multiple cervical spine surgeries and wouldn't want anyone messing around with my neurosurgeons work.
Offline
