My family dr. is a DO and he did the adjustments on me early on. I did it for a couple of months, before I said enough and quit. It hurt me more than helped. I would hurt for days after each adjustment. As to why I did it so long, early on in this, I was the kind of person who believed a dr knew everything and did everything they said; regardless of how it made me feel.
I also had a chiropractor that did adjustments on me a couple of months after that. As to why I did it again, once again, I was to compliant to tell the dr that I didn't want to do adjustments. Once again, no relief.
Then, last year from March to June, I did chiropractic 3 times a week. I did it this time, because it was someone I knew and trusted. It would help with my neck; but never my lower back. I finally quit doing it.
Then, when I saw Dr Zigler, he told me the same thing that Justin said. That my disc was torn so badly, that nothing was going to 'fix' it, heal it or make it better without surgery. He also told me, that unlike I had been told prior, it would NEVER heal on it's own. I could either have surgery or live with it; but it won't get better. He didn't suggest living with it either.
I do believe that chiropractors can be a great tool. And that is saying something from someone who said they were 'quacks' a couple of years ago. I have read books about their type of 'medicine', so to speak, and really believe that it can help people.
My sister and her four children all see a chiropractor. My niece is 7 and completely disabled; she does not walk, crawl, talk, and just learned to sit up on her own. She has had medical problems since birth, seizures, heart murmur, severe GERD- that required surgery, feeding issues that required her to have a feeding tube for 5 years, and more. Because of all of her medical problems, the medication she had to be on for them and that she is not mobile, she suffered horrible constipation. The adjustments she receives have made her have regular bowels and not cry as much (she used to cry for 20 hours a day and night, now she only cries if she needs something). It has helped her a considerable amount. My sister had back pain from having to lift my niece, who is 35 pounds of dead weight; and from lifting her other 2 young children, 5 and 2 years. She also suffered migranes frequently. She now goes and no longer has the back pain and the migranes are less frequent. She will go when she has a migrane and get adjusted and it will either take it away or make it less severe. It has been real amazing for them. I would never have went to the last chiropractor, had my sister not so highly referred him. She like myself, had believed they were quacks out to make tons of money until she was referred to him by a good friend.
Ok, so there's my life story and my sister's... told you guys I was long winded.
